The Cowboys' season ended yesterday evening with a 19-12 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
The game was tight all night, and both teams had an opportunity to break the game open, but it remained a one-possession game throughout.
The outcome was different from what everyone wanted, but the Cowboys had plenty of chances to win the football game. Now questions will linger once again as they move into the off-season.
Many of those are the future of current players' contracts, players who are set to become free agents, and more.
The loss of the game hurts, and so does the injury to Tony Pollard. Once he went down, the game seemed to flip.
Pollard was the juice of that offense this season, and not saying the Cowboys would have won, but the game probably would have ended a bit differently.
According to multiple sources, Pollard suffered a fractured left fibula that will require surgery, typically requiring a three-month recovery. The injury now leaves the door open for the front office to decide what to do with him and Ezekiel Elliott before next season.
For a second straight year after the Divisional Round of the playoffs, we are wondering what will happen this off-season to try to get this team over the hump.
Jerry Jones didn't take long to speak to the media after the game was over, saying how sorry he felt for the fans, and blah blah blah.
We hear the same thing every single season.
Mike McCarthy is going nowhere after back-to-back 12-win seasons and a playoff victory; he has already noted that. Dan Quinn and Kellen Moore are where it gets tricky.
Is there any decision that needs to be made on Mike McCarthy’s future with the Cowboys? “No,” Jerry Jones said. “No, not at all.”
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) January 23, 2023
Quinn will have plenty of chances to leave to become a head coach somewhere.
If he does, the Cowboys may be hurting on that side of the ball. The defense was excellent yesterday; they did everything right outside of a Trevon Diggs dropped INT that led to a touchdown.
This is the worst. Waiting to see if the front office will take the necessary steps to help get this team further than the Divisional Round.
Everyone is going to have their thoughts on what this team should do. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, all we are is just another voice.
We know the core group of players will probably be run back out here next season for another try. Whether we like it or not, if the Pollard injury didn't show the guys up in the booth that this team needs more playmakers, then I don't know what will.
Lamb had 10 catches for 117 yards.
The next leading receiver for Dallas was Dalton Schultz, who had five catches for 27 yards.
How can they look at this and think this is enough to get it done?
Nonetheless, they had enough to win this game. The injury to Pollard hurt, the interceptions hurt, and the dropped interception by Diggs hurt. Yet they still found a way to stay in the game.
I'm not holding my breath on Jones and the front office making splash moves to help this team.
IMO, the biggest and most important question is what to do at QB1. Do they continue with this very inconsistent, overrated player, or do they possibly try to trade him while he still might have SOME value to another team. The problem with a trade is that teams SEE how a lot of these better and younger QBs are playing so well. Hence why take on this player with that contract and with his question marks going forward.
The unfortunate thing about this loss is that rest of the team played their hearts out. You could see the hustle and the intensity from most of the players. CeeDee was a warrior. MG beat his man deep by four yards and was wide open, only to have the pass thrown on the wrong side. MG would be considered a much better WR with a better QB as DP has been missing him deep for years. Hopefully TP will recover well.
Defense played pretty great. DL, OO, DW, LVE, JH put out great efforts and stood out. Even KJ made a play!
Overall, this team has very good complimentary players on offense AND defense. IMO, they are missing out on these chances and being passed over by other teams mostly because of their QB1 play. Been commenting here for years about this problem. The “writing has been on the wall” for some time, but apparently not everyone had read it.
Yup. The Dak Defenders are already out in force on most of the Cowboy fan sites. His lack of consistency and accuracy bubbled back to the top at the worst possible time…again. He needs to be surrounded by guys that can contort their bodies and have hands of velcro to bail Dak out on most of his throws. There were several times where CeeDee and Gallup both looked at Dak like “WTF was that” as the pass was way behind, way over thrown or forced them to stop and dive for it.
Dak’s problems are all between his ears as he’s shown he can make the throws…when he’s on. Unfortunately, he’s usually off at the worst times.
Yeah lone, if you remember, that’s how MG got injured last year, having to “contort” his body making a catch down the left side line.
I was one of those Dak defenders, but it’s impossible not to be honest and just admit he’s very limited in the things he does well. While he constantly makes bad throws and poor decisions, I’m convinced that most of this falls on Kellen Moore and his sketchy play calling and asking more from Prescott than he’s capable of. Hopefully the Jones Family Geniuses will see the necessity of drafting his replacement this Spring. It can’t be in the 6th or 7th round, but rather in the first or second round.
Hello Shane. I simply do not have the words to describe how hurt and disappointed I am right now. That game was there for the taking, but we couldn’t or wouldn’t take it! I understand that McCarthy and Moore will be back in Dallas next season, but I can’t help but believe these two are at the heart of the numerous problems in the Organization. Jerry and Stephen Jones leaves much to be desired from a General Manager standpoint, but unfortunately for Cowboys fans, these guys are IN CHARGE! Kellen Moore drags this offense down more often than not. I hope he gets hired away from Dallas, but anybody thinking if hiring him probably have changed their minds after that debacle in San Francisco. At some point McCarthy and Moore will be gone but so will the talent that’s currently on this team. It’s a terrible waste and a shame this team always comes up short of it’s desired goals. Kellen Moore continues to ask more of Prescott than he’s capable of doing on a consistent basis. With a quarterback as limited as he is, a powerful running game is absolutely essential. Elliott IS NO LONGER capable of providing that. Hopefully this Spring when it’s time to draft they will draft a big running back and at least one decent Linebacker to pair with Parsons. Vander Esch and Barr is not the answers. Further they have to admit their ineptitude with singing Dak to such a ridiculous contract, and draft his replacement. That means not in the 6th or 7th round, but somebody in the 1st or second round. Dak has to be replaced as the so called franchise quarterback. I will ALWAYS BELIEVE Kellen Moore is at the heart of this team’s offensive woes!!!!
I can‘t seem to find anything anywhere on Cowboys media whether the plate Dak had surgically placed in his right hand is to be removed in the off-season. Any of you fellas heard anything on this? The chronic interception problem seems to have started happening with regularity after the hand surgery, and as the weather got colder. The 40+ point games against CHI, MIN, IND and PHI were in dome stadiums. He hadn’t had a history of interceptions before this year. If the hand were bothering him, I wouldn’t expect Dak to have said anything about it but I think there needs to be pointed questions from Jerry, Stephen and the team MD about it. I think the Cowboys are going to have to roll with Dak for at least another year, and hopefully add a few pieces around him. The luck of averages is with us, or at least that’s what someone told me.