Female Cowboys Fans Sound Off On Schedule & Predictions
By Kim Dunning
Nov 28, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys fans Anna Sanchez (left) and Diana Perea pose for a photo prior to the game against the Oakland Raiders for a NFL football game on Thanksgiving at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
The Dallas Cowboys schedule came out earlier in the week and as a female Cowboys fan myself, I thought it would be interesting to take this time to let other female fans voice their opinions, predictions and concerns on the upcoming NFL season. Women, tend to get overlooked when it comes to talking about sports simply because they are women. So thanks to a lovely group of ladies on Facebook in an all female Cowboys Fans group I was able to poll the ladies and get their reactions for the upcoming season.
The first question posed was this: What game(s) in the upcoming schedule worry you the most?
The answers varied naturally a lot of women said that the division rivals, the Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants are always a concerned and the Cowboys almost swept the division last year so it makes them leery about what will happen within the division this year. Most concerns about the division rivals were the steps the other teams have taken to become better and improve upon their previous seasons.
The non-division game that was the most concerned to these ladies were the New Orleans Saints and the Seattle Seahawks. The consensus with these two teams were the same, both have tough defenses and both have very good quarterbacks. Closely following these two teams were the Chicago Bears, because of the past few years, they have blown the Cowboys out and the San Francisco Forty Niners because they have significantly improved since we played them.
The second question posed to these ladies was: What do you predict based upon the schedule alone the Cowboys record will be at the end of the season?
The most popular answer was once again 8-8. Most ladies agree that this is because the Dallas Cowboys identity under Jason Garrett has been average. The Cowboys aren’t horrible but there is vast room for improvement.
The most popular answer was 10-6. The ladies polled agreed that there will be some improvements especially with the changing of defensive coordinator to Rod Marinelli from Monte Kiffin and with the draft projected to go heavily defensive there is hope that the Cowboys can get together a defense that can keep up with the high speed offensive their schedule is projected to have.
Finally, the last question to these ladies was: What worries you in the upcoming season?
A lot of them responded with the health of the team. The hamstrings injuries in particular as well as just injuries in general, because they feel that the team lacks depth still and this draft isn’t going to fix that completely as the Cowboys still have starting positions that have no starters.
Other concerns were the health of quarterback Tony Romo and within this can the offensive line continue to build from where they were last season and protect Romo enough so he doesn’t sustain another injury.
Finally, the Cowboys defense in general was the most talked about concern. The biggest concern being can Dallas fill in the holes in the defense with just the draft? And how will the Cowboys veteran defensive players respond to having their 4th defensive coordinator since Jason Garrett became interim head coach to this team.
Cowboys fan Denise Giammona summed it up best
"“If our defense improves then we may go 9-7 or 10-6. That is a big if though! We have the offense now so we need a defense. I am getting really sick of always lacking in one or the other. When we had a great defense, our offense was awful. I would be happy with a good offense and a good defense. I’m not even asking for the best, just good!”"
I think we can all agree with Denise that is all we want a balanced team!