3 things that will prevent the Cowboys from winning a Super Bowl in 2022

1. Depth at offensive tackle

For a team that’s had to rely on their swing tackle so often over the past six years, the Cowboys surprisingly did very little to make sure they were covered in that department heading into 2022.

Terence Steele was an undrafted free agent in 2020 and Mike McCarthy had enough faith in him to place him in this role as a rookie. Steele struggled mightily as he replaced an injured Tyron Smith( who missed 14 games that season), but he was much better in 2021 when he had to replace Smith again who missed six games, and La’el Collins who was suspended for five.

Dallas liked Steele enough to move on from Collins, making him the starter at right tackle heading into 2022. Perhaps he steps in and does well enough to replace Collins but the real problem will be when Smith misses time — and considering he’s missed at least three games in every season since 2016 and a total of 32 in that span, it’s a safe bet he will miss some starts this year.

Behind their current starters, the Cowboys have no proven options. The top two players are Josh Ball — a fourth-round pick from 2021 who missed his entire rookie season with an injury — and Matt Waletzko — a fifth-round pick from North Dakota who just suffered an injury.

Perhaps they will again find someone that can be developed the way they did with Steele, but remember, Steele was a major problem as a rookie. Expecting either of these inexperienced players to step in and immediately be starting-caliber when called upon could wind up being a major issue for this team.