Still the team to beat, amazingly

erod

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Fortunately, despite all the misfortune and calamity.

A win yesterday would have put Dallas alone in first place. The loss put them alone in last. Ladies and gentlemen, your NFC East...

This division looks like a bucket of something a cat threw up. That was the absolute best game the Giants are capable of. The Eagles are a healthy hot mess of ineptitude. The Commanders are still the dysfunctional Keystone Cops they always are.

If Dallas was healthy, they'd almost have this division wrapped up by now. But "if" never listens to reality, as we all know.

Unlike the other East teams, we know this isn't the Dallas Cowboys. There are at least two more gears for this team to go to, eventually, when the best two players on the roster return. Some plays are getting made, but not enough, and especially not enough to eliminate the mistakes by those who aren't supposed to matter. Turnovers remain a frustratingly one-way street. Every penalty or mistake is making twice the dent they would if all hands were on deck.

Still, I remain impatiently optimistic through this grueling wait, although the mulligans are running thin.

At least Cassell is significantly better than Weeden, particularly when you consider he just got here. He should only improve as we go as he gets more comfortable with his team and playbook, even with the Seattle defense next up. At least he's not afraid to play quarterback, unlike Weeden, who would probably cry, literally, if he played against Seattle this week. Good gosh, he's a chicken you-know-what.

Dez is soon to arrive. Hopefully Seattle, but if not, by Philadelphia. That should make the entire passing game better, which should then feed this resurgent running game we saw yesterday. The Eagles game looks winnable, as does Tampa. And lest we forget, the Seahawks are 2-4, too, and they're actually healthy. That's not as impossible as it sounds.

Marinelli's defense has its parts now (although Ro McClain looked awful yesterday), and I fully expect this turnover outage to restore itself soon. It just doesn't make sense, and football tends to finds its way to an even level if the talent is on hand. This has to turn Dallas' way soon defensively.

Lastly, Romo is three games away. What will be left when he gets here? What will the division standings look like? Will 8 wins win the division or will it take 9? Nobody's winning 10 unless Dallas suddenly goes on a roll.

The others in this division don't have a Dez and Romo on the way. They are what they are already, 8-8 teams at best. As bad as it's been for Dallas, the Cowboys are only 1.5 games out of first place. This is not time to panic, though it darn sure feels like it. Sheesh.

This will either be a season to remember for all time, or a cataclysmic crash of the highest of hopes. That happens when elite QBs go down, but it stings just the same.

Thankfully, the football gods hocked a loogie on this division, and hope remains real and possible.

So there's that.
 

cowboyblue22

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this team is done this year they will be lucky to win 6 games they do much talking the coaching is soft in camp they should of been tougher was camp cup cake they are paying the price now
 

Chuck 54

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IMO...the Giants are the team to beat. We are done unless Dez comes back healthy, and I'm not expecting that.
I don't blame anyone; when you pay superstars like Romo and Dez super star money and lose them both at the same time, you can't really expect the supporting cast to step up. Cassel has a noodle arm and made very questionable decisions. Things opened up a little vs. the Giants, but how much of that was the move from Weeden to Cassel and how much was the fact that the Giants have a terrible defense with no pass rush and a depleted secondary?

We don't stink; we just stink without our superstars on offense. WE won't win a single game until Dez returns healthy, and we won't compete with good teams until both he and Romo are back. Should be a fun draft this year, though
 

erod

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You assume a well oiled machine when Romo returns, if there is a season to save. Everything would have to go right, and that usually doesnt happen.

You're right, in every division but this one.

I can see a scenario where none of the other teams win more than 7 games. The Giants have the best chance because they at least have a representative quarterback. The Eagles and Commanders don't have real answers to their worst problem.
 

erod

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this team is done this year they will be lucky to win 6 games they do much talking the coaching is soft in camp they should of been tougher was camp cup cake they are paying the price now

Ridiculous. Teams aren't allowed to hit anymore in camp. None of them. Dallas had the same camp as everybody else in that regard.
 

JohnsKey19

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I think it's unrealistic to expect Romo and co. to essentially run the table when he returns regardless of what the schedule looks like. They need to get to 4-5 somehow so a 5-2 finish hopefully puts them in contention for the division. Right now, it's very difficult seeing this current team win 2 out of 3 w/out Romo.

Believe me, i'm hoping like everyone. But the cards are beginning to stack up against us.
 

Jenky

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Please. Let's just get a win first.

I really don't wanna hear this, cause next week, it'll be the same thing...just an excuse to suck.
 

Idgit

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You assume a well oiled machine when Romo returns, if there is a season to save. Everything would have to go right, and that usually doesnt happen.

Not necessarily. The SEA and PHI and TB games *are* all winnable. Even with the way we're playing right now.

I don't trust this team to walk a tightrope when Tony gets back, because we're not playing good enough football all around right now and we know from experience Tony can't do it all himself. But I also have zero doubt that, when Tony's back, he's immediately playing QB at a very high level. If we fix the defense, fix the takeaways, and fix the ST problems that have cropped up again, we're capable of giving him a .500 team and making a run of sorts this year still. It just needs to happen basically this week or next.
 

erod

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IMO...the Giants are the team to beat. We are done unless Dez comes back healthy, and I'm not expecting that.
I don't blame anyone; when you pay superstars like Romo and Dez super star money and lose them both at the same time, you can't really expect the supporting cast to step up. Cassel has a noodle arm and made very questionable decisions. Things opened up a little vs. the Giants, but how much of that was the move from Weeden to Cassel and how much was the fact that the Giants have a terrible defense with no pass rush and a depleted secondary?

