For the past 27 years, the Dallas Cowboys have been hoping for a trip back to the promised land. Ever since Dak Prescott‘s emergence back in 2016, the Dallas franchise felt their time had finally arrived, but the following seasons all ended the same way: owner Jerry Jones hanging his head in disappointment. But the roster seems determined to change that picture, and a certain defensive mind is taking up a sound leadership role.

The NFC Divisional Round saw the Cowboys fall to the San Francisco 49ers, continuing the trend of not making it past the divisional round for over two decades. Naturally, Dak Prescott and his turnovers were cited as one of the key contributing factors to the loss. Still, the emergence of another leader along Prescott has given the Cowboys hopes of finally breaking the curse.

Taking up the reins

While Dak Prescott’s performance remained questionable this past season, the Cowboys have been blessed with another pivotal piece picking up the slack. As Micah Parsons made the NFL world take notice during his sophomore year, the linebacker didn’t seem to miss a beat in his rookie year as well. Time and again, the Dallas Cowboys hung their hats on the defensive end, leading the league in sacks and giving up the fewest points per game. And a ton of this success can be credited to Parsons and his timely rushing of the opposing quarterback.

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As Parsons’ leadership on the defensive end was fairly visible, the former Penn State standout has taken up the role of the vocal leader as well. With Parsons and Prescott in unison, the Cowboys have a newfound enthusiasm going into the season.

During an interaction with the Athletic, Micah Parsons expressed the vibe around the Cowboys’ locker room. Judging from Parsons’ comments, the Cowboys are determined to ‘go all the way‘, and the roster seems to be on the same page.

With Prescott and Parsons leading the charge, the Cowboys still need to make subtle tweaks to their existing playstyle, and head coach Mike McCarthy needs to be prepared with adjustments. As their last divisional-round appearance showed, the Cowboys are heavily lacking in terms of discipline, and it’s time they cut on the unnecessary penalties and make Jerry Jones happy again.

The Mike McCarthy style of play

Despite his callus performance, Dak Prescott’s future with the Cowboys was guaranteed for the next couple of years. But the same wasn’t true for head coach Mike McCarthy. Yet, owner Jerry Jones continued with his unwavering confidence and offered McCarthy an extension.

Additionally, Jones analyzed the turnovers and the seven penalties as the costliest events during the battle against the 49ers, and a lot of that rests on McCarthy’s shoulders. The injury to Tony Pollard was a huge blow to McCarthy’s game plan, but the execution surrounding Ezekiel Elliot wasn’t simply panning out the way the team would have wanted. Clock management was an equally alarming concern, and so was the decision to punt the football away to the 49ers instead of attempting to convert a 4th-and-5 from the San Francisco 40.

However McCarthy, Prescott, and Parsons seemed to have learned valuable lessons from their setback, and hopefully, the Cowboys will be a team to be feared in the 2023 season.

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