The biggest debate of the early part of the NFL season was Tony Romo or Dak Prescott. In spite of what some of his critics have said after this weekend, the deliberation has now ended. Dak Prescott is the Cowboys quarterback moving forward, but is that really the biggest thing going on in Dallas? The Cowboys have had a formula that they have tried to execute since the early 90s. Now they may be closer than ever to duplicating what they had two decades ago. So what is the Cowboys’ formula for success?
The Dallas Cowboys Formula For Success
It is a simple concept and has three main components: build a dominating offensive line, have an elite talent at running back, and play lights out defense. The Cowboys teams of the early 90s had this formula down. The Cowboys of the 90s had an incredibly talented defense and hall-of-fame running back Emmitt Smith had huge holes opened for him by what most would consider the best offensive line of the era.
Reliving the Past
Now the Cowboys have gone back to the future. Ezekiel Elliott has not only lived up to the hype, he has exceeded it. He is truly a special player, but he is not doing it alone. The Cowboys have built a strong offensive line which clears the way for Elliott and protects the quarterback whoever that may be. The Cowboys defense has been strong this year giving up less than 19 points per game. When you put these factors together, you get a Cowboys team that is a Super Bowl favorite in their conference.
Although this analysis covers the biggest factors, it leaves a few things out. For one thing, it doesn’t cover the change at the quarterback position. This omission is intentional because with this offensive line, running back, and defense either quarterback would have this team sitting at or near the top of the conference. There was merit to the Dak/Romo debate, but in the short term, these three factors are what has gotten the Cowboys where they are.
