Recap of the 2024 Cowboys

As football season approaches, many NFL fans, especially Cowboys fans are full aware of the roller coaster that is the Dallas Cowboys. Before 2024, it seemed like the Cowboys season was just on a yearly cycle. Explode in the regular season only to suffer a heartbraking playoff defeat at the hands of the Packers or Niners. However in 2024, the team was just terrible all around. They struggled on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively. it felt like the only thing the Cowboys could do right was on the special teams side of the ball. So let's dive into what went wrong for the Dallas Cowboys in 2024.

To figure out what went wrong with the Cowboys in the season, we have to go all the way back to March/April of 2024. After the defeat vs the Packers in the 2024 wild card game, the Cowboys had a few issues to discuss and a few things to fix. For starters, Prescott and Ceedee Lamb had to get a new contract that would guarantee a lot of money, and also a lot of cap room being taken up. Even after the restructuring, Prescott's cap hit takes up 70$ million dollars. However, the Cowboys needed to address other issues besides this. Tony Pollard and a bunch of other free agents were set to hit the market, the Cowboys would need to find a way to keep them. So what did they do? Nothing, every free agent hit the market and signed with another team. Not to mention the fact that they didn't replace any of them in free agency or with the draft. And the cherry on top, they refused to sign both Prescott and Lamb till August and the day of their first game. So the Dallas Cowboys went into the 2024 season with a bunch of people that they had never gotten real time reps in. Great job Jerry!

To start the 2024 season, the Cowboys pretty convincingly beat the Browns, and many people thought that the Cowboys would be all right. Of course, no one at the time would know how terrible the Browns would be, but they had just come off of a season where they were 11-6 and made the playoffs, so people thought they were a playoff caliber team. Then, the Cowboys ran into the Saints and the Ravens, and both teams showed the Cowboys why many people had them doing terribly. The Cowboys couldn't stop the run, not that it was a secret because its how the Cowboys lost to the Packers in the playoff game, but these two games amplified the Cowboys's inability to stop the run. Alvin Kamara posted 144 yds with 4 TDS! Derrick Henry would have 128 yds and 2 TDS. On the offensive side, the Cowboys couldn't maintain a run game, which led to them having to rely on Prescott to pass the ball over 50 times a game in order to keep them afloat. The Cowboys lost both of these games of course, but would rebound vs the Giants and the Steelers thanks to Prescott's heroics vs the Steelers. Where he led the comeback drive vs Steelers and scored the game winning touchdown with 15 seconds remaining. Then, the Cowboys ran into the lions. Beforehand, the Cowboys were already dealing with numerous injuries and were without many of their key players for this game. but that was no excuse for the beatdown that took place. Prescott had the worst game of his career, the defense couldn't stop a tumbleweed, the run game was in complete shambles, the offensive and defensive line were like Obama's immagration policy, let everyone through. The cowboys got blown out 47-9, and news started to circulate that the team just wasn't serious about winning. In the game that ensued vs the 49ers, Prescott and the offense weren't terrible, but weren't that good as well. But the defense, once again, couldn't stop the run or anything for that matter. The next week was the same exact thing, except, Prescott went down with a hamstring injury, a injury that would sideline him for the rest of the year. The Cowboys were in the midst of one of the worst stretches of the Mike McCarthy era, a 3 game losing streak in games were they could've won.

The Cowboys were 3-5, without their star Qb, with multiple problems on both sides of the ball. To top it all off, they had to play the 7-2 Eagles. For some odd reason, people got it into their hands that Cooper Rush had a better chance to lead this team then Dak did, and the Cowboys were getting several key players back, including Micah Parsons. People thought that this Dallas team had a chance to upset the Eagles in their home stadium. They were horribly wrong. The defense played well for awhile, holding the Eagles to just 14 points by the half, but the offense was utterly terrible. Cooper Rush had 45 passing yards for the whole game! The Cowboys dropped to the Eagles 34-6, then the same thing would happen in the next week vs the Texans. Cooper Rush would have a better game, but the Cowboys were still blown out badly by the Texans. Joe Mixon had 3 TD's on the Cowboys, further amplifying the fact that the Cowboys couldn't stop the run. Things would change though, as with the aid of an impressive, high-scoring 4th quarter, the Cowboys would upset the streaking Commanders. And let's not forget the highlight kick-return from Kavontae Turpin that helped seal the deal vs the Commanders. Then, the Cowboys would return home to beat the Giants on thanksgiving, a battle that no one probably watched due to the fact both of these teams were not that good, nevertheless, the Cowboys were back into the playoff hunt. At 5-7, they had a oppurtunity, their schedule was starting to get a little easier, all they had to do was string together a couple of wins, and they could have a legitimate shot at getting into the playoffs. But first, they had to get past the Cincinnati Bengals, who were in about the same position as they were. The game was an absolute battle, as Joe Burrow and Jamarr Chase made some incredible plays, but the Cowboys countered with relentless pass rush and stout defensive play from Trevon Diggs. Rico Dowdle emerged and had one of his best games as a Dallas Cowboy, and the score was deadlocked at 20. The Bengals had to punt on 4th and 27, when one of the Cowboys on punt return broke through and blocked the punt. Unfortunately, Amari Ourwariye, a corner for the Cowboys, touched the ball past the line of scrimmage in a attempt to recover and return it. For those that don't know, once that happens, the ball is live, and anybody has reign to pick it up. The Bengals recovered the muffed punt, scored the game winning touchdown, and beat the Cowboys 27-20. Effectively, the Cowboys hopes of sneaking back into the playoffs were gone, although there was still a chance, it was a very slight one.

The 5-8 Cowboys would rally two more wins to improve to 7-8, but ultimately, it wasn't enough. The Cowboys were eliminated in week 16 with a Washington Commanders victory over the Philidelphia Eagles, and the disappointing season had come to a end, as the Cowboys would go on to lose the next 2 games, finishing them with a 7-10 record. While the 2024 season was a colossal failure, it served as a template of what not to do for the next season. Ultimately, this team was doomed to fail, as the failure to acquire anybody in free agency before the season sealed this team's fate to be mediocre at best. At least there is hope for next year, as the Cowboys have not taken the same steps as they did last year.