How the Cowboys can turn their season around

Here’s the good news.

The Dallas Cowboys are only one game behind the division leading New York Giants. They have already beat the Giants once and have another game against them two weeks from now after a bye week to get their issues fixed and figured out.

That’s really the end of the good news portion of the show. Now to the bad news…

Another week without the duo of quarterback Tony Romo throwing passes to wide receiver Dez Bryant resulted in another loss.

Whether it’s a team that is playing better than they are (Atlanta Falcons), a team that is as bad as their record indicates (New Orleans Saints) or one of the most consistently great franchises in the game (New England Patriots), the Cowboys continue to find a way to lose.

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The offense has become progressively worse in these contests, going from 28 to 20 to a pathetic six points. It would be easy to place all the blame at the feet of quarterback Brandon Weeden but that would just be lazy. We all knew going into this that Weeden would be a “game manager” and to expect him to be Romo is foolish.

Maybe quarterback Matt Cassel is better and I’m sure we’ll see for sure either versus New York a week later against Philadelphia. The problem is that Weeden, Cassel and even Romo all need help from the other guys and that isn’t being provided.

The Cowboys have had two straight games where their leading rusher produced sixty yards or less. Last year, there was just one game all season where this was the case.

As for Bryant’s “replacement,” Terrance Williams, he hasn’t even been the leading receiver on the team as you might expect from him. That distinction goes to slot receiver Cole Beasley. In fact, Williams has just five catches for 79 yards and a touchdown since Weeden took over.

That’s an average game for Dez Bryant.

The offensive line is not what they were last year either. Maybe Romo makes them look better than they are. Maybe running back DeMarco Murray did too. Regardless, neither are coming back to bail them out anytime soon.

Defensively, plays are not being made on this side of the ball either.

While it’s encouraging to see additions like defensive end Greg Hardy and linebacker Rolando McClain make contributions, sacks and tackles don’t mean anything when points are still being put up on the board and turnovers are not being created.

Currently, the Cowboys allow 26.2 points per game. In the last three years, only one team out of a possible 36 has made the playoffs allowing that many points or more. That team was the 2013 Green Bay Packers, who finished 8-7-1 and only made the playoffs by winning the worst division in football that season.

They were immediately bounced out of the playoffs the following week.

As for the turnovers, the Cowboys have created just three all year. Those all occurred in the same game against Philadelphia in Week 2. Last season, Dallas created 31 total takeaways, which was second best in all of football. This year, they are on a pace for just 10.

As a point of reference, no team has finished a season with lower than 11 turnovers since 2004. And only five have had 12 or fewer in that time span. The collective records of those six teams was 21-59. Only one finished 8-8 and the rest finished last in their divisions.

Last season, the story that was fabricated by any one that with a pen and some paper or a microphone and some camera time was that the Cowboys offense protected the defense by running the ball and dominating the clock.

That’s a partial truth.

The defense was not as bad as it sounds. The talent on that side of the ball is better this year than it was last year. Unfortunately, you can’t always tell by the performance on the field.

I’m okay with defending the points allowed given that four of the first five opponents rank in the top ten in total yards per game and three of them are in the top ten in points scored. I’m not okay with the lack of turnovers.

Teams that are good at creating turnovers are so because of a mentality born from tenacity and can often times be just as much about effort as they are about schemes.

The Cowboys have four games left without Tony Romo. They may have another one with Dez Bryant and Randy Gregory. At worst, they need to win two of those four games.

If the Cowboys are going to turn their season around, the defense needs to be the pillar in which this team leans on. Otherwise, leaves won’t be the only things being swept away in November.

Next: Cowboys add exciting rookie to active roster

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