Survive and Advance

[DFWJC]

Our Cowboys need to somehow survive this 1st half of the season to set them up for the big run in November-January.
Nothing will surprise me in the next few weeks to the upside or downside.
It looks to be incredibly challenging though.

Dez out anywhere from 4-8 weeks?
Gregory out 3-6 weeks?
Leary out 2-3 weeks?
Hardy out until week 5
McClain out until week 5

wk2: at Philly...who will be favored.
wk3: Atlanta...who is much better now
wk4: at New Olreans...good at home
wk5: New England...SB team
wk6: bye
wk7: at New York...you know this will be close
wk8: Seattle...SB team
wk9: Philly...will be a battle

I'm glad we're 1-0!

If somehow we get through this gauntlet in position to still get make a run for the NFC East or a wildcard, I'll be happy.

If that happens and we have a healthy roster down the stretch...LOOK OUT

 

[Jenky]

Suddenly that schedule looks harder without Dez.

 

[JakeCamp12]

Suddenly that schedule looks harder without Dez.

Everything will be harder without Dez....

 

[Junglist]

Everything will be harder without Dez....

But it's completely manageable, imo. Linehan just needs to add a new wrinkle, or two? I think we can be .500 or better by Dez's return. Our defense will be better at keeping us in games.

 

[Staubacher]

Time running out for the Romo era and more lousy luck

 

[John813]

We have enough weapons to still be an top 10 effective offense.
Just need to keep turnovers to a minimum.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Suddenly that schedule looks harder without Dez.

not just dez. with hardy and now Gregory out, the once deep DE is now thin and we have some offensive powers coming in the next 3 games. don't underestimate the leary loss, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Collins if Beardneau struggles in run game. Ro is out too. so we got quite a few who are missing.

 

[SacramentoKing]

I have a feeling someone is going to break out in Dez's absence. I'm guessing Williams or Escobar. Romo has the ability to make people around him better.

 

[cowboyblue22]

its so sad with Romo's time running out seems like all we have is bad luck thought maybe this year would be the year but I guess its not meant to be.

 

[RunDMC]

Meh to me both Atlanta and Philadelphia were exposed last night. The Falcons clearly didn't have an answer for the Eagles hurry up offense. They were gassed because they don't have a good rotation going of D-linemen.

The Eagles couldn't handle interior pressure and they couldn't get anything really on their outside runs and they have a limited playbook. Take away the crossing routes and the screens and they're done.

New Orleans is always tough at home, but they don't have Jimmy Graham anymore and while their OL is a little better with the addition of Unger still don't think it's good enough to handle our front which played very well against the Giants.

New England doesn't look like a team that'll have much success stopping the run. They don't have any beef up front. Gonna be a lot about trying to limit Gronkowski and make someone else beat us.

Tough schedule yes, but I don't think it's unrealistic to expect a 4-0 or 3-1 start.

 

[RunDMC]

its so sad with Romo's time running out seems like all we have is bad luck thought maybe this year would be the year but I guess its not meant to be.

Giving up so soon? Can't say I'm surprised.

This Cowboys football team has so much fight and it seems like much of the fan base doesn't.

We lost Dez. Sucks, but the season goes on. We have to march on without him. Look around the league. Could be a lot worse. Green Bay lost Jordy Nelson. Chicago lost Kevin White. Carolina lost Kelvin Benjamin.

When you have an elite quarterback we still have a chance and Tony Romo clearly fits that mantra. He still has a bevey of weapons at his disposal. Jason Witten is still one of the top tight ends in the game and we have another guy who clearly has the skill set to be a dynamic #2. Cole Beasley and Terrance Williams are no joke. Yeah they struggled a bit in the second half, but they got themselves going. T-Will has had plenty of reps at the #1 in the offseason with Dez's holdout. He's fully prepared for this moment.

We all saw how well we used Lance Dunbar. He's just like Felix Jones was in his prime, but better. Excellent route runner for a back. Quick, explosive, good hands, elusive in the open field. Randle had a solid game. McFadden will be used more in the coming weeks. Let's not forget we still have those big bad boys on the offensive line.

Defensively we were very stout. Other than that catch on 3rd and 14 Beckham Jr. really had no impact on the game. Claibourne did a really good when he was matched up against him. Carr and Wilcox were terrific in coverage as well. Eli did a lot of three and five step drops which is why we only had one sack, but there were still a number of instances where he was flushed out out of the pocket and pressure in it as well. Losing Gregory hurts, but there is still talent on the D-Line.

