2018 Dallas Cowboys: Don’t give up on this team yet

The 2018 season has gotten off to a rocky start for the Dallas Cowboys, but there are some reasons to believe this team can still have a successful year.

In the National Football League coming into your bye week under .500 is never a good thing. The Dallas Cowboys are currently sitting at 3-4 coming into their Week Eight bye this week, and have had a rocky and inconsistent start to this season to say the least.

This past weekend the Cowboys lost a heartbreaker to the division rival Washington Redskins on a crushing last-second missed field goal by kicker Brett Maher. If Dallas had beaten Washington they would have claimed sole possession of the NFC East heading into their bye week, and the season would have had a very optimistic feel the rest of the way.

Instead, Dallas now sits in third place in the division, 1.5 games back of the Redskins. And there is lots of negative speculation claiming this Cowboys team is done and this season is a wash. Despite all that has gone wrong in the first seven games of the season, there are still a fair amount of reasons to believe the Cowboys can turn this thing around and have a successful 2018 campaign.

One big first reason is the recent acquisition of wide receiver Amari Cooper. Now we could go on for days about if Dallas gave up too much giving a first round pick to the Oakland Raiders for Cooper, and quite honestly they probably did. But, one thing is for certain, Dallas is a better team than they were coming out of Washington last Sunday with Cooper on their roster.

Cooper is a receiver while inconsistent brings tons of talent and upside, and will give Dallas a true number one wideout in their receivers room. Having Cooper on the field will not only help quarterback Dak Prescott, but it will help the other Cowboys wide receivers, especially Cole Beasley who may now see more one on one favorable matchups with Cooper on the outside.

Speaking of Prescott, another reason to still have optimism is the way the Cowboys quarterback has played over the past two weeks. Now I know, people love to criticize Dak about everything he does, and the fumble in the end zone was the play that changed the Washington game, but the simple fact is without Prescott Dallas is not even close to in that game.

Dak got absolutely no help from his running game and his offensive line was very subpar. Prescott battled his butt off and kept Dallas in that football game till the very end, and who knows if the illegal snap penalty isn’t called and the game goes into overtime, Prescott may have led the team down the field to score and the narrative of the season to this point completely changes.

Now I’m not saying Prescott is a world beater or a top 10 NFL Quarterback at this point, but the way he has played the past two weeks can win you football games. If Dallas was able to get even an average rushing attack going on Sunday they probably walk away winning that game. Dak needs the parts around him to succeed, but if they can perform even close to the expectations we have for them the Cowboys can win football games.

Another reason to still have faith in Dallas this season is their defense. I will admit I for one had not been a true believer of the Cowboys defense this season. I kept waiting and waiting for them to come out and lay an egg … and it has never happened. This Dallas defense is the real deal, and right in front of our eyes is becoming one of the best in the NFL.

The Cowboys defense ranks second in the NFL in points per game allowed at 17.6, third in total yards allowed at 313.7 a game, and sixth against the pass and tenth against the run.

Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and cornerback Byron Jones have looked like All-Pro stars at their respective positions and linebackers Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch have played well above the preseason expectations. Not to mention the Dallas defense just got Sean Lee back last week which will only make them better as the season goes on.

Overall there is no reason to have a doom and gloom look on the rest of the Cowboys 2018 season. The NFC East looks to be completely up in the air, and if the Redskins lose this week Dallas will only be a game out of first place. Dallas has some winnable games down the stretch of their schedule and if they can make it out of the next five weeks with 3-4 wins they will be in great shape to be in the playoff hunt at years end.

There is still tons of football left to be played in the 2018 season. This thing is far from over and if the Dallas offense can pick up the slack just a little bit, the team is in line to be competitive all the way till the end.