When the Dallas Cowboys lost Dak Prescott to a gruesome leg injury in Week 5, their season, for all intents and purposes, was over. But missing Prescott isn’t the only reason the Cowboys are 3-9.
“Outside of Dak’s injury, I would say the two bookend offensive tackles – Tyron Smith and La’el Collins – their injuries to start the season really hurt this organization,” Cowboys legend and three-time Super Bowl champion Darren Woodson said on The DA Show. “Tyron Smith has been a perennial All-Pro. La’el Collins was coming on to be one of the best right tackles – I would have put him in my top three – in the game. You’ve lost a lot. You’ve lost a ton. So those two injuries to start the season were tremendous. And then I would start on the defensive side of the ball.”
The Cowboys rank dead last in the league in scoring defense this season. They have allowed 32.8 points per game.
“The team went out and brought in players like Aldon Smith and a few other guys to shore up that defensive line, and none of it has panned out,” Woodson said. “When you go in free agency and you make a splash as far as the defensive line and that doesn’t pan out for you, then you got problems.”
Another problem for the Cowboys? Many of their big-money players have underperformed.
“I firmly believe you have to look at the players they have paid over the last couple of years,” Woodson said. “When you pay guys like Demarcus Lawrence a big contract, you expect him to play at a high level. When you pay a guy like Zeke Elliott a big contract, you expect him to play at high levels. And this team hasn’t. Jaylon Smith is another one on the defensive side of the ball, Leighton Vander Esch – the veteran guys that are here within this organization and have been here haven’t played to the level and their capabilities. That’s why you’re seeing this team fall apart.
“I’ve firmly said it over the years,” Woodson continued. “Defensively, if you can’t stop the run, you have no place in being a playoff-caliber football team. And this team can’t stop the run.”
The Cowboys rank last in the league in rush defense. They are allowing an average of 167.8 rushing yards per game. Only one other team, the Houston Texans (150.9), have allowed even 140 rushing yards per game.
“The issue is defensively,” Woodson said. “They’re going to have to pour resources through free agency and through the draft to fill some holes defensively. That’s the side of the ball that they’re going to have to take care of moving forward. If they don’t fill those holes defensively, they’re going to have to outscore everybody – and that’s a recipe for disaster, to put the onus back on Dak to outscore every team next year.”