Were the Dallas Cowboys Injured Last Season?
The Dallas Cowboys’ were counted out last season by many in week 1. Memes about them already being out of playoff contention floated around social media when franchise QB Dak Prescott suffered an injury that turned out to be a thumb fracture against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He ended up needing surgery and remained out until week 7, returning against the Detroit Lions in 24-6 victory. What people didn’t expect was that back-up QB Cooper Rush would lead his team to a 4-1 record while Dak recovered. Helping to keep them relevant with both the Eagles and Giants both of which were racking up wins.
#Cowboys QB Dak Prescott likely suffered a Bennett fracture and will likely be out for 6-8 weeks.@sportsdocmatt provides insight on Dak's hand injury, and when we will see him back on the field. pic.twitter.com/vK8ueZemCI
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 12, 2022
That was the story for much of the Cowboy’s season. Either they would have an injury, and someone would step up or the injured player would tough it out and still make it to gameday to give everything they had. Dallas as a whole started middle of the pack in terms of health due to a few big injuries prior to the season including a hamstring avulsion fracture to OT Tyron Smith. With a Banged-Up Score ranking of 84.6 which landed them #14 of 32 teams they needed to either hope to get players back or stay the course and hope that they could climb the rankings as other teams fell further into the season. The Cowboys did just that for a while holding steady and eventually making it up to the 8th healthiest team but as the season moved on, they began to yet again drop and at one point even landed at #25.
Who got injured on the Dallas Cowboys last season?
Luckily for them they were able to keep winning despite a PCL injury to starting TE Dalton Schultz, an MCL issue to RB Ezekiel Elliott and the previous mentioned Dak Prescott thumb fracture that required surgery. Despite the injuries to their top offensive talent, they still finished as the #2 healthiest team in the NFC East thanks to Washington and the Giants troubles which we will discuss next week.
Defensively they had some trouble has well. An Achilles tear to CB Anthony Brown sidelined him starting week 14 and Jayron Kearse dealt with MCL issues in the first few games of the season. That didn’t stop them from ranking #5 in points per game allowed last season. Much of that thanks to the 2021 defensive rookie of the year and 2x all pro OLB Micah Parsons who despite multiple ailments including illness, knee, shoulder, hand and groin injuries still piled up 13.5 sacks.
How did the Dallas Cowboys make the playoffs?
As we dive back into the overall health trend of Dallas though they fell over the course of the season which is common, they were able to hold a relatively flatter trend line. They had some valleys and peaks for sure but you can tell they started to get into a groove with the players they had and were able to play together. When the playoffs came they even defied the health odds and were able to defeat the healthier Tampa Bay Buccaneers but unfortunately for Cowboys fans couldn’t do it a second time facing a healthier San Francisco team.
Who should the Dallas Cowboys draft this year?
With Ezekiel Elliott and Dalton Schultz now gone the Cowboys have put all their faith in RB Tony Pollard who is coming off a High Ankle Sprain and fracture in the backfield and Tyler Ferguson at Tight End. Chances are they look to the first round to shore up one of these positions and either get Pollard some extra help with the picking of Bijan Robinson if he is still on the board or one of the TE’s coming out in this years draft as draft expert Ryan “The Ghost” Berger alluded to in the Dallas Cowboys Rough Draft. On the defensive side they could also look to strengthen their interior defensive line however I see this happening in the later rounds unless they simply feel the two previous mentioned positions just don’t have players that fit where they are drafting.
From a health standpoint, Dallas will hopefully make some improvements this next year. They have consistently had injury issues over the past few years in various positions that continue to keep them short of their goals. As I have said in the past you can outplay health only for so long before it catches up to you. Dallas managed to do that last year but you can’t keep that up over time.
