Why the Dallas Cowboys’ season isn’t a lost cause

Following their sixth straight loss and now sitting in the NFC East basement with a record of 2-6, the Dallas Cowboys have many fans and analysts proclaiming that their season is dead.

Some say that the return of star quarterback Tony Romo from his week 2 collarbone injury is simply coming too late for things to be salvaged.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

While the road ahead to a second straight NFC East title for Dallas is not an easy one, it can still happen, and it’s not as far-fetched as you may imagine. This still has the makings of a Cinderella story.

Consider the following:

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During the current losing streak, four of the Cowboys’ six losses were by 7 points or less (two of them were OT games). The New York Giants needed a pick six and a 100-yard kickoff return to beat Dallas. The current NFC champions, the Seattle Seahawks, beat the Cowboys by one point.

This past week, in another overtime loss, we all learned that the division rival Philadelphia Eagles with their starting quarterback Sam Bradford are basically equal to Dallas with backup quarterback Matt Cassel. To put it more simply, Cowboys minus Romo equals Eagles.

So, where does that leave things?

Well, Dallas can and probably will beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this next week. The following week, Romo will return to play the Miami Dolphins. This is another game the Cowboys can and should win.

If that happens (and yes, I know it might not, but bear with me), the Cowboys will then be 4-6.

During the same stretch, the current division leading Giants (5-4) play the New England Patriots. If the Giants end up at 5-5 (which seems very likely), the Cowboys would then be one game out of the division lead with six Romo-led games remaining.

I don’t expect Romo to win every game, but he may not have to in order for the Cowboys to win the East this year.

The Giants and Cowboys both have division records of 2-2. If they end up with the same overall record, the first tiebreaker is how well each team performed in their six division games.

With that in mind, if Dallas can sweep the Washington Redskins, it makes things a bit easier.

The Giants will be facing two undefeated teams in their final seven games, along with two other teams with superior records right now, and two division opponents. The only game that seems on the surface to be a more likely win would come against the Dolphins. The others are toss-ups.

The Eagles schedule is a little softer, but they also play the Patriots and they have a tough matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. With a current record of 4-4, I think they can probably finish at 9-7, but they could be 8-8.

Overall, it seems that the winner of the NFC East will probably be no better than 9-7, which means that Dallas still has a tangible opportunity to win it.

No, there isn’t much room for error here. Dallas probably can’t lose more than one or two more games and hope to have any legitimate shot.

I refuse to give up hope yet, but I do recognize that the Cowboys’ season is definitely on life support.

Next: Dallas Cowboys: When good isn't good enough

Along with other diehard fans, I remain hopeful that getting Romo back will be the medicine this team needs to succeed in the second half of this season. Based on what I’ve seen thus far, Romo would have made a sincere difference for them in at least four of their six losses.

Team owner Jerry Jones echoed this optimistic sentiment while speaking with the Dallas Morning News after this last game. He was asked what still gives him hope. His response:

“First of all, the intense way our team is competing, and it’s competing on both sides of the ball. They’re basically doing, from the standpoint of effort, their passion, their competitiveness, they’re going right down to the last play and have for the last several games, so we want to keep that. We have to have that. We have to put the pieces together to get a win.”

It. Is. Not. Over.

Go Cowboys!