Dallas Cowboys: Reviving an old formula with a new twist

The feeling around the Dallas Cowboys is much more optimistic this season than the year before. Is America’s Team on their way back?

As the Dallas Cowboys enter their last week in Oxnard, California, there seems to be a strong feeling of positivity in the air. It almost seemed as though as soon as rookie wide receiver Michael Gallup caught his first NFL pass, all the turmoil and distress fans and the media heaped upon the team quieted.

In the few days since the opening preseason contest, pessimistic followers have eased off their posts in fan forums and media outlets have stopped running segments on quarterback Dak Prescott‘s camp inconsistencies. But for those who believe in the president of player personnel, Stephen Jones, and vice president of player personnel Will McClay’s vision, things are coming along as they should.

While no real results have occurred and the regular season is weeks away, the aura around the team feels drastically different than it did at this time last year. Running back Ezekiel Elliott has been an exemplary teammate and a new hope has been bestowed upon the defense. It’s looking more and more like the plan is coming together.

There are multiple formulas for building a champion in the NFL, with a strong running game and great defense as the traditional pillars for successful teams. In the past few decades, the running game has been deemphasized and prolific passing attacks with opportunistic defenses have been the calling card of the best teams of the decade. The Cowboys are attempting to revive an old formula with a new twist.

By having the league’s best running game and compiling an athletic and talented defense, the Cowboys are already on pace to compete as a running game and defense oriented team. But with the reconfiguration of the wide receiver corps, Dallas has a good chance to unlock the 4,000-passing-yard potential Prescott showed distributing the ball around his rookie year.

By doing that, the team can be a well-rounded competitor and not succumb to the weakness of most run and defense-heavy teams; a game manager that cannot do enough to win close games.

While we can be fairly sure that Elliott and the offensive line will be top notch, the defense’s potential is still only that. And the passing game has not definitively proved anything yet. But if things keep going as they have in Cowboys camp, they might surprise themselves with how good they really could be.