Don’t panic: The Dallas Cowboys are still going to win the NFC East
Despite a dreadful loss to the Colts on Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys still control their own destiny and can flip the script with a win this weekend.
Just seven days ago the Dallas Cowboys were riding high. Coming off an overtime win over the division rival Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas sat at 8-5 and just had to win one of their three remaining games to be crowned champions of the NFC East. Today, the script has been flipped and after a 23-0 shutout loss to the Indianapolis Colts last Sunday, the narrative of the Cowboys has been changed.
Questions have emerged if the Dallas defense really is a good as we thought after a poor showing. Quarterback Dak Prescott and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan have been criticized again for their poor play and play calling respectively, and although to come it may seem like after Sunday the sky is falling for the Cowboys, it’s not. Relax.
Despite the disastrous performance the Cowboys till sitting in the exact same spot they did coming into the game Sunday. Win one of your two reaming games and you are NFC East champs. Look, the Colts are a good team and arguably the hottest team in the NFL right now. Their offensive line may be the best and football and quarterback Andrew Luck is playing like an MVP candidate this season.
Sometimes you just get beat in the NFL, it happens. Look just two weekends ago the Pittsburgh Steelers lost to arguably the worst team in the NFL the Oakland Raiders. Flash forward to last Sunday and they got their act together and beat the New England Patriots. You get beat in the National Football League sometimes, especially taking on a good opponent on the road.
The Cowboys are just fine, and they will go into AT&T Stadium this Sunday and wrap up the division against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, book it. Tampa is 28th in the NFL in rushing offense, which will be a big help considering Dallas’s run defense is what killed them against Indy.
And Tampa’s defensive unit is one of the worst statistically in the entire league giving up 27 or more points eight times this season. The Bucs offense has not helped them out on the other side, leading the league in turnovers with 32 on the season, including 25 total interceptions.
This is the perfect game for the Cowboys to get back on track and show the league that last week was a fluke, not a trend. Dallas and running back Ezekiel Elliott should be able to run the ball all over Tampa Bay, which will set up plays for Prescott and the passing offense down the field and wideout Amari Cooper should have a field day against a weak Tampa secondary.
On the defensive side of the ball, Dallas will be able to stop the run much easier facing a substantially weaker offensive line, and linebackers Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch will be able to bounce back from their poor performance last week in a big way. The Hot Boyz should also be able to create more havoc getting to the quarterback and Sean Lee figures to play more of a prominent role in his slow return back from a hamstring injury.
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I think the great Bryan Broaddus of dallascowboys.com says it best when he says “The NFL is a strange lady.” Last Sunday was strange for the Dallas Cowboys. But it was a fluke, not a trend. This Sunday at noon C.T. when the Cowboys take the field at AT&T Stadium, all that happened last weekend will be forgotten. And when they are passing out the NFC East championship hats late that afternoon, that blowout in Indianapolis will be just a thing of the past.