The Landry Hat
Fansided

Dallas Cowboys season a success regardless of Saturday’s outcome

By Matt Holleran

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 05: Ezekiel Elliott #21 of the Dallas Cowboys gets a hug from Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys after a fourth quarter touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks during the Wild Card Round at AT&T Stadium on January 05, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 05: Ezekiel Elliott #21 of the Dallas Cowboys gets a hug from Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys after a fourth quarter touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks during the Wild Card Round at AT&T Stadium on January 05, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images
Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images /

First, let’s start with the most criticized Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. Despite Prescott’s poor start to the season, the Dallas signal caller had nearly as good of a stat line as he did in his rookie year in 2016. He bumped his completion percentage back up to 67.7%, threw 22 touchdowns to just eight interceptions, and had a QBR of 96.9, 10 points higher than his rating in 2017.

Prescott was his best when it mattered most and led six game-winning drives, one of which coming last Saturday in the Wild Card round against the Seattle Seahawks. Another reason the Dallas season was a success is the outstanding production from running back Ezekiel Elliott.

Elliott had another amazing year, being named a second-team All-Pro and running for a league-leading 1,434 yards. There was a clear reduction in that quality of offensive line play from the Cowboys this season in regards to the 2016 team.

Whether it is missing center Travis Frederick, Tyron Smith battling injuries, or the struggles of rookie Connor Williams, Elliott had to work very hard to post the production he did this season. The line was not fantastic, but has played much better and looked more like themselves down the stretch run of this season.

He also added another element to his game leading the team in receptions with 77 for 567 yards. Speaking off receiving, how about the Amari Cooper trade that Dallas was criticized for “giving up too much.” Cooper ended up leading the team in receiving yards in just nine games with 53 catches for 725 yards.

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