2021_Dallas_Cowboys_season

2021 Dallas Cowboys season
2021 Dallas Cowboys season
Owner	Jerry Jones
General manager	Jerry Jones
Head coach	Mike McCarthy
Offensive coordinator	Kellen Moore
Defensive coordinator	Dan Quinn
Home field	AT&T Stadium
Results
Record	12–5
Division place	1st NFC East
Playoff finish	Lost Wild Card Playoffs; (vs. 49ers) 17–23
Pro Bowlers	6 WR CeeDee Lamb; T Tyron Smith; G Zack Martin; MLB Micah Parsons; CB Trevon Diggs; P Bryan Anger;
AP All-Pros	4 RG Zack Martin (1st team); LB Micah Parsons (1st team); CB Trevon Diggs (1st team); P Bryan Anger (2nd team);
Uniform
	← 2020; Cowboys seasons; 2022 →;

2021 Dallas Cowboys season

Sports season

The 2021 season was the Dallas Cowboys' 62nd season in the National Football League (NFL), their 33rd under the ownership of Jerry Jones, and their 13th playing home games at AT&T Stadium.

Quick Facts Dallas Cowboys season, Owner ...

For the first time since 2004, long-time long snapper L. P. Ladouceur was not on the opening day roster, as he was not re-signed during free agency.^[1] This was also the first time since 2010 that long-time punter Chris Jones was not on the opening day roster, as he was released on March 17, 2021.^[2] To further add to the notable departures, for the first time since 2011, defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford was not on the opening day roster, as he announced his retirement on March 25, 2021.^[3] Additionally, for the first time since 2009, linebacker Sean Lee was not on the opening day roster, as he announced his retirement on April 26, 2021.^[4]

With their Week 10 win against the Atlanta Falcons, the Cowboys improved on their 6–10 record from the previous season. With their Week 14 win against the Washington Football Team, the Cowboys clinched their first winning season since 2018, and with the San Francisco 49ers' Week 16 loss to the Tennessee Titans, the Cowboys clinched their first playoff berth also since 2018. Following a Denver Broncos' loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Cowboys clinched the NFC East, based on strength-of-victory tiebreakers; this was their first division title since 2018. They swept the NFC East for the first time since 1998. The Cowboys' strong offense finished the year with 530 points, the most in the league, and a team record. But despite high expectations, the Cowboys lost in the wild card round of the playoffs to the San Francisco 49ers 23–17.

On July 2, 2021, the Cowboys were announced to be featured on HBO's Hard Knocks for the third time in franchise history.^[5]

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[13-4-8] Green Bay finished ahead of Tampa Bay based on conference record (9–3 vs. 8–4).

[12-5-9] Dallas finished ahead of LA Rams based on conference record (10–2 vs. 8–4).

[9-8-10] Philadelphia finished ahead of New Orleans based on head-to-head victory.

[7-10a-11] Washington finished ahead of Atlanta and Seattle based on head-to-head victories.

[7-10b-12] Seattle finished ahead of Atlanta based on win percentage in common games (4–2 vs. 3–3 against: San Francisco, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Washington, and Detroit).

[13] When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest-ranked remaining team from each division.

[1] [1]
Walker, Patrik (April 1, 2021). "L.P. Ladouceur 'not thinking about retirement' after Cowboys decide to move on from legendary long snapper". CBSsports.com. Retrieved September 15, 2021.

[2] [2]
Phillips, Rob (March 17, 2021). "Cowboys Release Longtime Punter Chris Jones". dallascowboys.com. Retrieved September 15, 2021.

[3] [3]
"Cowboys DL Tyrone Crawford Retiring from NFL after 9 seasons". Dallasnews.com. March 25, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.

[4] [4]
Archer, Todd (April 26, 2021). "Dallas Cowboys LB Sean Lee retires after 11 seasons". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 15, 2021.

[5] [5]
"Dallas Cowboys to be featured in HBO's 2021 'Hard Knocks' series". Fox4News.com. July 2, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.

[6] [6]
Schefter, Adam (June 25, 2020). "Cowboys-Steelers Hall of Fall Game called off; enshrinement ceremony postponed". ESPN. Retrieved June 25, 2020.

[7] [7]
Williams, Chareen (February 15, 2021). "Unprecedented Hall of Fame weekend will kick off with Cowboys-Steelers". NBC Sports. Retrieved February 15, 2021.

[14] [8]
"2021 NFL Team Total Statistics". ESPN. Retrieved January 10, 2022.

