The Dallas Cowboys 2019 season has been an utter disappointment, even for someone like me who chooses to typically look on the positive side of things. They entered the year with high expectations, quite possibly with Super Bowl aspirations, but failed miserably to live up to that billing. Anyway you choose to look at it there was a lot more bad than good, but it’s the latter I want to focus on today.
Being a glass half-full kind of person allows me to not dwell too much on the doom and gloom that was the Dallas Cowboys 2019 season. There is no doubt a lot of bad that took place this season we could discuss at length, but surprisingly there was quite a bit of good as well. It may not seem like it right now with the cloud of misery still hanging around, but believe it or not there was some positive.
Let’s take a look at a few of the positives I noticed this year…
- After being diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome and missing pretty much all of the 2018 season, Travis Frederick’s triumphant return this year has to be one of the more positive things to happen to the Dallas Cowboys this season. Frederick not only returned after overcoming a serious disease, but played his way onto the Pro Bowl roster, his fifth (2014-2017, 2019). I’d say that’s pretty inspiring.
- I know Dak Prescott isn’t coming off his best performance this season, but there is no denying he improved mightily this year. Statistically he improved nearly every area of his game from his first three years in the league, and in so doing will finish as one of the top QBs this year. It’s funny how this seems to happen more often than not to players in contract years. But regardless, it’s still good to see considering he is the future of the position for the Cowboys.
- If you want to know who I believe improved the most this season and was arguably the most consistent, look no further than Right Tackle La’el Collins. I believe he not only played at a Pro Bowl level, but was also the Cowboys best offensive lineman this season. I’ll admit I wasn’t completely on board when he received an extension, but I’m glad he did now.
- Michael Gallup not only avoided having a sophomore slump in his second year in the NFL, but also nearly doubled his production this season. He caught 33 passes for 507 yards and 2 touchdowns as a rookie, and to date has caught 61 passes for 1,009 yards and 3 TDs with one regular-season game to go. Those who predicted a breakout hear from him were right on.
- The Dallas Cowboys 2019 rookie draft class made minimal impact this season, but one of the bright spots from their rookies came from Running Back Tony Pollard. He’s proven to be a unique playmaker this season and an upgrade at the RB2 position behind Ezekiel Elliott. He’s tallied over 600 total yards and 3 TDs this year, but an argument could be made it could’ve been much better. I believe he could have been utilized much more.
- Defensively the Dallas Cowboys were pretty awful this season, but Cornerback Jourdan Lewis ended up being one of the few bright spots. It took an injury to Anthony Brown to finally get him on the field, but once he got his chance he proved his talents were being wasted on the sideline. He’s accumulated 46 tackles, 4 QB sacks, and 2 interceptions to date this season, which should put him in contention to become a starter next year if Byron Jones and Brown leave via free agency.
- The best thing that could’ve possibly happen to the Dallas Cowboys this season was the fact that Jerry Jones has probably finally realized Jason Garrett isn’t the man for the job. Hopefully that means the days of mediocrity are over and the Cowboys can finally find a head coach who can get the best out of his team. It’s going to be really interesting to see where their HC search takes them this offseason.
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As you can see, there were a few positive things to take place for the Dallas Cowboys this season. It may not bring much comfort considering the high expectations many of us had for this team, but there’s always next season. Thankfully, everything I mention above should carry over to next year and have an impact, one way or another, on how the team performs in 2020. Maybe we should start crossing our fingers now so the Cowboys can receive as much good juju as possible. It can’t hurt, right!?
