Whilst there is a gulf in class between the good and bad teams in the conference this season, the NFC is still wide open at the top. Could we be about to relive NFL history?

The 49ers and Cowboys share 10 Super Bowls between them, with five each.

San Francisco were the team of the 1980s, with four of their five titles coming between 1982 and 1990. Dallas dominated the 90s with three Super Bowls in four seasons. 

This era also saw a historic rivalry take place between both teams. Not only did they also meet in the NFC Championship game twice in the early 1970s, they also met four times at the same stage between 1980 and 1995. 

As historic rivalries often do, this era saw one of the most famous NFL moments. Fans of the sport during the era will never forget the infamous 1981 NFC Championship game and ‘The Catch’, Joe Montana throwing to Dwight Clark late in the fourth quarter. 

However, for years, these teams never met in the big moments. Neither team has won a Super Bowl in the 21st century, with San Francisco 0-2 in Super Bowls post-2000. Dallas have not even made it to the NFC Championship since they won it all during the 1995 season. They have since gone 4-10 in the postseason. 

Before last season, these teams had not met in the playoffs since January 15th 1995. Last season’s game was a taster of what is to come. Whilst they had not met in years in the postseason, the drama never left this rivalry. A strange play call from Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy saw them run a quarterback draw with just seconds left and no timeouts. This led to a frantic rush to spike to ball from Dak Prescott ultimately fail. We could be set for another historic matchup.

And there is no reason why not. When it comes to their offenses, San Francisco and Dallas are ninth and 10th respectively for total yards per game, and both feature in the top 10 for both rushing yards and total points per game. With defenses that are both in the top five for total yards allowed per game, these two should create an explosive encounter.

As it stands, at the time of writing, the 49ers would occupy the third seed in the NFC, with a current 9-4 record whereas the Cowboys would take the fifth seed spot despite having the joint second-most wins in the conference (10-3). This is due to their division rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, having a 12-1 record as it stands.

There is a lot of belief that the 10-3 Minnesota Vikings are a team that has a better record than they should, but they are still a team with double-digit wins before the start of Week 15. This means that they, the Cowboys, Eagles and 49ers are the best teams in the conference. 

Should the 49ers, Vikings and Cowboys all win in the Wildcard Round in the currently projected matchups, this would see the Vikings host the Niners and the Eagles host the Cowboys off the back of a playoff bye.

Provided the Cowboys and 49ers both win, then once again these two teams would meet in the NFC Championship game. Both teams already lead the NFL for most NFC Championship appearances, and back-to-back seasons with these teams meeting could reload one of the game’s greatest rivalries.

The post How The Cowboys and 49ers Could Restart A Historic Rivalry appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Jake Rajala and Charlie Vakassian

Ezekiel Elliott has been one of the top running backs in the NFL for a long time. Zeke’s presence on the Dallas Cowboys has been vital for the Cowboys success. Nonetheless, the reigning NFC East champions have bigger leaders (Micah Parsons, Dak Prescot, Trevon Diggs) and a slightly different direction in 2022. 

There have been rumors that the ascending Cowboys could ship out the expensive RB. Cowboys Maven recently asked the world what the Cowboys should do with the “$17 million dollar question”. With that said, we decided to give our testimony on whether the team in Dallas should pardon Zeke. Let’s take a look.

Why the Cowboys should keep Zeke (Jake): 

The Dallas Cowboys are on the brink of making it to the Super Bowl. They have ascending stars like Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons. They still have a short-term window to chase Super Bowl royalty with Ezekiel Elliot on the Boys team. I also feel like Jerry Jones really wants a Super Bowl soon and they haven’t tasted a sweet Lombardi in quite some time. They haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1996. 

When Zeke is playing at a high level, the Cowboys and Prescott are a much more potent team. The Boys have a 26-4 record when their star RB rushes for 100+ yards, according to statmuse. It’s basically impossible to beat a Dak Prescott-led team when Zeke is playing like he’s from another planet. Zeke helps Prescott start in more manageable situations, be more efficient on the play-action game, and he helps his talented defense get more rest.

