Dallas Cowboys: 5 things to be thankful for this holiday season

It’s Thanksgiving time, which usually means turkey, family, and Dallas Cowboys football. It’s also a time to give thanks for things in our lives we often take for granted. For Cowboys fans right now, it’s a time to reflect on the team we hold most dear, and give thanks for a handful of pleasant unfoldings in this 2022 NFL season

Dallas Cowboys fans have much to be thankful for this 2022 season

This past offseason, Dallas Cowboys fans didn’t quite know how to view the 2022 season. The front office seemed determined to clear the books of their dead weight, and seemed unconcerned if it made them worse in the short term.

The Jones boys seemed content with simply “competing” this year, with an eye towards 2023 when they have enough wiggle room to make a legitimate push.

Low and behold, the Dallas Cowboys team that was supposed to struggle to stay alive actually found a way to thrive. This, despite the loss of Dak Prescott for five of the first six games. How was such a feat possible?

Dallas Cowboys give thanks for….Dan Quinn

If it wasn’t for Dan Quinn’s defensive unit, Dallas Cowboys fans would be singing a much different tune this Thanksgiving weekend. The Cowboys defense went from the most likely defense to regress in 2022, to top-3 and on pace to set the single season NFL sack record.

The unit that survived on turnovers a season before, lost their second best pass rusher in the offseason and then became the most feared pass-rushing team in the entire league. Quinn has not only coached them up, but he’s pulled strings in the draft, pushing hard to add Sam Williams (2022 second round pick). He’s also perfectly rotated players, targeted match-ups, and schemed opportunities for his hyper aggressive squad.

Because turnovers are traditionally unstable year to year, the Cowboys have predictably regressed to the mean in that department. But their overall quality of play has jumped leaps and bounds and anyone who’s been paying attention can attest, the turnovers are on their way if Quinn’s defense keeps pressuring teams like this.