[15] [9]
"Dallas Cowboys Stats". Dallas Cowboys. Retrieved January 11, 2022.

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Position	Player	Age	2020 team	Contract
RB	Corey Clement	27	Philadelphia Eagles	1 year, $990,000
TE	Jeremy Sprinkle	27	Washington Football Team	1 year, $987,500
OT	Ty Nsekhe	36	Buffalo Bills	1 year, $1.75 million
DE	Brent Urban	30	Chicago Bears	1 year, $1.75 million
DT	Carlos Watkins	28	Houston Texans	1 year, $1.75 million
LB	Tarell Basham	27	New York Jets	2 years, $6.5 million
FS	Malik Hooker	25	Indianapolis Colts	1 year, $920,000
FS	Damontae Kazee	28	Atlanta Falcons	1 year, $1.127 million
SS	Jayron Kearse	27	Detroit Lions	1 year, $1.127 million
SS	Keanu Neal	26	Atlanta Falcons	1 year, $5 million
P	Bryan Anger	33	Houston Texans	1 year, $987,500
LS	Jake McQuaide	34	Los Angeles Rams	1 year, $1.2 million

Position	Player	Age	Contract
QB	Dak Prescott	28	4 years, $160 million
WR	Noah Brown	25	1 year, $1.127 million
WR	Malik Turner	25	1 year, $920,000
WR	Cedrick Wilson Jr.	26	1 year, $2.1 million
CB	C. J. Goodwin	31	2 years, $3.5 million
CB	Jourdan Lewis	26	3 years, $16.5 million

Position	Player	Age	2021 team
QB	Andy Dalton	33	Chicago Bears
QB	Garrett Gilbert	30	Washington Football Team
FB	Jamize Olawale	32	Unsigned
WR	Jon'Vea Johnson	26	Chicago Bears
WR	Chris Lacy	25	Chicago Bears
TE	Blake Bell	30	Kansas City Chiefs
TE	Cole Hikutini	27	New York Giants
OT	Cameron Erving	29	Carolina Panthers
OT	Brandon Knight	24	Baltimore Ravens
OT	Greg Senat	27	Indianapolis Colts
C	Marcus Henry	28	Arizona Cardinals
C	Joe Looney	31	Retired
C	Adam Redmond	28	Baltimore Ravens
DE	Ron'Dell Carter	24	Arizona Cardinals
DE	Tyrone Crawford	32	Retired
DE	Aldon Smith	32	Seattle Seahawks
DT	Eli Ankou	27	Buffalo Bills
DT	Antwaun Woods	28	Indianapolis Colts
LB	Sean Lee	35	Retired
LB	Justin March	28	Tennessee Titans
LB	Jaylon Smith	26	New York Giants
LB	Joe Thomas	30	Baltimore Ravens
CB	Chidobe Awuzie	26	Cincinnati Bengals
FS	Xavier Woods	26	Minnesota Vikings
P	Chris Jones	32	Unsigned
LS	L. P. Ladouceur	40	Unsigned

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
2021 Dallas Cowboys draft
1	12	Micah Parsons *	LB	Penn State
2	44	Kelvin Joseph	CB	Kentucky
3	75	Osa Odighizuwa	DT	UCLA
3	84	Chauncey Golston	DE	Iowa
3	99	Nahshon Wright	CB	Oregon State	Compensatory Pick
4	115	Jabril Cox	LB	LSU
4	138	Josh Ball	OT	Marshall	Compensatory Pick
5	178	Simi Fehoko	WR	Stanford	Compensatory Pick
6	192	Quinton Bohanna	DT	Kentucky
6	227	Israel Mukuamu	CB	South Carolina	Compensatory Pick
7	238	Matt Farniok	OG	Nebraska
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career


