The Dallas Cowboys, the most popular squad in the NFL and the highest value in the United States, will face the challenge of breaking a 26-year streak without playing a Super Bowl in the 2022 season.
Their coach Mike McCarthy has recognized what will be the first obstacle they must overcome to achieve it; stop being the most punished team in the league, as happened in 2021 when they received 127 penalties that cost them 1,103 yards in the regular season.
In the playoffs, indiscipline continued in the elimination they suffered in the wild card game against the San Francisco 49ers; they had 14 penalties and tied the NFL record for penalties received in a postseason game.
“We have to put last year behind us. Our number one focus is penalties, we’ve had too many, I’ve made that clear,” the coach explained a couple of weeks ago.
Despite these words in the first game of the 2022 preseason, on August 13, which they lost 17-7 to the Denver Broncos, Dallas accumulated 17 penalties, a situation that irritated McCarthy when he was questioned about the lack of improvement in his squad .
“That was in preseason, I don’t think it has anything to do with last season; I didn’t like the number of punishments, we’ve discussed it in the locker room and we’re going to review it carefully before the start of the season,” the coach stressed. .
In 2021 Dallas had the best offense in the league; more than eliminated by the 49ers he was dropped on his way to the Super Bowl for his indiscipline. In 2022 he has the arsenal to repeat as the best attack, as long as the punishments do not stop him again.
His quarterback Dak Prescott put the injuries of past seasons behind him and said he was ready to break more than two decades without reaching a championship game.
“It’s time for us to win the division again, to get to the playoffs. We have a great team. We must not slip up, be better than last year and take that next step that will take us to the championship game,” he said. Prescott on Friday.
Among the quarterback’s offensive weapons are wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, running back Ezekiel Elliott. On defense, linebacker Micah Parsons and cornerback Trevon Diggs stand out.
The most recent time the Cowboys made it to the Super Bowl was in the ’90s; they consecutively won the XXVII and XXVIII editions, in 1993 and 1994, very distant dates for the so-called “America’s Team” (the American team).
That is why the demand for McCarthy, champion with the Packers in Super Bowl XLV, is to return to the team with the highest market value among American sports franchises, with 5,500 million dollars according to Forbes, to a Super Bowl 26 years later.
The Cowboys will debut in the 2022 season on September 11 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.E