Dak Prescott's six-week absence for a thumb injury sustained Week 1 against Tampa Bay could have easily ended the Dallas Cowboys' season. Instead, Dallas is 6-2 after winning six of the next seven games.
Improbable as it seemed at the time of the injury, the Cowboys are firmly in the midst of the division championship race thanks in part to the performances of several key players. Although the first half was a resounding success, Dallas has problems like any NFL team. Here's a look at the Cowboys' two top performers from the first half of the season, plus the player who needs to improve most to avoid being benched as the playoffs approach.
Cowboys' best players
2. Tony Pollard
If there is one player in the Cowboys' offense who deserves his flowers, that would be Tony Pollard. He was expected to carry more freight for the Cowboys in 2022, but even his biggest fans might not have expected him to be this productive.
Midway through the season Pollard is the fourth-most efficient runner in football amongst those with at least 35 attempts. Pollard's 6.2 yards per carry has amounted to 506 total rushing yards, but the speedster's scoring ability has made him an invaluable part of the offense this season. In the midst of a rocky start for the offense, Pollard has scored five touchdowns in eight games. Ezekiel Elliott has four, CeeDee Lamb has three and Jake Ferguson has a pair, but no other Cowboy has reached the promised land more than once.
Cooper Rush deserves a lot of credit for keeping the offense afloat in Prescott's absence, but Pollard's first half production has been the most explosive part of an offense that has looked pretty stale at times. In his lone game as the Cowboys' lead running back as Elliott nursed a knee injury against the Bears in Week 8, Pollard went off for 147 total yards and three touchdowns.
Lamb is quietly on track for 1,000 yards, and Elliott is having a solid year as well, but nobody in Dallas' offense has managed to make a splash like Pollard has so far this season.
It's best not to overthink who Dallas' midseason MVP should be. Micah Parsons' generational talent has been on full display through the first eight games of 2022.
Dallas decided at the beginning of the season to lean on Parsons' pass-rushing skills more than they did in his rookie season, and the move has payed huge dividends. The former Penn State star's eight sacks is tied for second-most in the league, and his 32.0% pass-rush ranks best in the NFL among edge defenders, per ESPN.
Parsons blossoming as a pass rusher early on this season has been a tremendous part of Dallas' overall effectiveness at getting after the quarterback. He's joined forces with DeMarcus Lawrence, Dorance Armstrong, Dante Fowler Jr. and Sam Williams to make up the best pass rush in football. The Cowboys lead the NFL in sacks through the first nine weeks of the season thanks to that group of players.
There is no telling what the Cowboys defense' or the team overall might look like if Parsons wasn't driving that dominance.
Cowboys' worst player
1. Anthony Brown
When this season started Anthony Brown had a stranglehold on Dallas' second cornerback position.
The former sixth-round pick had his struggles in 2021. Fans definitely will not remember the Thanksgiving game against the Las VegasRaiders fondly, when Brown seemed to get flagged on every other play. Nevertheless, a look at the overall numbers revealed a career year for the veteran cornerback.
Last season, opposing quarterbacks achieved an 84.0 passer rating when targeting Brown, per PFF. Receivers hauled in 55.6% of passes thrown his way, and Brown broke up 12 passes and intercepted three over the course of the season.
This year quarterbacks are targeting Brown to the tune of a 95.1 passer rating. Receivers are catching 61% of passes, and Brown has just 3 pass break-upsand no interceptions. Worse than that, Brown is missing tackles at a rate he never has before. Last season Brown missed 11 tackles all season. So far this year, he has already missed nine.
The Cowboys are about as limited at cornerback as they are at any position on defense. The Cowboys' only other options at cornerback behind Brown are special teams ace Kelvin Joseph, Nahshon Wright, rookie DaRon Bland and C.J. Goodwin. Dallas needs Brown to start playing more like he did last season soon, or some of those other options will have to be explored.
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