“Cuz you STINK!” sports analyst and Dallas Cowboys critic Stephen A. Smith said after a 47-9 loss to the Detroit Lions. “What an atrocity!”
This year, all Cowboys fans have to admit: Smith is right. It pains us to say it, considering how long he has been criticizing “America’s Team.” It is the 35th anniversary of owner Jerry Jones buying the team, and while the 3-5 record might not show it, the Cowboys are on their way to a pretty bad season.
“On the 82nd birthday of Jerry Jones,” Smith continued, “they tried to send him down under. They tryin’ to bury that man!”
Cowboys hype is at an all-time low. The Cowboys also have the 10th hardest remaining strength of schedule (quality of opponents), so things don’t look to be getting any better (note: this data is taken as of week 6 from Pro Football Focus). It is safe to say… the Cowboys are bad. Which means…
I’ve been right!!!
I’ve been saying for years that the Cowboys just aren’t that good.Yes, I’m a Cowboys fan. But unlike most Cowboys fans, I am able to admit when the team is bad. And today, I’m going to prove why the Cowboys need to get rid of all their key pieces and rebuild the team from scratch.
The first thing to look at is the Cowboys’ SOS (Strength of Schedule) over a 10-year span. The chart below uses statistics from profootballreference.com. Years in bold are years the Boys made the playoffs. In SOS, first is the hardest schedule and 32nd is the easiest out of the 32 NFL teams.
| Year | SOS | Record |
| 2024 | T-9th | 3-5* |
| 2023 | T-31st | 12-5 |
| 2022 | 21st | 12-5 |
| 2021 | T-22nd | 12-5 |
| 2020 | T-20th | 6-10 |
| 2019 | T-31st | 8-8 |
| 2018 | 16th | 10-6 |
| 2017 | 15th | 9-7 |
| 2016 | 21st | 13-3 |
| 2015 | 17th | 4-12 |
| 2014 | 29th | 12-4 |
The worst records in that 10-year span came in 2015, 2019, 2020, and now in 2024. Of those years, there were two (2015 and 2020) during which the starting quarterback was injured for the season (more on how good those QBs really were later). The other two years, 2019 and 2024, have the 31st and ninth easiest SOS. While the 31st SOS compared with the 8-8 record is very solid evidence, the ninth for the 3-5 record this year is more understandable. So, maybe this isn’t the best data to prove how bad the Cowboys are. However, I think the best evidence is the seasons where the Cowboys did do well.
When you look at the seasons where the Cowboys had 12+ wins (admittedly, a respectable five of them since 2014) the SOS was 29th, 21st, 22nd, 21st, and 31st. Not only are all of these SOSs below average, two of them are nearly the complete easiest. Now I know diehard fans of the Cowboys still think “OK, this year we have the 9th hardest schedule, so that explains why we’re struggling.” However, when you look into the details of the team, that excuse might be eliminated.
First off, I’ll address one of the many elephants in the room: CeeDee Lamb. The certainly talented receiver is coming off a 1749 yard season (that’s 102.9 YPG) and only averaging 77.8 YPG this year, and he is throwing fits on the sideline about it. The reason for these fits: defenses have realized that Lamb is the only true receiving threat for the Cowboys, so they just double him and shut him down. Besides, who else are the Boys going to throw to– Jalen Tolbert, who has come down with a case of butterfingers, or old man Brandin Cooks, who is hobbling out to run routes on his one good leg?
Next– the running game. This is the one of the big things that has Cowboys fans pulling their hair out. Why– why Jerry, why– did we pass up on every great running back in free agency… to sign back Ezekiel Elliott?
The Cowboys headed into free agency fully knowing that they had no running back… and oh boy, they had the cream of the crop to choose from. Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Austin Ekeler, D’Andre Swift, J.K. Dobbins, Devin Singletary, Gus Edwards, A.J. Dillon, among others.
Instead of choosing any of those capable players, we decided to resign old man Zeke… somebody I have been saying was overrated for years before he was officially labeled as “washed.” I won’t go too deep into Zeke, as I don’t want to run this story too long, but he has been on the decline ever since his rookie season. What else did he have in his rookie season? The best Offensive Line in the NFL.
I will say no more.
Another huge problem for the Cowboys this year is the defense. The one part of the team I had faith in heading into the season has suddenly collapsed into complete chaos. DeMarcus Lawrence, Micah Parsons, and DaRon Bland, arguably the D’s best players, are all out with injuries. The defense has dropped from third in the league in 2023 all the way down to 26th. In my opinion, it is almost certain new DC Mike Zimmer is to blame.
Last but not least, as far as the players, we have the most important position in the game- quarterback. And contrary to popular belief, I believe the man currently at the position is not up to par. In fact, this man’s contract extension this year may go down in history, at least in my book, as one of the worst events in Dallas Cowboys history. I’ve been saying it for a while, and I’ll say it again…
Dak Prescott stinks!
The main reason for Prescott’s resigning was his great leadership that got the team into the playoffs for the 3rd straight year. However, it’s what happens in those playoff games that goes against that very point of great leadership. In the same 10-year span we’ve been judging, the Cowboys have gone 3-5 in the playoffs. In the past five years, they’ve gone 1-3. Prescott is simply, in one word– overrated. He’s frequent to interceptions, often throwing before making reads, and has lost all of his mobility since a leg injury in 2020. I think he was a medium-level QB before his injury, and afterwards all it did was make him a bit worse by removing an element of his game.
In fact, I think backup QB Cooper Rush is as capable a player as Prescott. Prescott posts a QB winning percentage (percent of games he’s played in which were won) of 63.8%. Rush posts a percentage of 83.3%. While this isn’t exactly concrete evidence, it emphasizes Rush’s abilities to win games and carry the team.
Like Elliott, Prescott’s debatably best season was his rookie year (2016), where he had the best supporting cast of his entire career, posting a 104.9 QB rating. His other best season was last year in 2023, posting a 105.9 QB rating. If you refer to the same chart shown above, look for those same years of 2016 and 2023.
The 31st and 21st easiest schedules in the league.
Checkmate.
I know I’ve been ragging on the Cowboys this whole time, but I’m still a fan, so I’d love to see them prosper one day. As such, here are my suggestions to fix the team.
First off– GET. RID. OF. JONES. Jones has done nothing to help the team since he purchased it, from firing Jimmy Johnson to trying to be a GM despite not knowing what he’s really doing. The absence of Jones is the first step towards the Holy Land the Cowboys have been searching for since 1995. Another huge change I suggest is the removal of HC Mike McCarthy, and while I feel like the team’s collapse is not entirely his fault, I agree– he needs to go. McCarthy has been consistent at giving the team a good record but has just one playoff win over a five-year span, and can’t seem to keep the team from falling apart.
Looking at the current state of the team, I believe the only solution is a complete rebuild. Get rid of Prescott, get rid Lamb, get rid of all the big guys and start from scratch. I wish that the team was relatively salvageable, but everyone has given up on them, so it’s time for a new chapter. The DFW football world is a complete disaster (shoutout to my TCU Horned Frogs) and hopefully there’s some way to fix it all.