If the Cowboys ship out Zeke, they could waste Prescott’s talent. We’ve seen Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray very disgruntled with their situation. The Cowboys may feel spoiled with Elliot in their backfield, but Prescott might feel more attracted to a different “dream team” if his buddy isn’t in his offense anymore. The Cowboys shouldn’t take the gas off the pedal just yet. They should follow the Saints formula, where they have their studs Michael Thomas and Ryan Ramczyk recently) restructure their contracts. The Saints are in cap hell every season, but they walk the fine line of chaos and find a way to retain their key stars.

The Cowboys will also likely lose Gallup, so they should really keep the talented Elliot in their offensive attack. Elliot is also 26 years old and I strongly believe he can be more efficient for a couple of more seasons at least. When Zeke is 29 or 30 years old, then they should consider trading him. Prescott, Elliot, and Cooper can absolutely come out guns blazing in an NFC conference that may see the LA Rams, Green Bay Packers, and Arizona Cardinals look worse next season.

Why the Cowboys should trade Zeke (Charles):

The Dallas Cowboys are the cream of the crop in the NFC East, with the most talented quarterback by far, and an explosive offense. A key component of said offense is the star running back Ezekiel Elliot. Coming off of a solid season where he cracked over 1,000 yards and scored 12 times, Elliot is still one of the top backs in the game. This is exactly why the Cowboys should capitalize now and trade Elliot.

There are many star RBs that could be traded this offseason: Saquon, CMC, and Zeke. The Cowboys already have another young cheap, productive RB in Tony Pollard. Pollard is only 24 and had over 1000 total yards while acting as a backup. He could potentially outproduce Elliot if given a chance to start. 

Dallas is also in salary cap hell, $22M over the barrier. They will want to make space. Elliot is under a 6 year, $90M albatross contract. Second contracts for running backs typically do not pan out well. This contract runs through 2027 when Elliot would be 31. Running backs have a short shelf life, and we may have already seen the best days of Zeke. Dallas could save almost $13M against the cap this year by trading Elliot post June 1st.

 Getting that money off the books would be huge, and having a more than capable backup in Pollard lessens the need for a superstar at RB. Other positions are way more valuable to the team, like edge rushers, corners, and wideouts, which all happen to be team needs for the Cowboys this offseason. By trading Ezekiel Elliot, Dallas can focus its efforts on upgrading more premium positions, to make the Cowboys a more balanced team. 

The post Should the Cowboys trade Ezekiel Elliott in 2022? appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Trenton Roberts (Twitter: @TRobertsNFL)

Background:

As the NFL offseason slowly moves along, there is increasingly less to talk about as we wait for the season to roll around. With more time on our hands, writers and journalists are looking for anything to write about. That was where the idea for this series arose from.

In the NFL today, there are many young talents who seem to already be heading towards acquiring a bust in Canton. Reaching the NFL Hall-of-Fame is one of the most prestigious honors any player can hope to achieve in their careers and is what motivate many players to improve and play at the highest level. In this series, we will discuss how some of these players have already left their marks and what they can do to ensure their eventual enshrinement.

Over the next ten weeks, we will make our way through twenty total players in the NFL today under the age of 28 who are well on their ways to the Hall. Twice a week, a new name will be discussed and debated in order to see where they stand and what they can do in their “Quest for Canton”.

Article:

In 2016, the Cowboy’s started a three-year run of a team drafting a running back with a top five pick in the NFL draft, selecting Ohio State star Ezekiel Elliot with the 4^th overall selection of the class. The Jacksonville Jaguars followed suit the next season, taking LSU bruiser Leonard Fournette with the same selection, and In 2018, the Giants finished the trifecta, selecting Penn State superstar Saquon Barkley as the second overall pick. Since then, each back has gone on to have success in their respective careers, with Fournette playing a key role in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2020-21 title run and Barkley dominating when healthy, even leading the league in scrimmage yards as a rookie.

What “Zeke” has done through five seasons, however, dwarfs anything the other two have accomplished, as well as the majority of every other first five years a running back has had in league history. In that time, the young Cowboy’s rusher has already led the league in rushing yards twice and led as well in rushing yards per game in each of his first three seasons. 

