The first seven games of the season were a roller coaster of emotions for the Dallas Cowboys. After coming out fast with a 3-0 start, they lost their next three before picking up a much-needed blowout win against the Philadelphia Eagles going into the bye week.

Sitting atop the NFC East at 4-3, the Cowboys benefit from being in the worst division in the NFC. Still, even if their record isn’t as impressive as those of the other division leaders, the Cowboys have the personnel to beat any team in the NFL on any given Sunday.

Dak Prescott is playing at an MVP level, and the only reason he’s not getting more consideration (ninth-best odds to win, per Odds Shark) is Dallas’ current record. Outside of the drops, Amari Cooper is playing at a level that only a couple of receivers in the league can match. The offensive line is back to being one of the NFL’s best when healthy.

The defense has been more hit-or-miss this season, but the addition of Michael Bennett should help stabilize the pass rush. DeMarcus Lawrence continues to be the best defender on the team, routinely making plays against the run and pass despite consistent double-teams. Robert Quinn has been a ferocious pass-rusher opposite Lawrence. Maliek Collins leads the team in pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch are two of the most talented linebackers in football. Byron Jones is a great No. 1 cornerback despite the lack of turnovers, and Xavier Woods may be the most underrated piece of them all.

The talent on the Cowboys’ roster is undeniable, but the execution has been disappointing at times this season. The Cowboys will certainly have their ability to execute thoroughly tested over the next nine games -- five of their six non-divisional games are against teams with a .500 win percentage or higher.

With that in mind, it’s time to take out our crystal ball and make some bold predictions for the rest of the Cowboys’ season.

RT La’el Collins gets voted first-team All-Pro

Because of the lack of attention paid to the offensive line, the casual Cowboys fan is probably unaware of La’el Collins’ dominance on the right side. He’s been so dominant that you’d be hard-pressed to find a right tackle playing at a higher level.

Coming into the season, if you polled fans on which Dallas offensive lineman would be voted an All-Pro, Tyron Smith and Zack Martin would have received the most votes. As things stand now, it’s Collins who has the best shot.

Here are some of #DallasCowboys RT La'el Collins' worst blocks of the season. pic.twitter.com/VWBoZhUcTw — Jim Jeff (@CowboysGifs) November 2, 2018

Collins had flashed big-time ability in the past – check out his performance in Week 15 of 2017 against Khalil Mack – but failed to be consistently effective on a week-to-week basis. Shoddy technique and bad habits combined with ton of natural talent led to high variance with Collins’ play game to game.

It should be known that a variety of factors played into Collins’ slow development prior to this season, including injuries, a position switch from left guard to right tackle in-between his second and third years, and three different offensive line coaches (Frank Pollack, Paul Alexander and now Marc Colombo).

La'el Collins continued his stellar season vs NO. Only allowed 2 pressures vs an elite DE, Cameron Jordan.



LC did a great job of exploding out of his stance to beat CJ to his spot. Remained balanced with his sets & was effective with his strikes. Mixed up his attack well too. pic.twitter.com/MkWZg1CP4B — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 1, 2019

This year, things look different, as Collins finally looks totally at ease and comfortable at right tackle, with his technique growing by leaps and bounds as a result.

In pass protection, Collins’ footwork is as smooth as ever, enabling him to effortlessly beat pass rushers to the intersection point between their alignment and the quarterback. His footwork also allows him to successfully mirror defenders when they attempt to counter inside.

The most notable improvement for Collins is, without a doubt, his hand technique in pass protection. He now employs an incredibly deep repertoire of hand techniques to battle pass rushers on the edge.

Oooooh weeee La'el Collins is playing at an elite level right now. Brandon Graham whiffs so bad on LC's bait tech that he falls to the ground and essentially blocks himself. #Cowboys pic.twitter.com/JhScevSusO — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 22, 2019

The most notable of these is a bait technique -- Collins feints with a strike in an attempt to goad the defender into throwing his hands, then retracts his strike hand and latches onto the defender’s frame after he whiffs.

Collins is a road grader in the run game, using his inherent play strength to uproot and displace defenders with consistency. He is especially effective on down blocks and double-teams, when he can really generate power at the point of contact to create displacement. Collins is also effective when pulling into space and climbing to the second level, though he can still stand to be a bit more balanced when engaging linebackers on the move.

The most impressive aspect of Collins’ play is that it’s coming against a high level of competition, including the likes of Ryan Kerrigan, Cameron Jordan, Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith and Brandon Graham. Collins allowed multiple sacks and a bevy of pressures to Kerrigan and Jordan last year -- he held them in check this season, allowing just two pressures combined against Washington and New Orleans.

It’s a good thing Collins is thriving against elite competition because it won’t let up over the last nine games, when Collins faces the likes of Danielle Hunter and Mack on top of rematches with Kerrigan and Graham.

For those worried about La'el Collins at RT, watch the OAK game. Considering the level of competition, this was LC's most impressive performance. It's a big reason why I'm not worried about his future, and he should only get better from here. #Cowboys pic.twitter.com/3oKHnlW6Dx — John Owning (@JohnOwning) May 9, 2018

Hunter and Mack have been two of the best edge defenders in the NFL this season, but Collins has the tools to give them a lot of problems. Collins is one of the few tackles who can match Mack’s power and physicality. Plus, Collins has proven capable of slowing Mack down (above clip). Collins’ deep repertoire of hand techniques could give Hunter some trouble.

