Reviewing how the Cowboys performed in the 2022 NFL Draft: The Morning After

 It is a fun time to hand out grades and thoughts about how each team did in the draft. Of course, this is a massive waste of everyone’s time because trying to figure out how a player is going to help a franchise over the next four to five years would require time travel and probably the gift of prophecy.

I have looked into both, but neither is covered with my membership status at the present time. We don’t know what the new city, the new full bank account, the franchise he joins with the coaching staff that he is thrust into will do to his attempt to take a massive step up in competition. This could be really easy or it could be too much.

https://theathletic.com/3288242/2022/05/02/cowboys-draft-analysis/

The Cowboys come out flat and fall short again in familiar plot line: The Morning After

 He doesn’t always make sense when he’s talking in various pitches of excitement, but there was definitely a moment when Tony Romo said something that hit everything precisely right on the head of the nail.

He said, “Wow! That was actually a brilliant play (idea), but you kind of look silly now.”

Now, tell me, what do you think he was talking about?

Because in Sunday’s end to the Cowboys season, we could put that in so many places in the script.

https://theathletic.com/3074975/2022/01/17/the-cowboys-come-out-flat-and-fall-short-again-in-familiar-plot-line-the-morning-after/

Cowboys beat Eagles reserves like a drum — the playoffs have begun: The Morning After

 On Saturday night, the Cowboys played their final scrimmage before their playoff opener. They tried to simulate a real game with actual NFL players assembled to play against inside a real and hostile NFL stadium that was filled with real fans cheering against them. To make the simulation even more realistic, they had television cameras there for a broadcast and tried to play it in freezing weather.

https://theathletic.com/3058917/2022/01/09/cowboys-beat-eagles-reserves-like-a-drum-the-playoffs-have-begun-the-morning-after/

Cowboys miss opportunity to change their narrative and lose big test: The Morning After

 It all seemed too familiar.

Despite an undefeated December against teams (and more importantly, QBs) that don’t belong on the same field, Dallas still has many skeptics about its prospects this postseason due to its rather historic propensity to not deliver in the biggest of moments in this “not so new anymore” millennium.

https://theathletic.com/3048492/2022/01/03/cowboys-miss-opportunity-to-change-their-narrative-and-lose-big-test-the-morning-after/

Cowboys get their full groove back in easy rout of old rival: Sturm’s Morning After

 There used to be times around here when the local football team would ruin the holidays with incredible consistency. It was obviously unintentional, but usually from Thanksgiving until New Year’s Day, the optimism train would derail and run into the side of a tunnel at such speeds that there would be no recovery. A season that built promise would then crush it in what most would claim was “the hap-happiest season of all.”

https://theathletic.com/3037145/2021/12/27/cowboys-get-their-full-groove-back-in-easy-rout-of-old-rival-sturms-morning-after/

The Cowboys get the job done, while a few teams above them did not: The Morning After

 At the risk of being a broken record, allow me to take you down an important road that is required after Week 15 in the NFL’s Sunday slate came to a close.

For many years, I have also covered the National Hockey League. In fact, there is a pretty good chance that I covered the NHL for a longer amount of time than the NFL — even though I am old enough that both span a few decades now.

https://theathletic.com/3026524/2021/12/20/the-cowboys-get-the-job-done-while-a-few-teams-above-them-did-not-the-morning-after/

Winning ugly in Washington and the full power of the Cowboys roster shows: The Morning After

 Lost in the emotion of a fourth quarter that was much more stressful than it needed to be was the fact that some thought this team might not be able to get in and out of Washington with the win.

https://theathletic.com/3013417/2021/12/13/winning-ugly-in-washington-and-the-full-power-of-the-cowboys-roster-shows-the-morning-after/

Cowboys get the result they needed, but style points missing: The Morning After

 We learned a long time ago that this league does not award style points and its a good thing, because the Cowboys would have had a hard time collecting them for most of their Week 13 win in New Orleans.

That said, the mission was to go into New Orleans and leave with a highly desired win to steady a ship that has been anything but. While the prettiness can and will be debated on this day, that is the important objective. The Cowboys had to have their eighth win of the season and as we check the standings, they got it.

https://theathletic.com/2995562/2021/12/03/cowboys-get-the-result-they-needed-but-style-points-missing-the-morning-after/

Another wrecked Thanksgiving for the Cowboys almost feels like home: The Morning After

 There is a tradition on Thanksgiving where the Dallas Cowboys celebrate the holiday by being the main event for the NFL. Families come together at the dinner table all over the nation and at the stadium as a symbol of timeless love and familial bonds that cut through the generations. Dallas Cowboys football and Thanksgiving is one of the more hallowed traditions that let us know normalcy can exist again as it always has.

https://theathletic.com/2980089/2021/11/26/another-wrecked-thanksgiving-for-the-cowboys-almost-feels-like-home-the-morning-after/

The Cowboys badly miss in their ‘Show America’ opportunity game: The Morning After

 They had a real opportunity. The NFL had tuned in to see this Cowboys team everyone had been talking up. If they are what they are said to be, this will be a chance to make a real statement in a place where the world will take notice. Very few teams will go into a pulsating Arrowhead Stadium when the weather has turned and end the day on top. If this Dallas team — especially one without several significant pieces that will be returning soon — is able to go into and defeat the team everyone knows will most likely be still standing at the end of January, well, then the Cowboys will no longer be able to fly somewhere under the radar.

https://theathletic.com/2971295/2021/11/22/the-cowboys-badly-miss-in-their-show-america-opportunity-game-the-morning-after/

The Cowboys send an emphatic response to anyone who doubted them: The Morning After

 This one won’t require a deep dive of analysis.

