The Dallas Cowboys got to the mid-point of the season with a 6-2 record and enter the bye week in second place in the NFC East. All of this despite a matching record with the New York Giants, who the Cowboys defeated earlier in the season.
Getting to this point hasn’t been easy and the team has needed to overcome numerous obstacles along the way. Injuries, the loss of star players in the offseason, and a variety of controversies have swirled since the start of the season, and there doesn’t seem to be any letting up in the second half of 2022.
The drama started in the preseason with controversy over who would assume the backup quarterback role in Dallas. Writing for Blogging the Boys, Connor Livesay pointed out that the competition between Will Grier and Cooper Rush was anything but settled as final cuts approached.
“Some people want the higher ceiling player that could go out and win you a game or two a season from the pocket or with their play-making abilities (Will Grier), but there’s something to be said about the high-floor-low-ceiling backup that is not going to impress you much, but he’s also not going to lose you games on his own as much (Cooper Rush),” Livesay wrote on August 26.
Then, Week 1 happened and the Cowboys starting quarterback Dak Prescott went down with a fractured thumb in his throwing hand. Rush had earned the job, and true to what Livesay had written, led the team to a 4-1 record while Prescott recovered. The only loss came against the Philadelphia Eagles, a three-interception performance from Rush.
Over the five-game stretch, the Cowboys defense established itself as one of the league’s most dominant units, led by a fierce pass rush and a stingy secondary. At the break, the Cowboys lead the league in sacks at 33, including eight recorded sacks by last year’s Rookie Defensive Player of the Year Micah Parsons.
The defense is also second in the NFL in total takeaways that include seven interceptions and six fumble recoveries, with Trevon Diggs — who tied the Cowboys franchise record at 11 interceptions last season — recording three so far this season.
But injuries have begun to take a toll, with Parsons dealing with shoulder injuries that have slowed him down but not caused him to miss time, and a Week 1 injury to safety Jayron Kearse that caused him to miss several games early in the season.
Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has been in an enviable position dealing with these injuries because of a deep roster that allows the “next man up” philosophy to continue putting dominating players on the field even when stars are not at full strength.
Ahead of the trade deadline, the Cowboys added a big-time run-stopper in defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, giving the Las Vegas Raiders late-round draft considerations for the services of the veteran player.
In the offseason, the Cowboys made a questionable choice in shipping WR1 Amari Cooper to Cleveland and elevating CeeDee Lamb from WR2, with the hope that Michael Gallup would eventually fill the gap. Gallup suffered an ACL tear at the end of the 2021 season and has just recently returned to action. The team was anticipated to target a receiver ahead of the trade deadline, but couldn’t come to terms in time.
The biggest target for the team seems to have been Brandin Cooks, currently with the Houston Texans. Reportedly, Cooks will not play for the Texans on Thursday Night Football after the team failed to arrange a trade, leaving his future in Houston up in the air. According to a league source and reporting by ESPN, the deal fell apart due to Cooks’ guaranteed $18 million salary next season.
A mild running back controversy has slowly been building since at least last season. Running back Ezekiel Elliott has seen his yards-per-carry and scoring opportunities drop in recent seasons as he continually deals with knee, leg, and ankle injuries. Elliott missed only his second game in his career due to injury last week only to watch on as Tony Pollard put three touchdowns and 131 yards up against the Chicago Bears in Week 8.
Pollard has rushed for over 20 yards on a play five times this season against just once by Elliott and has the team’s longest offensive play, a 57-yard rush against the Bears. Pollard also leads Elliott in touchdowns and yards, though Elliott has had 28 more opportunities.
Team owner and general manager Jerry Jones insists that despite the differences in numbers, the Cowboys “go as Zeke goes,” setting up the possibility of even more controversy as the season matures.
The Cowboys don’t need to match the first-place Eagles to make the playoffs this year, but dealing with some of the injuries and controversy will be an essential element to seeing this season end in a better spot than the first-round elimination Dallas suffered in 2021 after dominating the NFC East.