If Collins is able to sustain his level of play from the first seven weeks over the last nine, it would be tough to argue against voting him as a first-team All-Pro at the end of the season.

Bennett averages 30 snaps, leads team in pressures (not sacks) over last 9 games

This is not to say that Lawrence, Quinn or Maliek Collins (the current team leader in pressures) will be less effective over the last nine games, it just means Bennett should be able to rack up pressures at a high rate for Dallas.

Because his game is built on the ability to quickly penetrate and disrupt the backfield, Bennett has always been a high-pressure pass rusher. Although he’s posted just one double-digit sack season in his career, Bennett has recorded 70-plus pressures (including 91 in 2015) in six of the past seven seasons – for comparison’s sake, Lawrence led the Cowboys with 66 last year.

New England was a poor scheme fit and Bennett saw a reduction in playing time as a result, but his 10 pressures would still rank fifth on the Cowboys right now.

While it may be unwise to predict that a player who was just acquired by trade will lead the team in pressures over the last nine games, this article is labeled “bold predictions” for a reason.

Most players take a few weeks to get acclimated to a new team after a trade, but Bennett’s familiarity with Kris Richard from their time in Seattle should help speed up the process.

This is filthy. Michael Bennett misses with the cross chop, but the footwork and set up still causes Zack Martin to open the gate. So Bennett transitions into a rip, sinks his weight to carve a really tight corner for the sack and forced fumble. pic.twitter.com/tlnkcxrd15 — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 24, 2019

For all the reasons mentioned last week, the Cowboys will soon find out that it’s hard to take Bennett off the field, which will allow him to play the number of snaps required to generate the amount of pressures necessary to lead the team in the second half of the season.

Given that Lawrence and Quinn rank in the top five among edge rushers in double-team rate, according to ESPN’s Seth Walder, Bennett’s ability to generate pressure should be buoyed by frequent one-on-one opportunities.

Ultimately, Bennett is too good of a player to keep off the field, which will give him ample opportunities to generate pressure. Through his electric get-off and black belt-caliber hand technique, don’t be surprised if he leads Dallas in pressures down the stretch.

Dak finishes in the top 3 in MVP voting

Currently with ninth-best odds to win MVP, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Prescott climbs into the top three by the end of the season.

From a purely individual perspective, Prescott is already playing at an MVP-caliber level through seven games. He currently ranks first in QBR (78.8) and third in points added (29.3), according to ESPN. He also ranks third in yards per attempt (8.9) and sixth in adjusted net yards per pass attempt (7.94).

Another dime from Dak Prescott. Perfect throw and a great job of Amari Cooper to create the tiny separation by waiting until the last moment to adjust. Also, nice #ToeDragSwag from Cooper. pic.twitter.com/P0zhhwBQ2G — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 9, 2019

With cleaner throwing mechanics and footwork this season, Prescott has been able to throw accurately on a much more consistent basis, illustrated by the fact he ranks third in Next Gen Stats’ completion percentage over expectation metric – above quarterbacks such as Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes.

Devin Smith's 51-yard TD on a Yankee concept off play-action. pic.twitter.com/9m71tnspOi — All22Hype (@All22Hype) October 17, 2019

Even more impressive is the fact that Prescott is more accurate despite throwing the ball farther on average. In 2018, Prescott had an average depth of target (aDot) of 7.6 yards while throwing the ball, on average, 1.5 yards short of the sticks (aDot comes from Air Yards while the distance to sticks comes from Nex Gen Stats). In 2019, however, Prescott’s aDot has improved to 9.5 yards while throwing the ball, on average, 0.3 yards past the sticks.

He has been especially successful pushing the ball down the field, going 20 of 34 for 676 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions on passes 20-plus yards down the field. Prescott’s 64.7 adjusted competition percentage (takes out drops and throwaways) on deep passes ranks second among qualifying quarterbacks.

A big part of Prescott’s success also comes from improved anticipation. He was almost exclusively a see-it, throw-it passer in the past, but this season, Prescott has done a much better job of anticipating open receivers, leading to better effectiveness downfield.

Love how Dak holds the MOF safety with his eyes to eliminate any chance of him affecting this dime to Amari Cooper. pic.twitter.com/Ur5q5Yyfl7 — John Owning (@JohnOwning) September 10, 2019

Prescott is also doing a much better job of manipulating defenders with his eyes to create larger throwing windows and big-play opportunities.

As Cowboys fans know, his legs can be just as lethal as his arm -- both on designed runs and as a scrambler when the plays break down. This season, Prescott has rushed the ball 24 times for 163 yards (6.8 yards per attempt) and 12 first downs.

Unfortunately for Prescott, the biggest hurdle in his way of winning NFL MVP is his team’s lack of high-end success, as MVP is usually awarded to the quarterback of a team with one of the best records. Dating back to 2013, the MVP award has been given to a quarterback of a team that earned a No. 1 or 2 playoff seed in its conference. So unless Prescott leads the Cowboys to an 8-1 or 7-2 record over their last nine games, his chances of winning MVP are minuscule.

Still, that doesn’t prevent him from finishing in the top three if the Cowboys make the playoffs. If Prescott continues to play as effectively and efficiently as he has over the first seven games, it will be hard for the national media to keep him out of the MVP conversation.

Enjoy this post? More film studies:

-- Cowboys mock draft: What the film says about 2020 prospects Dallas should be targeting

-- Film room: Here’s what defensive lineman Michael Bennett brings to the Dallas Cowboys

-- Why DeMarcus Lawrence isn’t playing as poorly as his sack total suggests