Dallas Cowboys season a success regardless of Saturday’s outcome

There is much to be proud of on the offense, but the by far biggest reason this season was a success was the Cowboys defense.

Coming into the season Dallas was seen as an average defense at best, and they completely shattered this mold. The team finished sixth in points allowed per game at 20.2, seventh in yards allowed at 329 a game, and only allowed over 24 points two times on the season.

Star linebackers Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch made Dallas not miss veteran linebacker Sean Lee one bit, combining for over 200 solo tackles together. The defensive line was once again very impressive, as DeMarcus Lawrence had another outstanding season, and interior defenders Antwaun Woods and Maliek Collins both were surprisingly better than expected this season.

Veteran Tyrone Crawford also was impressive being a huge factor in Dallas getting pressure up the middle, and Byron Jones who had question marks if he even would be on the roster next year turned into an All-Pro cornerback, leading a strong, hungry, young secondary.

Now I can spout off numbers all day and if Dallas loses on Saturday no one will care, but there is a reason all these things before mentioned are big for the Cowboys. Dallas has the ability with their current cap situation to keep their young core for years to come. They can build a team that is consistently one of the more competitive ones in the league, and keep coming back to the playoffs year after year.

Despite the outside notion that the Cowboys are in “cap hell” if the Cowboys want to they can easily hang onto Prescott, Elliott, Cooper, and Lawrence for the next four to five years, and that is one of the best cores you can build your team around in the NFL.

It would be amazing to see the Cowboys win on Saturday and make their first N.F.C. Championship appearance since 1995, and I personally believe there is a good chance it’ll happen, but if it does not don’t lose sight of what happened this year. This team fought back like no other Cowboys team ever has, and gave us one of the most exciting years in recent Cowboys history.

Regardless of what happens Saturday, the Dallas Cowboys are here to stay, and even if they can’t get it done this season, there’s a good bet they will be back here for many years to come.