STATE OF THE UNION- Cowboys: 5-3 at the bye, dare we hope for 5-3 or 6-2 to finish?

[Big Country]

Cowboys remaining home games---

Detroit - should be a win here.

Denver (Thanksgiving) - this one could go either way... big time running game to stop, T. Bell and Anderson.

Kansas City - this one is another one of those that could go either way... another two headed running attack, Holmes and Johnson.

St Louis - should win this one... might be a trap game, we will for sure know our playoff status on game day here... DeMarcus Ware vs. Orlando Pace... Sunday night game.

If Dallas can go 3-1 at home with a should be win vs. the Rams and Lions, then getting one against KC or Denver, or dare I say both... would be a good move towards PROTECTING THIS HOUSE!! Gravy.

Cowboys remaining away games---

HUGE THAT 3 ARE DIVISIONAL GAMES

Philadelphia (MNF) - can you say kick em while they're down?... Dallas has absolutely got to minimize mistakes or it could be a long flight home. Hopefully Jjo gets back and turns up some more running yards... we can do this one.

NY Giants - little Manning is starting to look pretty sharp, will be an absolute plus to shut down Barber again, Gaints play pretty good defense against the Cowboys every time, especially in NY... hope for the best on this one.

Washington - PAYBACK IS GONNA BE A B____ DANNY BOY & CO!!! Check it out! Looks like their run defense is getting schellacked! Denver did and NY did today... Time to crank up some good OL play and play some nasty muddy December football. Hope the defense can sack the crap out of Brunell!!... hope to chalk this one as a win.

Carolina (Sat. at noon) - this outfit is still a good team.. gonna be interesting watching Peppers vs. Tucker. T-New gets Steve Smith again too, both are playing lights out. May the best defense win.

Probably would be humble enough to say 2 of 2 for our road games, which coupled with a 3 out of 4 for our home games would make for a 10-6 final record... Dallas is going to make some noise if they get to the playoffs because nobody is running away with any NFC division either... Hell the NFC North will probably be won with a 9 - 7 record.
Dallas is running nose and nose with NY and the other divisions aint all that... maybe Atlanta, maybe Carolina, maybe Tampa, maybe Seattle (nah). If Dallas stumbles to a 4 and 4 ... they'll be looking at the backside of the wildcard pack... If Dallas gets 5 of the last 8, which is probably the most logical scenario, it will be interesting to see what they do with it... I'm still saying Dallas is getting better as the season goes on, plus we should get Crayton back in December. Dallas winning 6 out of 8 games would be magic, and nobody in the NFC would want to play Dallas come post season, that's 11 - 5 baby, Dallas would be a legitimate top 3 team in the NFC at that point IMO... It's gonna be sweet!!

 

[Dale]

I think we need to beat Detroit, St. Louis and win at least two of our remaining divisional games. And then "steal" one of those pick 'ems against Denver, Kansas City and Carolina -- two of which are at home.

Seems doable. Difficult, but doable. Injuries and overall progress will certainly play a significant role.

Heck, we've already beaten San Diego, Philadelphia and New York, and nearly beat Washington and Seattle. It's not like this team shies away from competition.

 

[Chuck 54]

Looks like 9-7 or 10-6, but you never know...we need consistancy, and we need to stay healthy.

 

[lkelly]

That road schedule is nasty. The home games vs. Denver and KC aren't gimmes either - especially Denver.

I can't imagine looking at that schedule and thinking 6-2. One could easily argue 2-6 just as convincingly.

 

[Big Country]

One could easily argue 2-6 just as convincingly.

Oh heck no, I sure hope not!!

 

[Bizwah]

I really think 10-6 can happen. But I'm still waiting for some consistency fromt this team.

I think it's coming defensively.....offensively, is another story. We can move the ball, but scoring......

I would love to see us go 5-3 to end the season. But it'll be tough. I think, however, that we'll continue our trend of close games......we'll win some squeakers, and lose some squeakers.

Here's how I see it:

Philadelphia-- (Loss) Hey, they're still the NFC East champs. They'll be a different team at home. I don't think we'll be whipped, but I do see a tough loss here.

Detroit-- (Win) We're just a better team...period.

Denver-- (Win) I think we'll be in another tough game, but it's very winnable. The Giants beat them, and the Skins played them tough.

NY Giants-- (Loss) The Giants are almost unbeatable at home. This may be our toughest game of the year.

Kansas City-- (Win) Another tough game. But KC's defense is weak. I think we can control their offense.

