If you want to be taken seriously, whether you are the author of an article from a national media source, or an anonymous fan poster on a message board, there should be some supporting material for a given claim. I think that is what most of the people that are denigrating this article are saying.
It's not so much that he is downgrading Dallas. No problem with that opinion. If he feels Dallas should be 4th in the Division, I can accept that if he gives us any reason why that should occur. His brash statement that it is undeniable basically sets himself up for the reaction that follows. The fact that after making the statement he really doesn't give any reasons why it will happen means one of two things: he either is just trying to stir the pot by calling out one of the biggest fan bases in the sports world or he is just lazy and is half assing his job.
Not only does he neglect to explain why he thinks Dallas is the bottom of the barrel, he doesn't explain why any of the other contenders are any better than they were at the end of the season.
Despite his opinion, the fact remains that of the four teams, Dallas was by far affected the most by injuries to significant players and it really isn't close. And since the season ended, probably the biggest improvement that any of these teams has made is the fact that they will get players back to health for the start of next year. That alone gives the Dallas Cowboys organization hopes for an improved year. Garrett now feels that this is his team, he has things built his way. He has high expectations. You know Jones has high expectations every year and this one is no different.
Other than the return to health, the two biggest factors right now that would affect a team's quality from this year until last would be the loss of players and the acquisition of players. Is there really anyone that Dallas has lost this offseason that anyone thinks is a big loss? I'd say the best player we have lost is Sensabaugh and that was a voluntary cut. Now we haven't really gained anyone outside of Brian Price and the resigning of Ernie Sims. We have retained our biggest free agent in Spencer. As for the other teams, I have spelled out most of their gains and losses in other posts in this thread. Of the four teams in the NFC East, the Cowboys have probably lost the fewest quality players. The Eagles and Commanders have both lost better players than the Cowboys. Heck, one of the Giant's signings that is being lauded is that of Dan Conner, who barely made it out of camp with a job last year and played at best at an average level.
Finally, the last chance for improvement would be an improvement within the coaching staff but that is hard to ascertain until we see the product on the field. The Eagles lost one of the most successful coaches in the league over the past 10-15 years and have replaced him with a guy that runs a gimmick offense and has never coached in the NFL. Maybe he will be the next Jimmy Johnson and shake things up....but even Johnson took a couple years to get things up to snuff. The Commanders are pretty much status quo along with the Giants in this aspect to the best of my knowledge. The Cowboys have a change in defensive scheme and coordinator with Monte Kiffin, a guy who was thought to be one of the best in the game prior to his college stint. What's the norm and what is the exception? The guy that put together strong defenses in the pros year after year, or the guy that had mediocre defenses in college? The answer to that question is going to go a long way in determining whether the Cowboys are going up from 8-8 or down.
With months to go before training camp, there is still time to add free agents and there are still a lot of players available that could help this team. The draft, which everyone says is the best way to build your roster, is yet to come. The indications for this draft are that it is strong in many of the areas where Dallas needs improvement, so it isn't out of the question that the draft could provide immediate help at 2-3 spots.
The point is anyone can throw out an inflammatory statement and then give no factual argument for the statement. You should expect more from the "media" and really from anyone. Don't let them get away with being lazy, which is exactly what we are letting Schein do with this piece of garbage.