Sometimes, you are just going to make sure that the opponent doesn’t matter that much. It really isn’t their fault and has very little to do with them. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The schedule works in mysterious ways.

Very sorry to the good folks of Atlanta for stepping in the way of that speeding train. You didn’t really do anything to deserve it.

Dallas was going to send a strong message to the NFL on Sunday and the team across the field was going to be victimized. The beatdown was thorough and emphatic and, frankly, without mercy.

https://theathletic.com/2956643/2021/11/15/the-cowboys-send-an-emphatic-response-to-anyone-who-doubted-them-the-morning-after/

Broncos remind the Cowboys of truths to remember about success: The Morning After

 “Success isn’t owned. It is leased. And rent is due every day.” — JJ Watt (maybe, but he probably got it from somewhere, too).

This one is going to be filled with half-truths and clichés. For every success story includes moments where the subject deals with failure. Some of it is because the endeavor is difficult and things that are worth achieving involve tasks that are not easy to navigate. Other times, it simply is because the protagonist forgot how hard they worked to get their taste of success and attempted to take a shortcut to see what role preparation played in the process.

https://theathletic.com/2942748/2021/11/08/broncos-remind-the-cowboys-of-truths-to-remember-about-success-the-morning-after/

Cooper Rush leads the Cowboys to an unlikely road victory in made-for-TV moment: The Morning After

 Surely on a crazy day in the NFL where backup QBs were beating massive favorites in both of the other TV windows, Sunday night would want a bite of the apple, as well.

This column is going to be mostly about Cooper Rush.

https://theathletic.com/2926746/2021/11/01/cooper-rush-leads-the-cowboys-to-an-unlikely-road-victory-in-made-for-tv-moment-the-morning-after/

Cowboys win instant classic in New England and Dak Prescott dominates late: The Morning After

 We are lucky the bye week is next because it would sure be nice to watch this game again next weekend.

The Cowboys won a game we will talk about for quite a while in Foxboro on Sunday and extended their win streak to five games. They are learning to win games that are defined as “lose-able” and that is a trait the Cowboys were unfamiliar with for a very long time. But, feeling the slap of adversity late in games and collapsing or rising back and responding is an easy choice for this crew, it appears.

https://theathletic.com/2896974/2021/10/18/cowboys-win-instant-classic-in-new-england-and-dak-prescott-dominates-late-the-morning-after/

Cowboys’ homestand finished with another demolition of battered rival: The Morning After

 The Dallas Cowboys approach their third road test this season with plenty to feel great about.

Sweeping through a three-game homestand is a sign of a team that has a strong likelihood to be playing meaningful football in January. Especially when that team is thoroughly posting divisional wins that are flat-out mismatch destructions.

https://theathletic.com/2882035/2021/10/11/cowboys-homestand-finished-with-another-demolition-of-battered-rival-the-morning-after/

Most dominating quarter in Cowboys modern history? Third quarter picture perfect: The Morning After

 North Texas framing stores were not expecting the lines Monday morning when they opened their stores, but that was what they faced as lines formed at numerous stores. Cowboys fans had mobilized with the rising sun. They all had a common goal: To frame that third quarter of the demolition of the Carolina Panthers for purposes of posterity.

https://theathletic.com/2866557/2021/10/04/most-dominating-quarter-in-cowboys-modern-history-third-quarter-picture-perfect-the-morning-after/

Cowboys’ decisive win against Philadelphia demonstrates their ceiling is high: Sturm’s Morning After

 Thorough.

That is what you call a win like that. A thorough and decisive beatdown where the final score flattered the team that was steamrolled.

And when you do it in your home opener and against a hated rival with many important pieces missing — seven starters were out for various reasons — you have to leave AT&T Stadium on Monday night thinking that the 2021 Dallas Cowboys are a different animal.

https://theathletic.com/2854393/2021/09/28/cowboys-decisive-win-against-philadelphia-demonstrates-their-ceiling-is-high-sturms-morning-after/

The Cowboys figure out a way to win when things aren’t perfect: Sturm’s Morning After

 At least once a year — often about this time on the calendar — I feel compelled to have the “winning talk” with the good folks who are nice enough to read my column.

The “winning talk” is pretty simple and yet pretty disappointing to the part of the Cowboys’ fandom group that enjoys being mad at this team. They want wins, but they want them to be nice and neat with no mud on the clothing. They want utter annihilation and an enemy that taps out before the fight has begun. They don’t like the grind, the street fight, nor the grueling feeling of being stretched and contorted for three hours of internal struggle. They don’t like how long it takes to clean off the blood and dirt from the uniforms.

https://theathletic.com/2836555/2021/09/20/the-cowboys-figure-out-a-way-to-win-when-things-arent-perfect-sturms-morning-after/

The Morning After: Kelvin Joseph pick reveals Cowboys’ different approach to pursue different results

 Lest there be any question that the Cowboys have diverted their philosophical approach to player selection, look no further than the past few days and the 2021 NFL Draft. This is absolutely not the old regime of Jason Garrett and his mighty men.

https://theathletic.com/2558928/2021/05/01/the-morning-after-kelvin-joseph-pick-reveals-cowboys-different-approach-evident-to-pursue-different-results/

The Morning After: Cowboys defense grabs Micah Parsons and ignores the sunk cost

 On one hand, there are plenty of folks who have enjoyed all of the media draft work that has been done for 100 days only to see the Cowboys show us that we can read the tea leaves all we want and still not see the train coming right at us.

On the other hand, perhaps they were the ones hit by the train and are now spinning the story to appear as if they were playing chess while the rest of us were stuck on checkers all along.

https://theathletic.com/2555848/2021/04/30/the-morning-after-cowboys-defense-grabs-micah-parsons-and-ignores-the-sunk-cost/