We don't stink; we just stink without our superstars on offense. WE won't win a single game until Dez returns healthy, and we won't compete with good teams until both he and Romo are back. Should be a fun draft this year, though

If Romo and Dez played yesterday, the Cowboys win that game by 20+.

I don't see the Giants winning more than three more games this season. They'll finish 7-9.
 

DandyDon1722

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Good write up E.

It's just so brutal to go through this especially when these opportunities are so few and far between with a franchise quarterback.

We have to find a way to win two games. Two games I believe will give us a reasonable chance.

Two freaking games - I think one is out there not sure about two.
 

CowboyRoy

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Fortunately, despite all the misfortune and calamity.

A win yesterday would have put Dallas alone in first place. The loss put them alone in last. Ladies and gentlemen, your NFC East...

This division looks like a bucket of something a cat threw up. That was the absolute best game the Giants are capable of. The Eagles are a healthy hot mess of ineptitude. The Commanders are still the dysfunctional Keystone Cops they always are.

If Dallas was healthy, they'd almost have this division wrapped up by now. But "if" never listens to reality, as we all know.

Unlike the other East teams, we know this isn't the Dallas Cowboys. There are at least two more gears for this team to go to, eventually, when the best two players on the roster return. Some plays are getting made, but not enough, and especially not enough to eliminate the mistakes by those who aren't supposed to matter. Turnovers remain a frustratingly one-way street. Every penalty or mistake is making twice the dent they would if all hands were on deck.

Still, I remain impatiently optimistic through this grueling wait, although the mulligans are running thin.

At least Cassell is significantly better than Weeden, particularly when you consider he just got here. He should only improve as we go as he gets more comfortable with his team and playbook, even with the Seattle defense next up. At least he's not afraid to play quarterback, unlike Weeden, who would probably cry, literally, if he played against Seattle this week. Good gosh, he's a chicken you-know-what.

Dez is soon to arrive. Hopefully Seattle, but if not, by Philadelphia. That should make the entire passing game better, which should then feed this resurgent running game we saw yesterday. The Eagles game looks winnable, as does Tampa. And lest we forget, the Seahawks are 2-4, too, and they're actually healthy. That's not as impossible as it sounds.

Marinelli's defense has its parts now (although Ro McClain looked awful yesterday), and I fully expect this turnover outage to restore itself soon. It just doesn't make sense, and football tends to finds its way to an even level if the talent is on hand. This has to turn Dallas' way soon defensively.

Lastly, Romo is three games away. What will be left when he gets here? What will the division standings look like? Will 8 wins win the division or will it take 9? Nobody's winning 10 unless Dallas suddenly goes on a roll.

The others in this division don't have a Dez and Romo on the way. They are what they are already, 8-8 teams at best. As bad as it's been for Dallas, the Cowboys are only 1.5 games out of first place. This is not time to panic, though it darn sure feels like it. Sheesh.

This will either be a season to remember for all time, or a cataclysmic crash of the highest of hopes. That happens when elite QBs go down, but it stings just the same.

Thankfully, the football gods hocked a loogie on this division, and hope remains real and possible.

So there's that.

yah, your whole premise falls in the gutter with this one fact you mentioned:

-Romo returns after 3 more games

We will be hard pressed to win ANY games until then. That should be pretty obvious by now watching the last 4.
 

Jenky

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yah, your whole premise falls in the gutter with this one fact you mentioned:

-Romo returns after 3 more games

We will be hard pressed to win ANY games until then. That should be pretty obvious by now watching the last 4.

We needed to win a few games NOW. Romo has to come back after 2 and whatever, and have the entire burden on his shoulders yet AGAIN.
 

erod

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yah, your whole premise falls in the gutter with this one fact you mentioned:

-Romo returns after 3 more games

We will be hard pressed to win ANY games until then. That should be pretty obvious by now watching the last 4.

Dallas is 2-4.

Seattle is 2-4.

Philadelphia is 3-4, and lost to Weeden.

Tampa is 2-4.

Seriously?
 

CowboyRoy

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We needed to win a few games NOW. Romo has to come back after 2 and whatever, and have the entire burden on his shoulders yet AGAIN.

Romo isnt eligible to come back for 4 more games. So that is 3 games without him no matter what. Seattle, Philly, at Tampa. We can all hope and dream. Its really all we have left.
 

Wayne02

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Dallas is 2-4.

Seattle is 2-4.

Philadelphia is 3-4, and lost to Weeden.

Tampa is 2-4.

Seriously?

Seattle is 3-4, Philly is horrible but Weeden didn't start that game, and TB is awful but fully capable of beating this current Cowboy team. We know that if the Cowboys were healthy, this division race would be over, but they're not, and the Cowboys as currently constructed, are not the team to beat.
 
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