It’s probably a deep playoff run or bust for coach Mike McCarthy, who is in the final year of his contract. The Cowboys haven’t even reached an NFC championship game since winning the last of the franchise’s five Super Bowl titles during the 1995 season. The wild-card loss at home to Green Bay last January was perhaps the most painful for Jerry Jones in his 34 years owning the team. So McCarthy’s three straight 12-5 playoff seasons don’t mean much. Plus, Dallas is the only team without a conference title to show for three consecutive 12-win playoff seasons. If the drought continues, the fate of quarterback Dak Prescott would be a little more complicated, depending on whether the sides agree on a contract extension. If not, Dallas has to decide whether to start over at the most important position. And there’s no guarantee Prescott will re-sign with the Cowboys if he reaches free agency. The Cowboys had one of the best offenses in the NFL last season, but questions will linger in the early weeks because of All-Pro receiver CeeDee Lamb’s contract holdout. He missed all of training camp before agreeing to a deal 13 days before the opener.
RB Ezekiel Elliott (sort of, the two-time rushing champ is returning after spending one season in New England); LB Eric Kendricks; defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer; OL Tyler Guyton; DE Marshawn Kneeland; OL Cooper Beebe.
RB Tony Pollard; defensive coordinator Dan Quinn; CB Stephon Gilmore; S Jayron Kearse; DE Dorance Armstrong Jr.; DE Sam Williams (season-ending knee in Prescott is coming off a career-best 36 passing touchdowns, which led the NFL. The connection with Lamb was superb, leading to across-the-board career bests for the receiver with 135 catches (NFL high) for 1,749 yards and 14 touchdowns. The threat of Micah Parsons makes Dallas among the most feared defenses in pressuring quarterbacks, and the Cowboys led the NFL in takeaways for the balance of Quinn’s three seasons (93 to 87 for Buffalo). The best illustration of the opportunistic defense last season was CB DaRon Bland setting an NFL record with five interception returns for touchdowns. And now Bland has Trevon Diggs back on the other side after the 2021 All-Pro mis
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