When a team like the Dallas Cowboys has a season like this one, it can be easy to pile on. Everything from the run of 12-win seasons to the playoff catastrophe against the Green Bay Packers in January to the all-in comments to the offseason approach and missing the playoffs altogether are ammunition for fans,

The Dallas Cowboys' defense might have given up 24 points on Sunday night to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but if you watched the game you know Mike Zimmer's unit played out of its mind. Jourdan Lewis and DaRon Bland helped Dallas clinch the win with incredible interceptions and strip-fumbles,

The Dallas Cowboys have won four of their past five games — and it should have been five in a row if not for a special team's mistake in Week 14. During that stretch, the defense has been doing the heavy-lifting,

DaRon Bland aside, the Dallas Cowboys had a pretty healthy bunch on defense, with Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, Trevon Diggs, Eric Kendricks, DeMarvion Overshown all healthy and active. On the first four drives, the Saints scored four touchdowns, all 70-plus-yard drives.

The Dallas Cowboys have been officially eliminated from the playoffs after the Commanders won in Week 16. After starting the season with Super Bowl aspirations, the Cowboys are left with nothing to play for in the last two weeks of the season.