Dallas Cowboys: 5 Biggest disappointments this season
By Reid Hanson
This past week notwithstanding, this season has been a resounding success eight games into the Dallas Cowboys 2021 campaign. Even the optimistic among us predicted a few more bumps early in the season. The fact the Dallas Cowboys started so strong this year is nothing short of amazing when you think about all the players who were coming in cold.
Dak Prescott was out nearly a full year and even missed the preseason, but he picked up right where he left off pre-ankle injury. Ezekiel Elliott silenced those talks of decline and looks more like his rookie self than the plodding veteran of 2020.
Top to bottom, players stepped up and either met expectations or exceeded expectations. Combine that with what appears to be an excellent coaching staff and you have the perfect explanation for this 6-2 record we see today.
But not everyone met our expectations this season. Some players fell short. Today we look at some of those disappointments today. For the sake of fairness, we try to overlook injuries. While it’s extremely disappointing to see Michael Gallup and DeMarcus Lawrence out, it’s the play on the field we want to focus on and not their availability (or lack of).
Let’s look at five of the Dallas Cowboys most disappointing players in 2021
Greg Zuerlein, K
Greg Zuerlein (aka Greg “the leg”) has been a clear disappointment this season. The 33-year-old veteran kicker was brought over by special teams coach John “Bones” Fassel just before last season to offer consistency and stability to the kicker position. This season he’s been anything but.
Greg’s 77.8% field goal average isn’t too far off his career average of 81.9% but it’s the way he’s reached that modest percentage that’s concerning. He not only has misses from the 40-49 range and the 30-39 range, but he also has two extra point misses (which sets a career-low in XP percentage).
Missing 50+ yarders are to be expected but shanking a routine kick from 35 yards has disaster potential written all over it. The Dallas Cowboys need constancy more than leg-power from their kicker. Their season may come down to it.