USAT: Cowboys Wire audio clip

USAT: Cowboys Wire

Jan 24, 2022

The 2021 season ended on a very sour note for the Dallas Cowboys. After 12 wins and their fourth NFC East title in the last eight years, the Cowboys failed to win a single playoff game. Countless legends like Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Charles Haley have voiced their opinions on what went wrong for Dallas after they had such a great opportunity to make a run for the franchise’s sixth Super Bowl title. - Another all-time great in Dallas recently weighed in. Former safety Darren Woodson, who was a part of the Cowboys’ dynasty of the 1990s that won three Super Bowls, sat down with ESPN’s Ed Werder. The four-time All-Pro and Cowboys all-time leading tackler made it clear the 2021 version dropped the ball. - “This is absolutely a letdown of the season. When you have that type of talent – and I’ve always looked at it as you know, I played in the 90s and I know we had a Super Bowl caliber team – but you always know that window of opportunity is only gonna last so long,” Woodson said. - Regardless of what talent a football team has it can be overshadowed by making continuous mistakes. The Cowboys had the No. 1 offense in terms of points and yards and the top defense when it came to turnovers and stopping third-down conversions this season. However, they also led the NFL with 127 penalties for a whopping 1,103 yards (second-most in the league). - When the Cowboys hosted the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round they picked the wrong time to continue producing flags. They were called for 14 penalties, and Woodson spoke on how that undisciplined nature will show up when it matters the most, in the playoffs. - “It goes back to what Jimmy Johnson used to say. You are what you are,” Woodson said. “Bill Parcells used to say the same thing…So if you’re a team that’s laden with penalties, and false starts, and not disciplined, it’s going to show first round of the playoffs.” - The Cowboys have not made the NFC Championship Game since their last Super Bowl season in 1995. It’s not like they haven’t had opportunities to break that drought. - In 2007, the Cowboys went 13-3 and were the top seed in the NFC but lost to the eventual champion New York Giants. The 2014 season saw Dallas go 12-4 and win their first playoff game since 2009. Unfortunately, their season was ended against the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round. Probably their best chance to break their conference championship drought was in 2016 when they went 13-3 and once again possessed the top seed. However, just like two years prior, the Packers sent them home in the divisional round. - Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones, who is never at a loss for words, has gotten a lot of the blame for the team’s lack of success over the past quarter-century because of how he seems to be too involved with the actual football decisions and not letting his coaching staff handle it. - Woodson isn’t of that mindset. Instead, he points the finger at the players. - “Everyone wants to say it’s Jerry’s fault. And I’m not a firm believer in that,” said Woodson. “I think Jerry’s put together some pretty good football teams…I mean, at some point the players have got to win the games.” - The Cowboys certainly had another chance with a 12-5 campaign this season. It ended in a much too familiar fashion though, and at some point, the Cowboys have to show up in the postseason and take advantage of having a team that has a chance to win it all. - - List - - The Quinn Conundrum and 12 guys who could replace him as Cowboys DC - - - - - - - List - - Tyler Linderbaum's fit with Cowboys is obvious, the path to them less so - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Email - - - - - Sign up - - - - - - - - Like this article? - Sign up for the Cowboys Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning - - - - An error has occured - - - Please re-enter your email address. - - - - - - Thanks for signing up! - - - You'll now receive the top Cowboys Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

F i l t e r   &   S o r t 
Mar 17, 2022