I mean, the OL and running game certainly contributed a lot to his success. Put him in Philly and we'r
e likely not talking about Dak right now. But those advantages aren't going away. Guy is a bonafide franchise QB with a top 3 RB, an elite outside WR in Dez, a very good slot guy in Beasley, and the best OL in the league. Cowboys are in very good shape over the next few years.
Defensively, they're not a dumpster fire or anything but there's work to be done on that side of the ball for sure.
I think this team makes the SB in the next 2-3 years.
I am NOT saying he is, or will be... but the progression over the year from managing early, then doing stuff... the trend/growth reminds me of a QB in 2001. I don't know who called the spike on first down, but that's the only thing I saw that was what I consider a mental mistake - and that might well have been Garrett.
The shame is I don't believe that they can trade their largest expendable asset due to the cap implications. Romo is going to muddy the waters for a while. (I won't speak ill of Romo either - he could have been a huge distraction this year in Dallas but like Bledsoe he took the high road for the benefit of the team.) And once the Romo decision is made, who is the backup QB?
I've wanted to see Dallas get away from Free for years now... I don't feel any different today. The difference yesterday also could very well have been Gregory which is a damn shame. I do think they've got to get themselves a pass rush (even with 4 sacks), because consistent pass rush is so valuable. I wouldn't be surprised if they looked at increasing the skill of the secondary as well. I guess it depends on what they believe the defensive philosophy is going forward. They have some advantage in that with their offensive line/RB they can somewhat control the clock/field position and not over expose the defense.
One pattern in NFL is that it is relatively easy (I know, I know) to build a team to the point Dallas is at now. It is really hard to draft/trade/sign FAs to get over the hump to the next tier of consistency and competitiveness. It will be really interesting to see what happens between now and training camp.