Welcome to the 2020 installment of the “How Your Favorite Team Won The Super Bowl” Series.
In this adventure, we’ll take a good, hard look at select NFL teams, show you their Super Bowl odds heading into the season, give you a little overview on what they’ve got to work with and what might be going on in their facility, then proclaim three key factors that must go in their favor in order for them to be crowned atop football’s Aggro Crag when all the confetti has settled.
For some, the list of variables that need to go right might not only be plausible, but expected. For others, their three factors might require a bit more creativity.
Today, we talk about America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys.
State of the Franchise
Pay Dak Prescott. That’s the whole state. Just pay him.
Preseason Super Bowl Odds
17/1 (6th best)
WHAT MUST HAPPEN FOR COWBOYS TO WIN THE SUPER BOWL
1. Dak Does It Again
For the last four years, quarterback Dak Prescott has defied the odds of a fourth-round pick. Rarely does a quarterback selected on Day 3 of the NFL draft get the chance to start from day one, but that was the opportunity Prescott had; he ran with it.
Prescott performed as well as anyone could expect for such a rookie, taking care of the ball, throwing for 23 touchdowns and just four interceptions, completing more than 67 percent of his passes, and throwing for more than 3,600 yards with an additional six rushing touchdowns. Because of his efforts, the Cowboys went 13-3.
Over the three seasons that followed, Prescott has become the best bargain in the NFL (maybe second to Patrick Mahomes, since both were on their rookie deals). Making less than $1 million per season from his four-year, $2.7 million rookie deal, Prescott has led the Cowboys to two division titles, two playoff appearances, a 40-24 record, and played 2019 at an MVP level with nearly 5,000 yards passing, 30 passing touchdowns, and just 11 interceptions.
This past offseason, unable to reach an agreement on a contract extension, the Cowboys decided to use their franchise tag on Prescott, a tender he signed at the last minute—which will pay him $31.4 million for the upcoming season, but will once again make him a free agent next spring.
The Cowboys had their worst W-L finish under Prescott in 2019 at 8-8. In order for the Cowboys to win the Super Bowl, they will need Prescott to play at a similarly high level as last season as a baseline while the rest of the team around him is elevated. They have the weapons to do so.
The Cowboys still have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, they still have one of the most reliable running backs in Ezekiel Elliott, and as if having two 1,000-yard receivers in Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup weren’t enough, they added the electrifying CeeDee Lamb in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
The weapons around him on offense are there for Prescott to have another stellar season. If the Cowboys hope to get to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1995, they’ll need him to be.
2. A Secondary Solution
If I wrote this article a week ago, I probably would have suggested the Cowboys make a move for safety Jamal Adams. The reason for this isn’t just because of the big name, but the skill set Adams has.
The Cowboys are slated to start Xavier Woods and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix as their top two safeties this season. Both of these players have some nice range to them for back end coverage, which is good, but neither are supreme run defenders and open field tackles when asked to help out at the linebacker level or just closer to the line of scrimmage.
Adams is one of the best in the NFL at both tackling and affecting the box, as a pass rusher and run support player. The Cowboys need that presence in their secondary, or at least need more from those areas than what is currently being projected. They need one of Woods or Clinton-Dix to really step up and be more reliable than ever as tacklers.
3. Front And Center
I mentioned earlier that the Cowboys still have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. While I still believe that to be true, they will have some uncertainty within it going into 2020.
Travis Frederick was one of the Cowboys’ top offensive linemen over the years, but after being diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome, a muscle-weakening disorder, in 2018, trying to come back from it in 2019 but ultimately not playing to the level he’s normally used to, Frederick retired after last season. His retirement leaves a hole right in the middle of the Cowboys’ offensive line.
There are a few options the Cowboys could look at for his replacement. Right now, Joe Looney, who started in 2018 in place of Frederick, is poised to be the starter once again. But there are two other options the Cowboys have: third-round pick form 2019 Connor McGovern, and fourth-round pick from 2020 Tyler Biadasz.
Someone has to be able to anchor that offensive line. Looney has the experience, so he’ll have the first crack at it. But with options in the tank, they need someone to step up.
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