{"id":4404,"date":"2024-11-26T11:44:28","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T11:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=4404"},"modified":"2024-11-26T11:44:28","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T11:44:28","slug":"for-cowboys-winning-games-not-tanking-is-the-key-to-a-brighter-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=4404","title":{"rendered":"For Cowboys, winning games \u2014 not tanking \u2014 is the key to a brighter future"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"For<\/p>\n

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For all the relief that was palpable from coaches and players in snapping a five-game losing streak Sunday, nothing changed for the Dallas Cowboys\u2019 playoff chances in Austin Mock\u2019s playoff projection model. Prior to Week 12, the Cowboys had a less than 1 percent chance of making the playoffs. After their win against the Washington Commanders, that percentage hasn\u2019t changed. Dallas is in a nine-team clump that hasn\u2019t been mathematically eliminated but requires a miracle to reach the postseason.<\/p>\n

However, the model only projected three teams finishing with less wins than the Cowboys prior to their 34-26 victory. That number has bumped up to seven teams. Dallas doesn\u2019t play a team that currently has a winning record for more than a month. According to Tankathon, the Cowboys have the eighth-easiest schedule remaining.<\/p>\n

Tough times for fans who wanted to see the Cowboys get the highest slot possible in April\u2019s NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

Before we get any further, let\u2019s reinstate the obvious: Coaches and players in Dallas will never look to actively tank. Put aside for a moment the physical risks that come with playing such a fast, violent sport intentionally passively at this level, with the level of athletes that the NFL offers. Front-office members have the benefit of taking a big-picture view of an organization\u2019s situation. Fans, reporters and media pundits can play armchair GM, too. But coaches and players \u2014 for the most part \u2014 do not have a bigger picture mindset. For many of them, they can\u2019t afford to.<\/p>\n

After KaVontae Turpin\u2019s spectacular kickoff return Sunday stole the spotlight, he was asked what it meant to him to have that moment to help end the team\u2019s losing streak.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, I just feel like, me personally, I needed that,\u201d Turpin said. \u201cMy last contract year, I just feel like it was good for me to have that, especially on special teams. It\u2019s just wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turpin has no guarantee for where he\u2019ll be playing in 2025, or how much money he\u2019ll secure. Same goes for Brandin Cooks, who is looking to make his return from injury soon. And Cooper Rush, Jourdan Lewis, Eric Kendricks, Rico Dowdle, Osa Odighizuwa and Chauncey Golston. The list is long. Turn it over to the coaches, and the same thing applies, starting at the very top with Mike McCarthy and trickling down to all three coordinators in Mike Zimmer, Brian Schottenheimer and John Fassel.<\/p>\n

All of these individuals aren\u2019t just performing for what looks like a lost season to outsiders. They are showing up daily for their future livelihoods.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean fans can\u2019t root for whatever result they have deemed best for the Cowboys\u2019 future. If you are a member of Team Tank and Sunday\u2019s win felt like a gut punch because Travis Hunter is all but out of the picture, your feeling is understandable. But there\u2019s also a \u201cbe careful what you wish for\u201d element to it. Proponents of tanking usually say their ideal result is to see progress from individuals but for the team to lose \u2014 as if it were so simple.<\/p>\n

The Cowboys won Sunday in large part to contributions from T.J. Bass and Brock Hoffman filling big shoes admirably on the offensive line, Luke Schoonmaker finally showing up in the absence of Jake Ferguson, Josh Butler \u2014 not as young in age, but still a fresh talent \u2014 balling out in place of Trevon Diggs, and Turpin.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only one game and this isn\u2019t to say all of these players have suddenly cemented their status in Dallas for the future \u2026 but those are solid building blocks that should be encouraging for the Cowboys\u2019 plan beyond this season. The Cowboys need these developments at this point. If losses pile up and Dallas\u2019 draft slot climbs, that\u2019s fine, but it should be a consolation prize, not the goal.<\/p>\n

The Cowboys are missing starting quarterback Dak Prescott, but a lot of other pieces are in place, and many of them are young. Tyler Guyton\u2019s performance Sunday, specifically the continuing penalty problems, may help the Cowboys lose games but it doesn\u2019t make them feel better about their outlook at left tackle. If Guyton cleans up the penalties and starts performing at a high level down the stretch \u2014 and the Cowboys win games as a result \u2014 that is a good<\/em> thing.<\/p>\n

The other consequence of tanking is instilling a losing culture that leaves a strong stench. The Cowboys really don\u2019t have that issue, and haven\u2019t had it in a couple of decades. They\u2019ve had bad seasons (2020 and 2015 as recent examples) but those campaigns are usually viewed as one-offs, with winning seasons around them. No matter how this year ends, it comes immediately after three consecutive 12-win seasons, and the core of that successful regular-season run will be intact in 2025. One bad season isn\u2019t enough to rot the culture in terms of winning and losing.<\/p>\n

There are exceptions to the rule:\u00a0If a generational quarterback awaits at the top of the draft and if a team has major questions at that position. That approach isn\u2019t foolproof, either (see Jacksonville Jaguars with Trevor Lawrence) and neither circumstance applies to the Cowboys this season, anyway.<\/p>\n

Nobody knows how many wins the Cowboys will finish the 2024 season with but they will try to win every game left on the schedule. For some fans, any win will serve as a gut punch. For the Cowboys, each win is a building block to a brighter future.<\/p>\n

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The Cowboys won Sunday and made it clear that they are playing to win games this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-4404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dallas-cowboys","tag-dallas-cowboys"],"yoast_head":"\nFor Cowboys, winning games \u2014 not tanking \u2014 is the key to a brighter future - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=4404\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For Cowboys, winning games \u2014 not tanking \u2014 is the key to a brighter future - 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