The vultures are circling over the Dallas Cowboys as the team is currently embarked on a three-game losing streak. It hasn’t been pretty; the calls for the coaches to go have only gotten louder and the players are now feeling the wrath as well.
All of this while the Cowboys sit in first place of the NFC East and control their destiny to winning the division and making the playoffs. Despite the hand-wringing over the organization in the last few weeks, the team still has all of its goals ahead of them.
The first goal is always to win the division, it’s the easiest path to the playoffs. The Cowboys might not have a winning record right now, but that doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of making the post season. Luckily for the team, the NFC East has fallen on hard times as well and despite not having played well in quite some time, the Cowboys are in position to win the division.
Make the postseason and anything can happen, despite a bad record in the regular season. The 9-7 Arizona Cardinals of 2008, who lost in the Super Bowl, and the 9-7, 2011 New York Giants, who won the Super Bowl, are prime examples of this. Get into the “tournament” as Bill Parcells used to say, and the Cowboys can edit where the story of their 2019 season ends.
It doesn’t seem to be realistic at the moment, but the Cowboys are capable of turning things around.
They’ve got an offense that leads the NFL in yards per game, a QB in Dak Prescott who sits atop the league in passing yards, an RB in Ezekiel Elliott who has over 1,000 yards rushing and nine touchdowns and its two starting WR’s are both slated to go over 1,000 yards receiving.
Some of those statistics ring hollow, earned when the Cowboys are down and forced to play catch-up, but the unit has shown the ability to move the ball. A few mistakes at inopportune times have cost the offense chances to score, but they aren’t that far away from putting up more points and winning games.
Dallas also faced some of the tougher defenses in the last five weeks, which has gotten the offense off track. The Cowboys have played four of the top seven scoring defenses during that time, but they won’t face off against anyone inside the top 10 for the remainder of the year.
However, the defense is going to need to play better from here on out to give the Cowboys a chance. Rod Marinelli and Kris Richard’s group hasn’t been good, but again, there is talent on that side of the ball too. The defense just needs to play up to their capabilities to help put the season back on course, and getting more turnovers would be a good way to start.
DeMarcus Lawrence mentioned this week he needs to play better, even though he’s been one of the defense’s best performers this season, and fellow DE Robert Quinn has been one of the league’s best pass rushers with 9.5 sacks despite missing two games.
Byron Jones, Jaylon Smith and Sean Lee all have Pro Bowls on their resumes, so they need to play better as well.
The season isn’t over and there is time for the Cowboys to win the NFC East and take their chances in the playoffs. If Dallas can make the post season, their regular season woes no longer matter and it’s a chance to accomplish bigger goals, like going to the Super Bowl.
It feels far-fetched at the moment, but there’s nothing to stop the Cowboys from achieving their goals. Nothing can be done about the coaching blunders and lackluster play through 13 games, all that matters now is how the Cowboys respond from here on out.
It’s all in front of them.
You can chat with or follow Ben on twitter @BenGrimaldi
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