DALLAS — We’re a long way from the start of the 2021 NFL season, but that doesn’t stop the projections from coming. Prognosticators love to chime in on wins and losses or take a stab at guessing who’ll win the divisions around this time of year.
With the schedule out, the draft over, and free agency completed – for the most part – it means that teams have assembled their rosters, which makes it the ideal occasion to get those initial predictions out. It’s also a slow period of the offseason, so the ‘hot takes’ start flying furiously.
Talking about the Dallas Cowboys will always get a reaction and one of the first shots at America’s Team has been fired ahead of the 2021 campaign. It’s nothing new to see folks pick a side on the polarizing Cowboys for appraisal, which is why it’s no surprise that the knock on Dallas came from ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky.
Orlovsky claimed that the Cowboys should only be expected to be the third-best team in the NFC East and there wasn’t a straight face among his colleagues on the panel as he made the declaration.
Of course, the logic for Orlovsky’s outlook is simply flawed. He cites last year’s defensive statistics to discredit the Cowboys’ chances of being a top team in the division despite a revamped roster. Instead, the former NFL quarterback mentions that the Cowboys haven’t done anything to improve their defensive line to combat their woes against the rush.
While it’s valid to not love the Cowboys’ defense after a dreadful 2020 campaign, 2021 is an entirely new season. What happened last year won’t necessarily be the case this year. In every season in the NFL, there’s a 50% playoff return rate, so there’s not much to be taken from 2020’s results to stake a claim for why a team can’t be good in 2021.
Orlovsky’s assertion that the Cowboys haven’t improved their defensive line significantly is also a false claim. The Cowboys added three players in free agency along the defensive line, one being defensive tackle Brent Urban, who was among the league’s best against the run last year.
In the draft, the Cowboys selected two versatile defensive linemen in the third-round with Osa Odighizuwa (No. 75 overall) and Chauncey Golston (No. 84 overall), as well as adding run-stuffing defensive tackle Quinton Bohanna in round six.
Drafting players in premium rounds and finding specific players who help a troubled position translates into vigilantly addressing an issue the Cowboys had on defense. Of course, perhaps the biggest addition to the defense this offseason is the hiring of new defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who brings a Super Bowl pedigree from his previous stops.
The defensive reasoning takes a backseat to Orlovsky’s belief that quarterbacks Ryan Fitzpatrick and Daniel Jones can play at a level that can help lead their teams to the playoffs, while Dak Prescott playing well might not get the Cowboys to the postseason. This argument defies the reality that Fitzpatrick has never led a team to the playoffs in any of his 16 seasons in the NFL and Jones has yet to have a winning record in his first two seasons in the league.
Prescott has led the Cowboys to the playoffs twice, and, when he’s playing at a high level, he has shown that he can elevate his team. As a proven winner during his first five seasons in the league, Prescott gives the Cowboys an advantage that neither Fitzpatrick or Jones possess.
At this point, it’s safe to say that, when healthy, Prescott is the best quarterback in the division, which gives Dallas a great shot at winning the NFC East. In the NFL, where quarterback play is more often the reason for winning or losing games, the Cowboys have the best chance to win their division based solely on who they have behind center.
Lastly, Orlovsky opines that the division rival Washington Football Team and New York Giants are better coached than the Cowboys. The truth of the matter is, Mike McCarthy is the only Super Bowl-winning coach out of the three. Neither Ron Rivera nor Joe Judge have won a championship as head coach and McCarthy owns the highest winning percentage out of the trio.
While it is clear that McCarthy has a lot of room for improvement in his second season at the helm in Dallas, calling him the third-best coach from that group seems wildly inaccurate based on their career marks and accolades.
We’re early in prediction season, but the annual ill-advised opinions on the Cowboys are already out in full swing.
If the team stays healthy, do you foresee the Cowboys as the team to beat in the NFC East in 2021? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.