	Quarterbacks 4 Dak Prescott 10 Cooper Rush Running backs 32 Corey Clement 21 Ezekiel Elliott 20 Tony Pollard Wide receivers 85 Noah Brown 19 Amari Cooper 81 Simi Fehoko 88 CeeDee Lamb 17 Malik Turner 1 Cedrick Wilson Jr. Tight ends 89 Blake Jarwin 84 Sean McKeon 86 Dalton Schultz 87 Jeremy Sprinkle		Offensive linemen 63 Tyler Biadasz C 71 La'el Collins T 68 Matt Farniok C 70 Zack Martin G 66 Connor McGovern G 79 Ty Nsekhe T 77 Tyron Smith T 78 Terence Steele T 52 Connor Williams C Defensive linemen 92 Dorance Armstrong DE 93 Tarell Basham DE 98 Quinton Bohanna DT 96 Neville Gallimore DT 59 Chauncey Golston DE 94 Randy Gregory DE 72 Trysten Hill DT 90 DeMarcus Lawrence DE 97 Osa Odighizuwa DT 91 Carlos Watkins DT		Linebackers 53 Francis Bernard OLB 57 Luke Gifford OLB 42 Keanu Neal MLB 11 Micah Parsons OLB 55 Leighton Vander Esch OLB Defensive backs 30 Anthony Brown CB 31 Maurice Canady CB 7 Trevon Diggs CB 29 C. J. Goodwin CB 28 Malik Hooker FS 24 Kelvin Joseph CB 18 Damontae Kazee FS 27 Jayron Kearse SS 26 Jourdan Lewis CB 23 Darian Thompson SS (Elevated) 6 Donovan Wilson SS 25 Nahshon Wright CB Special teams 5 Bryan Anger P 44 Jake McQuaide LS 2 Greg Zuerlein K		Reserve lists 75 Josh Ball T (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 14 Jabril Cox OLB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 34 Rico Dowdle RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 13 Michael Gallup WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 15 Will Grier QB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 65 Mitch Hyatt T (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 38 Israel Mukuamu FS (IRTooltip Injured reserve) -- Hunter Niswander P (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 45 Sewo Olonilua FB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 41 Reggie Robinson CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 95 Brent Urban DT (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 15 T. J. Vasher WR (NF-Inj.Tooltip Non-football injury and illness) Practice squad 60 Isaac Alarcón G (Int.) 56 Bradlee Anae DE 51 Devante Bond OLB 73 Josiah Bronson DT 36 Kyron Brown CB 49 Ian Bunting TE 76 Aviante Collins T 39 Tyler Coyle FS 3 Ben DiNucci QB 58 Austin Faoliu DT 83 Robert Foster WR 37 JaQuan Hardy RB 62 Braylon Jones G 46 Nick Ralston FB 80 Brandon Smith WR 43 Ito Smith RB Rookies in italics 54 active, 12 inactive, 15 practice squad (+1 exempt)

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
HOF	August 5	vs. Pittsburgh Steelers	L 3–16	0–1	Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium	Recap
1	August 13	at Arizona Cardinals	L 16–19	0–2	State Farm Stadium	Recap
2	August 21	Houston Texans	L 14–20	0–3	AT&T Stadium	Recap
3	August 29	Jacksonville Jaguars	L 14–34	0–4	AT&T Stadium	Recap

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 9	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 29–31	0–1	Raymond James Stadium	Recap
2	September 19	at Los Angeles Chargers	W 20–17	1–1	SoFi Stadium	Recap
3	September 27	Philadelphia Eagles	W 41–21	2–1	AT&T Stadium	Recap
4	October 3	Carolina Panthers	W 36–28	3–1	AT&T Stadium	Recap
5	October 10	New York Giants	W 44–20	4–1	AT&T Stadium	Recap
6	October 17	at New England Patriots	W 35–29 (OT)	5–1	Gillette Stadium	Recap
7	Bye
8	October 31	at Minnesota Vikings	W 20–16	6–1	U.S. Bank Stadium	Recap
9	November 7	Denver Broncos	L 16–30	6–2	AT&T Stadium	Recap
10	November 14	Atlanta Falcons	W 43–3	7–2	AT&T Stadium	Recap
11	November 21	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 9–19	7–3	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
12	November 25	Las Vegas Raiders	L 33–36 (OT)	7–4	AT&T Stadium	Recap
13	December 2	at New Orleans Saints	W 27–17	8–4	Caesars Superdome	Recap
14	December 12	at Washington Football Team	W 27–20	9–4	FedExField	Recap
15	December 19	at New York Giants	W 21–6	10–4	MetLife Stadium	Recap
16	December 26	Washington Football Team	W 56–14	11–4	AT&T Stadium	Recap
17	January 2	Arizona Cardinals	L 22–25	11–5	AT&T Stadium	Recap
18	January 8	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 51–26	12–5	Lincoln Financial Field	Recap

NFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
⁽³⁾ Dallas Cowboys	12	5	0	.706	6–0	10–2	530	358	W1
⁽⁷⁾ Philadelphia Eagles	9	8	0	.529	3–3	7–5	444	385	L1
Washington Football Team	7	10	0	.412	2–4	6–6	335	434	W1
New York Giants	4	13	0	.235	1–5	3–9	258	416	L6

