Cowboys’ 2024 superlatives: OPOY, ROY, Best Play and injury that hurt the most in 7-10 campaign

The Dallas Cowboys 2024 season was largely a disappointment.

Alhough there was no real action in free agency and a handful of 2023 contributors that had exited the building, there was still an expectation that the Cowboys would make the playoffs and compete in the NFC.

But as the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders get ready to play in the NFC Championship on Sunday, the Cowboys’ cold body will still be reeling from a 7-10 campaign that saw a bad stretch after the bye week lead into a rash of injuries that set Dallas off its path for good before settling in third place in the division and well outside of a playoff spot.

There were still some positives to take away from the season, but the negatives certainly dominated the storylines. Let’s take a look at both sides of the coin to put a bow on the 2024 campaign for good.

Offensive Player of the Year

Despite Mike McCarthy’s side of the ball accounting for the 21st scoring offense in the NFL and nine starters from the team’s opening week win over Cleveland missing time due to injury at some point in the year, there was one bright light in CeeDee Lamb.

Granted, Lamb’s start to the season was not up to the standard we’ve gotten used to seeing from the NFL’s second-highest paid receiver, as his absence from training camp due to a contract holdout left remnants of inconsistency for half of the season, but his production still far exceeded his offensive counterparts.

Lamb finished the year with 101 receptions for 1,194 yards and six touchdowns before being shut down for the final two games of the season due to a shoulder injury that affected his flexibility and movement for the back half of the season.

Even despite not practicing with the team until a little over a week before the season and battling the most impactful injury of his career, Lamb was still the main cog of the Cowboys offense. It became even more evident when his services were no longer available.

Defensive Player of the Year

Another player that battled injury but still found a lot of production was defensive end Micah Parsons.

The fourth-year pass rusher out of Penn State became just the second player in NFL history (Reggie White) with 12 or more sacks in each of his first four seasons after finishing with exactly 12 in 2024. This came despite the fact that he missed four games with a high ankle sprain in the front half of the season.

With a massive contract extension due for Parsons this offseason, his play in 2024 kept his value at a high mark for what is expected to be the largest deal for a defensive player in NFL history.

Injury that hurt the most

Injuries largely defined the season for the Cowboys, as 16 of the 22 opening week starters ended up missing time at some point. Most were able to be navigated through, but Dak Prescott’s torn hamstring spelled the end.

Despite leaving Atlanta in week nine with a 3-5 record, there was still hope for the Cowboys to right the ship and make a playoff push with a more friendly schedule in November and December. But once it was announced later that week that Prescott would miss the rest of the season, the hope around the team took a big hit.

Cooper Rush filled in just fine. In fact, he probably earned himself a payday as he gets ready to hit free agency as a 31-year-old backup quarterback with eight more games of starting experience under his belt. But without Prescott, the offense became stagnant and limited. It eventually led to the first double-digit loss season for the franchise since 2020, another year when Prescott was lost early on with an injury.

Rookie of the Year

While the 2024 rookie class for the Cowboys wasn’t quite as substandard as the 2023 class, it was a tough first campaign for a lot of the fresh faces in Dallas. First-round pick Tyler Guyton battled injury and penalties, making for an unreliable left tackle by the end of the year. Second-round pick Marshawn Kneeland landed on the injured reserve with a knee injury that kept him out for a good chunk of the season. The list goes on.

But one rookie that shined as a potential longterm piece was third-round pick Cooper Beebe.

Sliding over from left guard where he played at Kansas State to center for the Cowboys, it took some trial-and-error at training camp to get his snap-and-step method down, but once he did he was one of the best rookie offensive linemen around the NFL.

On the year, he allowed just 18 quarterback pressures and three sacks while also being a consistent mauler in the run game. His 2.6-percent pressure rate was second among all NFL rookie offensive linemen in 2024.

His future is bright in Dallas, and the 2024 season showed that the Cowboys have their center.

Best Play

In easily the game of the year for the Cowboys on a road visit against the Washington Commanders in late November, Dallas clung to a 20-17 lead with 3:02 remaining in the game as the Cowboys looked to snap a five-game losing streak.

With two timeouts in their pocket, the Commanders decided to kick it deep to All-Pro returner KaVontae Turpin who saw the kickoff dribble right between his legs before having to field it awkwardly at the goal line.

With the Washington special teams unit barreling down, Turpin hesitated, stepped to his right and hit one of the best spin moves you will ever see to reverse to his left down a huge hole on the sideline for his first career kickoff return for a touchdown.

While the game itself would end up featuring even more theatrics that led to a hard-fought Cowboys win, that play stands alone as the highlight of the year.

Forgettable Moment

After tearing his ACL in the preseason of his rookie campaign in 2023, linebacker DeMarvion Overshown returned in 2024 ready to cash in on the promises he made throughout his recovery that he would bring an immediate impact to the defense.

And just that, he did.

Playing in the second level and coming off the edge as a situational pass rusher, Overshown accounted for 90 tackles and five sacks on the year. His lightning-quick closeout speed flashed in multiple games to make big plays, including on an interception return for a touchdown on Thanksgiving against the New York Giants.

However, on a play that Overshown didn’t even find himself in the middle of against the Cincinnati Bengals, he had his right leg rolled up on by an opposing offensive lineman. He immediately fell to the ground.

A later diagnosis revealed that he suffered an even more catastrophic knee injury than the one he suffered in 2023, tearing his ACL, PCL and LCL. It immediately ended his 2024 campaign and has his 2025 season in jeopardy.

Unforgettable Moment

Early in the season, there was a lot of hope about the Cowboys’ chances throughout the year. They didn’t seem to be any higher than when they walked off the field against the Steelers in week five with a gritty Sunday Night Football win.

In Mike McCarthy’s homecoming game, Dak Prescott manufactured a last-minute game-winning drive well after the clock struck midnight in a game that featured a one hour, 25 minute rain delay. The game concluded with a fourth-and-goal touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert that sealed the win over a talented Pittsburgh team and moved the Cowboys to 3-2.

While it did all go downhill from there, it will be tough to forget that rainy night in the Steel City.

Play that defined the season

As the Cowboys made their last-ditch effort at a playoff push in December, a Monday Night Football contest against the Cincinnati Bengals loomed large as a needed win for a Dallas team playing from behind in the standings.

With two minutes left, Dallas was in position to do just that. After forcing the Bengals into a fourth-and-27, Cincinnati punted it away, only to have it blocked by linebacker Nick Vigil. The home crowd at AT&T Stadium erupted.

Seconds later, the ball landed just past the line of scrimmage and ricocheted off the shoulder of cornerback Amani Oruwariye before being recovered by the Bengals for a first down. Later on that drive, Joe Burrow would end up throwing the game-winning touchdown to Ja’Marr Chase to seal a Cincinnati win.

On a play that featured such a wide range of emotions before eventually not bouncing the Cowboys’ way, it will be tough to ever find a play that sums up how the 2024 campaign rounded out for Dallas.