Through a players first 50 career games, Elliott finishes third in yards from scrimmage since the merger, with his 6,300 trailing just Edgerrin James (6,506) and LaDanian Tomlinson (6,425). He also made an immediate impact in Dallas, totaling 1,631 rushing yards and 15 rushing scores as a rookie and helping propel the Cowboys to the second-best record in the league (13-3) and pairing with fellow rookie, quarterback Dak Prescott, to dominate the league.

Despite a down year in 2020, in which the team lost Prescott early to injury and never recovered, Elliott’s early years remain some of the greatest in history. He ranks in the top 15 in NFL history in both rushing yards and touchdowns through a players first five seasons, with all 14 ahead of him either currently or soon-to-be enshrined in the Hall. Zeke should return back to prior form with a healthy Prescott keeping defenses honest once more in 2021 and continue his run as one of the best backs of this generation.

As it stands, Zeke is already well on his way to Canton, and should join the ranks of the greats soon enough should he continue his amazing career start!

Tune in early next week as we hit the quarter-way mark of the series and break down another legendary running back of this generation: Carolina Panthers superstar Christian McCaffrey.

The post Ezekiel Elliot has proven to be a historical talent at the RB position appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Jeremy Trottier

The Dallas Cowboys are in a pretty good situation right now with franchise QB Dak Prescott returning as well as a huge influx in the draft of defensive talent.  They look to be primed for a playoff run more than likely if Dak can revert to form.  However, one of their moves in the last few years has been questionable, which was paying Ezekiel Elliott so much so quickly.  

In this article, I will be going over a few reasons as to why paying Zeke such a large amount in his extension could be a poor decision, as well as why that is the case.

Previous Large RB Extensions

One of the most notable experiences we have witnessed recently of a RB getting a large extension then dropping off significantly is Todd Gurley.  Gurley went from one of the top backs in the league at the time, arguably the top back, to off the Rams within a few seasons.  At the time they paid the richest running back contract ever seen, which was four years $60 million and $45 million of which being guaranteed.  He now remains unsigned this offseason after his one year deal with the Atlanta Falcons, only three years after the giant extension.

This is not that much of an uncommon occurrence either, here are a few more to prove the point:

• Le’Veon Bell ”“ four years $52.5 million ”“ outcome was off the New York Jets within 3 years of extension
• Devonta Freeman ”“ five years $41.3 million ”“ outcome was off the Atlanta Falcons before end of contract
• David Johnson ”“ three years $39 million ”“ outcome was traded from Arizona Cardinals within two seasons
• Jerick McKinnon ”“ four years $30 million ”“ outcome was multiple underperforming seasons with injuries hampering some of them
• Leonard Fournette ”“ four years $27.2 million ”“ outcome was cut from the team in 2020 and signed elsewhere
• Christian McCaffrey ”“ four years $64.1 million ”“ outcome has been injury riddled seasons with minimal production due to such, unknown future as of now

Not all extensions have been bad, Alvin Kamara performed extremely well in his 2020 campaign after his relatively large extension.  Dalvin Cook has also been exceptionally talented within his own right after his five year extension.  However these previous extensions have been majorly led with negative connotations so far.

There Are A lot of RBs Out There

One of the reasons I believe this contract extension was much too early, rather than lucrative, was because of the amount of running backs on the market is extraordinary, and they keep coming in with every draft.  Paying Zeke for four years, or any running back for that matter, can lead to some major issues if they flop.  Last year Zeke did decent, but had a lot of issues as well with Dak not playing most of the season.

If this trend continues, the Cowboys will be locked into his guaranteed money, and likely will not have the ability to bring in a true replacement due to this constraint.  Having two running backs on relatively middle of the road contracts at once rather than one on a massive one has seemingly worked a few times now.  Tampa Bay had quite a few running backs in the rotation, Ronald Jones, Leonard Fournette, Ke’shawn Vaughn, and LeSean McCoy being the primary four.  Clearly having one running back is not necessarily the winning formula every time.

Now is this to say Zeke did not deserve to get paid?  No.  It is more the duration and extreme guaranteed values for four years that end up coming back around to be an issue.

The post Why the Cowboys are wrong to pay Zeke so much money appeared first on Pro Football Mania.