How bout dem Cowboys!
The Cowboys had one of their best weeks of the season in Week 5! I know the Cowboys were on their bye, but hear me out. They picked up a half game on the Eagles and Giants, and Tony Romo wasn’t voted goat of the week!
After 3 weeks the Cowboys were looking pretty good. Romo showed heart and toughness coming back and beating the 49ers playing with all kinds of injuries. But then the other Tony Romo showed up in week 4, as the Cowboys collapsed against the Lions.
Since the Week 4 loss dropped his team to 2-2, Romo has been taking a lot of criticism and the talk of Dallas as potential contenders in the NFC East has faded.
Now before you count out those Cowboys, look at their upcoming schedule AFTER this week: vs St Louis, @Philly, vs Seattle, vs Buffalo, @Redskins, vs Dolphins, @Cardinals. There are a lot of home games there, and the Cowboys will probably be favored to win in at least five of these matchups.
It’s unlikely that any other team in the NFC East is going to run away from the Cowboys, either. The Giants sit above them with a 3-2 record, but if you look at their schedule, it might be the single hardest schedule in the NFL going forward. New York faces only three teams with losing records in their final 11 games. The Redskins are still starting Rex Grossman at QB, and he has to be just about out of magic pixie dust. And in Philly, we all know the “dream team” just hasn’t showed up.
The Cowboys have the 6th ranked offense, averaging 417.8 yards per game, and they have the 4th ranked defense, allowing only 291.8 yards per game. They also are ranked 11th in takeaways.
In football right now, two of the most important things are being able to move the ball (preferably with an elite QB) and rush the quarterback. The Cowboys do both those things very well.
Last year Demarcus Ware led the league in sacks and hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. Ware is already ranked 4th in the league in sacks this season despite already having his bye week. Ware is widely considered the best pass rusher in all of the league. The Cowboys’ D is also getting healthier as corner back Terrence Newman has returned to play. Add that to an aggressive and sophisticated Rob Ryan coached scheme and you got yourself a nice unit.
With all my praise to the Cowboys, there is one issue that MUST be dealt with. Romo has to stop turning over the ball so much.
Romo has been known to be similar to Favre in the sense that he plays a “go big or go home” risky style of play. Clearly the Lions game is evidence: sometimes you to just have to know when to slow down the football game. If Romo is able to make smarter decisions this team will be right on track.
America’s team might be in third place in their division right now, but don’t sleep on the Cowboys. They should still be the favorite in the NFC East.