We will just be fine. Show a little faith.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Our Cowboys need to somehow survive this 1st half of the season to set them up for the big run in November-January.
Nothing will surprise me in the next few weeks to the upside or downside.
It looks to be incredibly challenging though.

Dez out anywhere from 4-8 weeks?
Gregory out 3-6 weeks?
Leary out 2-3 weeks?
Hardy out until week 5
McClain out until week 5

wk2: at Philly...who will be favored.
wk3: Atlanta...who is much better now
wk4: at New Olreans...good at home
wk5: New England...SB team
wk6: bye
wk7: at New York...you know this will be close
wk8: Seattle...SB team
wk9: Philly...will be a battle

I'm glad we're 1-0!

If somehow we get through this gauntlet in position to still get make a run for the NFC East or a wildcard, I'll be happy.

If that happens and we have a healthy roster down the stretch...LOOK OUT

If we didnt eek out a lucky win, last week would have been the worst game 1 start in Cowboys history. A travesty of monumental proportions.

These injuries are about as bad as they can get save Romo going down. I am hoping to go 2-2 over the next 4 weeks and we should be fine.

We can all keep our fingers crossed that Dez doenst spaz out in pregame, post game, or cheering on the sidelines and breaks his other foot or the same foot. And I guess we have to hope he doesnt run onto the field during a game and get punched in the face.

 

[DFWJC]

Meh to me both Atlanta and Philadelphia were exposed last night.

.

My guess is that Philly and Atlanta watched our game Sunday night and said NY and Dallas were exposed.

Doesn't mean they're right, but just sayin

 

[JD_KaPow]

We could be 4-4 or even 3-5 at the halfway point and still be set up pretty well. We'd have to take care of business against TB, MIA, CAR, NYJ and WASx2 and win at least one of @GB and @BUF, which all seems reasonable.

 

[sureletsrace]

I think Escobar freaks out until the bye.

I mean that in a good way.

 

[jobberone]

We made what..3 TOs. Stalled a couple of drives at least via mistakes and penalties. We don't shoot ourselves in the foot we can beat anyone. You only get so many offensive possessions. You can't squander them and you need to score more TDs in the RZ. If we are the team that had the initial and final two drives teams will be afraid of us.

 

[RunDMC]

My guess is that Philly and Atlanta watched our game Sunday night and said NY and Dallas were exposed.

Doesn't mean they're right, but just sayin

Except we weren't. It's not like the Cowboys were getting gashed in the run, couldn't get pressure on Eli, gave up big plays down the field, couldn't protect Romo, or couldn't run the ball at all.

We simply made some boneheaded mistakes. If it wasn't for that the Cowboys would've won by three or more touchdowns.

 

[DFWJC]

I really don't know, but there's a chance that the easiest team we play for the first 8 games was the Giants at home.
That may not at all be true, but there is that chance.

I'm optimistic that'll we'll find a way.
There's something about this group that says they can handle diversity just fine.

 

[DFWJC]

Except we weren't. It's not like the Cowboys were getting gashed in the run, couldn't get pressure on Eli, gave up big plays down the field, couldn't protect Romo, or couldn't run the ball at all.

We simply made some boneheaded mistakes. If it wasn't for that the Cowboys would've won by three or more touchdowns.

Oh, I know....I was just throwing out their possible perspective.
I thought Philly righted the ship to some degree in the second half last night and that Atlanta is a greatly improved...and maybe even dangerous.
Doesn't mean we can't beat both of them.

This isn't meant to be a panic thread by any means.

 

[plymkr]

I have a feeling someone is going to break out in Dez's absence. I'm guessing Williams or Escobar. Romo has the ability to make people around him better.

I completely agree. If Romo and the oline is healthy we have a chance in every game. I'm heartbroken about Dez so don't get me wrong. But if Romo can turn Miles Austin into a probowler then it's next man up and let Romo do what he does best. Losing Dez is devastating but the only player on the team we can not lose is Romo. I think Escobar will be used at the goal line for the fade/jump ball routes. Whoever compared Escobar to Gronk is going to get a chance to see if Romo can turn Escobar into a poor man's Gronk, Lol. I don't think Escobar has to be anyone but Escobar but we'll see his numbers go up drastically