One more small point.  Losing a road division game in the first week of the season isn’t the worst thing that can happen.  The Cowboys will face these same Redskins in week 15 in Dallas.  It is more important that the Cowboys are playing good football in week 15 than they are in week 1.

So if we take the position that the sky isn’t falling, which 0-1 playoff caliber team may actually be in trouble?

Cincinnati:  Cincinnati was dominated and blown out.  The final margin was only 14 points, but the game was ugly early and if the Patriots wanted to, they could have completely dominated Cincy from start to finish.  Don’t blame Terrell Owens (though he did have a drop the first pass in his direction), Cincy is just not good enough.

Carolina:  I may be the only person on Earth who has Carolina as a playoff contender; however, that was contingent upon Matt Moore and the rest of the offense protecting the ball.  Moore had three interceptions and the Panthers had another three fumbles, losing two.  I don’t expect Moore to have a repeat of his dreadful outing, but certainly the bloom is off the Panther rose.

Atlanta:  The Steelers are a tough competitor at home and their defense is whole again with Polomalu returning to the defensive backfield.  The Falcons played well, but not better than a Steeler offense lead by Dennis Dixon.  Losing a road game to an AFC opponent is a best case scenario if a team must picks its poison.  Matt Ryan did have an interception late, but there is little reason to lose faith in this NFC South Contender.

Indianapolis: Call it a Super Bowl hangover, call it the Houston Texans being due, call it Sue because it really doesn’t matter.  The Colts looked small against the Texans who pushed the Colts around the field.  Second year player, Arian Foster, appears to be pro-bowl bound.  The Colts may have closed the gap in score, but they appear to have a ton of work in front of them to return to last years Super Bowl caliber form.

Philadelphia:  Kolb was unimpressive.  He was also concussed.  Stewart Bradley was also concussed.  And yet there they were playing in the game; after sending Brian Westbrook back into action last year only to see him concussed again, I have sincere doubts that this Philadelphia training staff understand the severity of concussions.  Philly has bigger problems brewing.  Vick has not returned to his pre-prison form, but he is much closer than he was last year.  Vick played well enough that he will have a starting job next year in the NFL and there will be a serious push for him to be the permanent starter in Philadelphia over Kolb.  Philly fans always want what is hidden behind door number 2, regardless of what prize is already in their grasp.  Otherwise, the defense stymied a good Packers offense despite giving up 27 total points.

As a Cowboys fan, Vick as a permanent fixture at QB would be a challenge year in and year out.   We have seen Vick play at his best, and the good news is that his best isn’t good enough to lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl.

San Francisco:  San Francisco had a similar situation as the Cowboys did.  They were playing a team with a new coaching staff and they were uncertain of how the Seahawks players would be utilized.  The difference was that the Cowboys made adjustments quickly and played a solid defensive game.  The Niners play New Orleans next week and I would all but guarantee a Niners victory.  If not, their 0-2 start may prove difficult to overcome.

Vikings:  The Vikings will be just fine, unfortunately.  Favre is using the regular season to get into game shape.  That’s the Shaquille O’Neal approach and Cowboys fans can only hope that Favre is still rusty in week 6 when the Cowboys travel to Minnesota.

Mr. Daly contends that the Cowboys embarked on a mission to injure Brian Westbrook with dirty plays. The article certainly will please Eagles fans, but it is not an objective review of the game. 

He accuses Dallas coaches of preparing the players to play dirty. He tries to make a connection to dirty play and how ironic it is that these plays happened against Brian Westbrook, who is the team’s best player. He accuses Jay Ratliff, Pat Watkins and Jason Hatcher of purposely grabbing Westbrook’s facemask. 

The article is so outrageous that I sadly had to sign up to the comment section and opine on the subject. His article is deplorable and it borders on libel, and I don’t say that just because this is a Dallas Cowboys blog; I say that because it’s the truth. 

It’s true because what Mr. Daly fails to mention or point out in his “journalism” are certain plays that Eagles players committed on the Cowboys: A facemask of Tony Romo, a horse-collar tackle of Marion Barber and a chop block–which did not draw flags. Why? We will never know that. 

But the most-glaring error in his article is that he obviously proves he did not watch the game, or re-watch it, if he was going to write such a critical article about the Dallas Cowboys? To what am I referring? See, there’s proof out there that was not easy to find that bring some objectivity to his article. He avoids the truth. 

Please, just review these pictures:

What exactly is Brian Westbrook doing? Is he just saying hello? What is he grabbing? Why does Mr. Daly not mention this?

(more…)

Unaware of the attack, Inside the Iggles is still reeling form the loss, blaming it on the botched hand off between Donovan McFlabb and Brian Westbrook. Did McNabb choke again? In his heartfelt post, he concedes that the Dallas Cowboys are the better team. Good boy. 

Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys rank atop every single credible power ranking poll.