The Cowboys ended the 2017 season with a win but it was ugly. On the offensive side of the ball and I do mean offensive. Dak Prescott led the Cowboys to a win in spite of himself. He had 178 yards passing but it was a struggle. He continues to show his lack of accuracy and an inability to read the defense and check out of plays that would put his offense in a better position to win the play. Sort of like we got used to when the guy before Dak was starting. Dak is only in his second year and nobody except true homers felt like Dallas would go 13-3 again this year but the Cowboys needed Dak to step up and carry the team on several occasions this past season he didn't get it done. After the excellent year he had in 2016 the steps backward he took in 2017 was more than a little bit disconcerting. The hope is that he can have a good rebound year in 2018. He really could use a nice bounce back year from Dez Bryant. He had a real un-Dez like year that featured a lot balls he should have caught and didn't and too many of those passes ended up in the hands of the defense. He 29 years old so I don't think he's over the hill but I firmly believe he and Dak need to spend a lot of time together this offseason building, or rebuilding their chemistry.
The defense is good as long as Sean Lee stays healthy which is not likely going to happen. It's only happened once in his career that he played all 16 games and he didn't actually do that. In 2016 Lee had played in the first 15 games but when Dallas clinched the #1 seed in week 16 Lee and a select group of other players sat out the season finale against the eagles much like Philly did this past Sunday. The Cowboys have a good group of DB's from the last 2 drafts so that position is sewed up. What Dallas needs is for Jaylon Smith to step up next season and hopefully he's fully recovered all his nerve synapses in his foot so he can finally be the player Dallas thinks they stole in the 2nd round of the 2015 draft. They also need another impact linebacker so if and when Lee gets hurt somebody can step up and fill the position so it's not a total disaster.
Now I guess we have to worry about Dan Bailey. Up until week 15 he was the most accurate kicker in NFL history. But after missing 3 field goals and the first two extra points he's missed in he career could we be looking at another Nick Folk? You remember Folk, the guy who was totally money for Dallas until a hip injury combined with coming back too soon from that injury caused him to be so bad Dallas had to cut him. That's pretty much why Dan Bailey stepped in and he's done so well ever since he won the job. That is until a groin injury sidelined him for a big chunk of the season. Since he came back he's gone from Mr Automatic to the Uh-oh kid.
All in all it's been a pretty disappointing season that has thankfully come to a close. It has been a weird season.
Even here on BRI I had a thread started for following the Cowboys season that mysteriously disappeared. I guess saying goodbye to 2017 is a very easy thing to do for so many reasons. Unfortunately, for me sports-wise, 2018 isn't starting out any better. My Sooners lost to Georgia this evening in double overtime. Me and New Years Day bowl games have never been simpatico. Rarely does the teams I root for win. I was seeing a lot of turnaround so far in this bowl season but I would gladly trade a bunch of the wins I did get for a Sooners win tonight. Oh well, at least I am just sick and not with the flu. That is definitely a win.
This will be may last post on this thread. Hopefully Mike will update the pinned threads soon because, In my case, he's about 7 months behind. I'm just saying.