Washington-- (Loss) Unfortunately, I see the unthinkable happening this year. Washington sweeps us...uggh... They're playing well. Of course, today may be a harbinger of things to come with Brunell. If he begins to regress, then we may win this one going away.

Carolina-- (Loss) They just seem to have our number when it counts.

St. Louis-- (Win) Which St. Louis team will show up? I think we can move the ball on them. They're very dangerous though.

I have us going 4-4 to end the season. That would put us at 9-7. Unfortunately, I don't think we make the playoffs. There's still too many questions with our team. We still have a bunch of Rooks. Usually, rookies tend to hit a wall. If this happens with us, we're in a bit of trouble.

I still think 8-8 is a real possiblility, especially if we continue to gameplan for tight, close games.

 

[Catch-22]

I think you guys are underestimating our talent. Every one of those teams we have as good or better talent, every one of those games is very winnable

 

[Trip]

If we whip Philly in two weeks in their house, I'll be thinking the sky's the limit. If we don't, and fall back to 5-4, it could get a little nerve-wracking.

 

[Da Hammer]

I say we 11-5 or 10-6. We have been in everygame which is impressive with such a young team especially on D. Yes our D has blown some 4th quarter leads but i blame it more on unexperience and as this team continues to grown as a unit it will become a great D for 60 min.

On O we are gonna have a great rushing offense as we get Jones back after the bye week and with Barber playin as well as he as, its gonna be tough to stop this team and the run game will set up the play action with some deep passes to Glenn. We have 4 very good receivers which includes Crayton who will be back for the final games and u can make it 5 with Witten at TE. Our O-line will get better as they continue to play together and get more trust in eachother.

And the key factor is Parcells. Some people on this board seem to forget he is HOF coach and i have trust that he will push this team to play to the best of its ability. He will not let a team get too high after a win and not get too down after a loss. He will make this young team better and i think is a perfect coach for a young team like this.

Cowboys fans have a lot to look forward to after the bye week. If u don't see just how good this team can be then your either blind or just ignorant. Now its up to Parcells to make sure they play up to that level and stay there and be consistent, with Parcells i'm almost certain they will.

 

[SA_Gunslinger]

i predicted 10-6 and i stand by it.

honestly, i wouldn't be surprised if we came out w/ 11 wins.

 

[KingTuna]

I am sticking with my prediction from back in training camp.

10-6 and a wildcard playoff birth..

We are 5-3 and right on track for 10-6... We MUST win 5 of our last 8 to make it to the playoffs... PERIOD...

:starspin

 

[Bizwah]

Losing Flozell is really going to hurt.

That's my biggest concern.

I think our offense will be hit and miss all year due to inconsistencies along the OL.

Barber ran well today, but he got some nice blocking. Will we be able to protect and run against Philly's blitz packages? What about the Skin's tricky defense?

 

[Qwickdraw]

Possibly the difference is that 2 of the tougher games (DEN and KC) are both on our home field.

 

[dal0789]

11-5 is what I predicted

 

[Da Hammer]

Our tough games are: at philly, vs Denver, vs Kansas City, and at Carolina. We win at Philly and vs Kansas City. Lose at Carolina and home to Denver. We go 11-5 for reasons i stated in my earlier post.

 

[Galian Beast]

Catch22, its gotten to a point where Im no longer afraid of OTHER teams, rather just afraid of our youth and relatively ungeled team not being consistent.

We haven't been beaten in a single game this year. We've lost, but we haven't been beaten. Not many teams can say that.

 

[dallasblue05]

I love the enthusiasm, but until we show some consistency, I wouldnt count out any of our remaining opponents.

 

[Zman5]

We beat

Denver, Detroit, KC, Washington, St.Louis

We lose to

Philly, NYG, Carolina.

We go 10-6.

 

[big_neil]

In the first half the teams we beat had a combined record of 17-14. The teams we lost had a combined record of 12-9. Those do not include head to head since that slants the results. In the second half the teams we face have a combineid record of 34-21 versus 29-23 in the first half (7-4 vs 6-5 roughly)

 

[brucem78]

The key for us is our defense. If we can continue to improve as the season progresses there is not one game on this schedule that we can't win. I too am concerned about the rookies hitting the wall, but they could just as well turn it up and play at another level altogether. There is nothing like playing great defense to drive your team into late November and December. Remember the 86 Giants,the 90 Giants and the 2000 Ravens. But I do have a feeling those losses to Washington and Seattle will haunt us all off season as we see inferior tems playing into late January.