The crazy thing about this six-game losing streak for the Dallas Cowboys is how many of those games they could have won. Dallas led the Falcons by 14 points two different times, and lost. The Cowboys lost to the Saints in overtime. They had nearly twice as many yards as the Giants, but blew the game through some poorly timed mistakes. Dallas led Seattle late into the fourth quarter and lost. And then the Cowboys lost in overtime to the Eagles. That's five of six games that you can make a reasonable argument the Cowboys could have won. Look at this stretch optimistically and you can say the Cowboys are really close to being a good team, especially when Tony Romo comes back. But the realistic view is that this is a 2-6 team that needs an unbelievable run to make the playoffs. But that might not be too crazy. The NFC East hasn't put anything out of reach. The New York Giants are clearly a flawed team, and leading the way at just 5-4. The Philadelphia Eagles haven't been good and needed overtime to beat a team quarterbacked by Matt Cassel. The Washington Redskins are far from unbeatable. The Cowboys play one more game without Romo, and that's Sunday at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They probably need to win that one, which would make them 3-6. Let's look at the final seven games. Remember, Romo should be back for these games: Week 11, at Miami Week 12, vs. Carolina Week 13, at Washington Week 14, at Green Bay Week 15, vs. N.Y. Jets Week 16, at Buffalo Week 17, vs. Washington This isn't an easy stretch, but it's not impossible. The key game might be beating Carolina at home on Thanksgiving. They'll lose at Green Bay, you'd assume (though, Cowboys fans would argue they beat them in the playoffs there last season and the officials stole it on the Dez Bryant non-catch ruling). What other game looks unwinnable for a Romo-led Cowboys team? And a sweep against the Redskins would put the Cowboys in decent shape to win the tiebreaker if they can get to 9-7. Do any of the NFC East teams look to you like they'll get 10 wins? It's also possible 9-7 wins the division outright. Let's be honest, it'll take a great finish for the Cowboys to get in the playoffs. And it's likely all moot if they can't beat the Buccaneers on Sunday, and they'll spend the offseason regretting all those close losses. But the point is the Cowboys have been competitive even without Romo. Four of the losses have come by 20 combined points. And it's possible they could be a really good team with Romo. If they can just make it to Romo's comeback at 3-6, and Romo is sharp right away against Miami in Week 11, there's a chance. And if a hot and healthy Cowboys team can just make it in the playoffs, they could also make some noise. And wouldn't that be fun? Here are Shutdown Corner's power rankings after Week 9: 32. Detroit Lions (1-7, Last week: 32) The thing about people questioning if Matthew Stafford will be around after 2015 is this: How can the Lions sell a GM job, and presumably a coaching job, with no quarterback in place? (This could change, of course, if the Lions get the first pick. And they might.) 31. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6, LW: 29) Allen Hurns has 635 yards and six touchdowns. He was undrafted last year. And he might be a good reason the Jaguars ship 2014 second-round pick Marqise Lee out of town if Lee doesn't show something soon. 30. San Francisco 49ers (3-6, LW: 31) Gets harder to blame Colin Kaepernick's supporting cast for all his troubles when Blaine Gabbert comes in and the 49ers win in his first start. 29. Tennessee Titans (2-6, LW: 30)
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