Sunday could not have gone worse for the Dallas Cowboys as the Philadelphia Eagles utterly undressed the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59 en route to a 40-22 victory. It is the Eagles' second Super Bowl championship in eight years.
Jalen Hurts deservedly took home MVP honors after a near-flawless game under center. Hurts accounted for three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) and nearly 300 total yards. He led the team with 72 rushing yards as the Chiefs held Saquon Barkley in check.
Hurts was the best quarterback on the field and is a worthy Super Bowl MVP, but the game was not decided by the Eagles' talent-studded offense.
The Cowboys need to replicate Philadelphia's winning blueprint this offseason, or at least part of it, if they have any hope of making a deep playoff run in 2025. One move in particular is screaming to be made after watching Sunday's beatdown.
Cowboys need to start free agency by re-signing DT Osa Odighizuwa after Eagles' Super Bowl win
While Hurts was excellent, the game was decided in the trenches by the Eagles' four-man rush starring Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith.
Sweat alone registered seven pressures and two sacks. Williams had four pressures, two sacks and created the strip-sack of Mahomes in the fourth quarter that put the exclamation point on Philly's all-time defensive showing. They completely wrecked the game, but Smith consistently won his matchups while Carter commanded double teams throughout.
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The Eagles pressured Mahomes on 53.3% of his dropbacks sans garbage time, per PFF. That is the second-highest pressure rate of Mahomes' career. In total, Mahomes was pressured 30 times and sacked seven times. It was the highest sack rate of Mahomes' career.
On top of Mahomes not having time to process anything, nobody was open because Philly dropped seven into coverage since their four-man rush feasted. The key behind making seemingly immortal QBs look mortal is generating pressure with a four-man front.
The Cowboys obviously won't be able to build the Eagles' defensive line overnight. However, re-signing Odighizuwa gives them the best chance to maximize their pass rush in 2025 and beyond.
Odighizuwa was one of the most disruptive interior defenders in football this past season as far as getting after the quarterback. Only two defensive tackles registered more pressures in 2024 than Odighizuwa's 60, per PFF (subscription required). The same can be said for Odighizuwa's 13 QB hits and he ranked second among interior defenders with a 15.1% pass-rush win rate.
It stands to reason that Odighizuwa can reach another level if he's paired with a quality nose tackle. While 2023 first-round pick Mazi Smith showed some promise in year two, Cowboys fans threw a party any time he executed the fundamentals of the one-tech position.
Smith is not going anywhere, but that shouldn't stop the front office from searching for an upgrade whether it be in free agency or the draft.
Micah Parsons is obviously a game-wrecker and Dallas would do well to pair him with a quality sidekick in the draft. However, the No. 1 priority this offseason has to be retaining Odighizuwa and signing or drafting another defensive tackle.
Williams and Carter were unstoppable all year and made life easier on Sweat and Smith, who combined had just 14.5 sacks during the regular season.
It starts and ends in the trenches. That's where the Cowboys' focus should be this offseason.