Cowboys Season In Review: Dallas Exceeded All Expectations in 2016 Despite Early Playoff Loss
By Shawn Lealos
The Dallas Cowboys exceeded everyone's expectations in 2016 and were almost the biggest Cinderella story in NFL history. One year after finishing the season with a 4-12 record, most people expected the Cowboys to improve in 2016. With Tony Romo back to health, there was no way they would finish with a losing record for the second straight year. However, Dallas lost Romo in the preseason to another broken bone in his back, and it looked like the season was over before it even started.
Dak Prescott is the Present and Future of the Dallas Cowboys
Not only did Dallas not suffer following the loss of Tony Romo, but they excelled. Dak Prescott had one of the greatest rookie seasons of any NFL quarterback and stole the starting job away from Romo completely. The rookie QB finished the regular season with a 67.8 completion percentage (4th in the NFL), 3,667 yards passing, and a very impressive 23 touchdowns to four interceptions. His QB rating was 104.9, behind only Matt Ryan and Tom Brady.
Even more impressive was that he didn't falter in the playoffs, completing 63.2 percent of his passes for 302 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in the tough loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Tony Romo has probably played his final game with the Dallas Cowboys, and this is Dak Prescott's team from here out. However, when asked, Prescott said Romo was instrumental in his success with the team this year.
"I've learned a bunch," Prescott said the morning after the Cowboys were eliminated from the playoffs. "I've taken stuff [Romo's] done, stuff he's told me, things that he might not even know that I'm taking from him. In every aspect of the game, on and off the field. He was great. He means a lot, helping me out throughout this whole season."
Ezekiel Elliott Was Worth the High Draft Pick
The Dallas Cowboys used their fourth overall draft pick in the 2016 NFL Draft on Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott. At the time, some experts blasted the move because running backs are no longer considered as important as they once were, and Dallas needed pass rushers. However, Elliott proved to be worth the pick. He led the NFL with 1,631 rushing yards—over 300 yards more than the second best runner of 2016—and he is a large reason that the Cowboys were able to control the clock and help Dak Prescott find the time to throw the ball.
Much like Prescott, Elliott will be with the Cowboys for a long time, and with Dez Bryant at wide receiver, the Cowboys have a new Triplets.
Cowboys Defense Outperformed Talent Levels
The Dallas Cowboys defense has only one star in Sean Lee. While Lee was as great as always—one of the top tacklers in the NFL this year—the rest of the defense stepped up and played better than anyone thought they could. A team with no legitimate pass rushers was without their top pass rusher in DeMarcus Lawrence for most of the year due to suspension and injuries slowing him down. However, rookie Maliek Collins proved himself with five sacks and David Irving turned things on in the last quarter of the season and finished with four.
The turnovers started coming as well. Eight different Cowboys defenders intercepted a pass this season and the team forced 19 fumbles, recovering 11 of them. They were as much a part of Dallas winning 13 games in the regular season as anyone.
Time for Tuning Up the Dallas Cowboys
While the Dallas Cowboys tied their best season record at 13-3 and won a franchise-best 11 games in a row at one point, there is still work to be done. Major changes are coming in Dallas and it all starts with Tony Romo. He has played his final game in Dallas and the Cowboys owe him a lot of money. If they trade him, they will eat part of his contract. If they release him, they will save $14 million of cap space.
They also need to figure out who they will re-sign for their defensive backfield, as Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne, Barry Church and J.J. Wilcox are all free agents. Church is the most likely to return, and Claiborne might take a smaller contract to come back and prove himself once again. Dallas can't clean house in that backfield or they will hurt in 2017.
The biggest thing that Dallas needs to do is find pass rushers in 2017. They will have a low first round draft pick, so there is little chance that they will get a franchise pass rusher, but there are some names out there they can get late. If they use their draft to stock up on possibilities, they might hit gold with one of them. It will be an interesting offseason for the Cowboys, but there is a lot of optimism in Dallas for the future.