NFC v t e
#	Team	Division	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	SOS	SOV	STK
Division winners
1^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Green Bay Packers	North	13	4	0	.765	4–2	9–3	.479	.480	L1
2^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	South	13	4	0	.765	4–2	8–4	.467	.443	W3
3^{[lower-alpha 2]}	Dallas Cowboys	East	12	5	0	.706	6–0	10–2	.488	.431	W1
4^{[lower-alpha 2]}	Los Angeles Rams	West	12	5	0	.706	3–3	8–4	.483	.409	L1
Wild cards
5	Arizona Cardinals	West	11	6	0	.647	4–2	7–5	.490	.492	L1
6	San Francisco 49ers	West	10	7	0	.588	2–4	7–5	.500	.438	W2
7^{[lower-alpha 3]}	Philadelphia Eagles	East	9	8	0	.529	3–3	7–5	.469	.350	L1
Did not qualify for the postseason
8^{[lower-alpha 3]}	New Orleans Saints	South	9	8	0	.529	4–2	7–5	.512	.516	W2
9	Minnesota Vikings	North	8	9	0	.471	4–2	6–6	.507	.434	W1
10^{[lower-alpha 4]}	Washington Football Team	East	7	10	0	.412	2–4	6–6	.529	.420	W1
11^{[lower-alpha 4]}^{[lower-alpha 5]}	Seattle Seahawks	West	7	10	0	.412	3–3	4–8	.519	.424	W2
12^{[lower-alpha 4]}^{[lower-alpha 5]}	Atlanta Falcons	South	7	10	0	.412	2–4	4–8	.472	.315	L2
13	Chicago Bears	North	6	11	0	.353	2–4	4–8	.524	.373	L1
14	Carolina Panthers	South	5	12	0	.294	2–4	3–9	.509	.412	L7
15	New York Giants	East	4	13	0	.235	1–5	3–9	.536	.485	L6
16	Detroit Lions	North	3	13	1	.206	2–4	3–9	.528	.627	W1
Tiebreakers^{[lower-alpha 6]}
Green Bay finished ahead of Tampa Bay based on conference record (9–3 vs. 8–4). Dallas finished ahead of LA Rams based on conference record (10–2 vs. 8–4). Philadelphia finished ahead of New Orleans based on head-to-head victory. Washington finished ahead of Atlanta and Seattle based on head-to-head victories. Seattle finished ahead of Atlanta based on win percentage in common games (4–2 vs. 3–3 against: San Francisco, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Washington, and Detroit). When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest-ranked remaining team from each division.

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 32)
Passing offense	4,800	282.4	2nd
Rushing offense	2,119	124.6	9th
Total offense	6,919	407.0	1st
Passing defense	4,049	238.2	20th
Rushing defense	1,918	112.8	16th
Total defense	5,967	351.0	19th

Category	Player	Total yards
Offense
Passing	Dak Prescott	4,449
Rushing	Ezekiel Elliott	1,002
Receiving	CeeDee Lamb	1,102
Defense
Tackles (Solo)	Jayron Kearse	67
Sacks	Micah Parsons	13
Interceptions	Trevon Diggs	11

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	7	9	10	3	29
Buccaneers	7	14	7	3	31

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	14	0	0	6	20
Chargers	3	8	3	3	17

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	7	0	7	7	21
Cowboys	14	6	7	14	41

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	7	0	14	28
Cowboys	7	6	20	3	36

2021_Dallas_Cowboys_season

Offseason

Signings

Re-signings

Departures

Draft

Staff

Rosters

Opening preseason roster

Week one roster

Final roster

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 2: at Los Angeles Chargers

Week 3: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Week 4: vs. Carolina Panthers

Week 5: vs. New York Giants

Week 6: at New England Patriots

Week 8: at Minnesota Vikings

Week 9: vs. Denver Broncos

Week 10: vs. Atlanta Falcons

Week 11: at Kansas City Chiefs

Week 12: vs. Las Vegas Raiders

Week 13: at New Orleans Saints

Week 14: at Washington Football Team

Week 15: at New York Giants

Week 16: vs. Washington Football Team

Week 17: vs. Arizona Cardinals

Week 18: at Philadelphia Eagles

Standings

Division

Conference

Postseason

Game summaries

NFC Wild Card Playoffs: vs. (6) San Francisco 49ers

Statistics

Team

Individual

References

External links

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