(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)
We now have two teams in the Super Bowl who won a Lombardi Trophy, rebuilt and are now on the doorstep of winning another despite having a different coach and quarterback. We saw the Eagles do the same thing recently as well. What, if anything, are these teams doing differently than the Cowboys? Drafting better? Spending more in free agency? – Chris Cunningham/Fort Worth, TX
Tommy: Well, let's start by remembering the NFL isn't necessarily built for teams to have these long, drawn out dynasties with the salary cap and all kinds of other rules that come with it. Both the Seahawks and Patriots had their fair share of growing pains over the last few years to get to this point. In both team's instances though, I think the right mix of success in consecutive draft cycles as well as the complimentary free agency pieces to round out the roster can improve your team in a hurry. A lot has to go right in that process, however, and both of the organizations playing next Sunday have created a lot of their own luck in a sense. While they've done a spectacular job and I'm not trying to take away from them at all, the process can be followed by any team. With the right decisions and some luck, it really can be anyone's year each and every year.
Patrik: I believe the Cowboys are far above average with their ability to draft at most positions — most — but no organization is going to be perfect when playing the lottery, which is essentially what the NFL Draft is anyway. What I will say is that I've long wanted to see more aggression in the first two waves of free agency, and not simply the tertiary/bargain bin grabs. They showed me a lot with the trade for George Pickens and, eventually, Quinnen Williams, but I feel there's still work to be done in going after a whale or two in actual free agency to address positions of need. The other part of the equation is the coaching — it simply has to work, and players have to buy-in, but it has to be worthy of a buy-in.
The Matt Eberflus era was a short-lived defensive disaster and, to that point, given the moves the Cowboys made last year and in hiring who I believe is the right HC, if the defense could've matched serve with the offense, who knows where Dallas is right now. After all, the Patriots' and Seahawks' calling card this year is their .... ? Exactly.
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