{"id":218037,"date":"2025-02-20T15:30:47","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T20:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=218037"},"modified":"2025-02-19T19:14:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T00:14:33","slug":"dallas-cowboys-super-bowl-hopes-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/20\/dallas-cowboys-super-bowl-hopes-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"A Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Could Be in the Near Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2024 Dallas Cowboys season died in a dumpster fire. What initially felt hopeful crumbled in no time at all. Yet, Jerry Jones believes that the Cowboys have what it takes to get to a Super Bowl sooner rather than later. He\u2019s allowing Brian Schottenheimer to build a crew of coaches<\/a> that might be able to go the distance. There are obviously pieces missing from this puzzle. However, the Cowboys are<\/em> just right there.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dallas Cowboys Are Closer to a Super Bowl Than They\u2019ve Been in Years<\/strong><\/h2>\n

What Went Wrong for the Dallas Cowboys in 2024<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The number one problem with 2024 was the massive amounts of injuries. One after the other, the Cowboys players began dropping like flies. It started early, back in training camp with injuries to Sam Williams and DaRon Bland. It continued with Zack Martin in and out of commission, Dak Prescott taking a fall mid-season, and both DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons<\/a> being taken out for weeks. When a majority of the Pro Bowl guys are on IR, it becomes difficult to win games.<\/span><\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t help that the team refused to stick to running the ball. This came back to bite them in several games. In fact, games where Rico Dowdle had over 15 touches resulted in wins over 50% of the time. The percentage would be 86% if it weren\u2019t for the muffed blocked punt against the Bengals and Trey Lance starting in the final game versus the Commanders. Dowdle\u2019s stats placed him as a top ten<\/a> if not top five running back this season. Utilizing him would\u2019ve created more wins earlier on.<\/span><\/p>\n

With a brand new defensive coordinator and the loss of their franchise QB, things were bound to be shaky at best. Some positives popped up though. The Cowboys managed to put many young faces to the test. They started four rookies. Pretty much everyone who was an offensive lineman got into the starting lineup rotation<\/a>. They were able to truly get deep into their roster and see what they were made of.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What Needs to Go Well for 2025<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Unlike the previous offseason, which was mostly uneventful, the Dallas Cowboys need to be active. If they\u2019re letting go of Rico Dowdle, they\u2019ll need a new running back in order to make momentous strides and ease the stress on Prescott. No matter what, they need another outstanding wide receiver. They tried to make it work with just CeeDee Lamb<\/a>. While he\u2019s phenomenal, there\u2019s a desperate cry for someone else to be a legitimate threat on the field.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coaches need to help players adjust to the new scheme quickly. The difficulty with Mike Zimmer began when he couldn\u2019t get his system off the ground fast enough. This led to loss after loss until the Cowboys figured out how to play effectively in the new scheme. With a brand new defensive coordinator in Matt Eberflus<\/a>, changes are on the horizon. It\u2019s a matter of whether the team can adjust to them quickly or not.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lastly, the Dallas Cowboys will have to basically hit the jackpot when it comes to the draft. That would be impossible, but thankfully, they renewed VP of Personnel Will McClay. McClay’s track record of bringing in all of the current talent for the team speaks for itself. Specifically, those first and second-round picks must be substantial difference-makers. After all, they\u2019re so close. At least, according to Jerry Jones after several head coaching interviews. These were his exact words at the press conference introducing Brian Schottenheimer<\/a> on January 27, 2025:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI believe we\u2019re hanging around the rim. I think we\u2019ve got in place a team that can get there, right now. I had other coaches tell me, that were wanting the job, \u2018You\u2019re right there\u2019.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is the moment and the Cowboys can take it and run to a championship for the first time in decades. But only if they take the steps to get there.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo: [Tim Heitman] – USA Today Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Cowboys still have a long way to go to get to a Super Bowl, but a few significant moves could put them closer than before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5238,"featured_media":218074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[33008,7422,889],"class_list":["post-218037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cowboys","tag-2025-nfl-offseason","tag-dallas-cowboys-news","tag-jerry-jones"],"modified_by":"Michael Zimmelman","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218037"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218075,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218037\/revisions\/218075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}