If You’re On The ‘Dallas Cowboys Suck’ Bandwagon, Don’t Hurt Yourself Falling Off

By: Toby Christie

The Dallas Cowboys are five games into the 2011 season, and at first glance their record (2-3) would show that this may be another lost year for the once perrinial Super Bowl contending team.

Many are calling for Jason Garrett’s head because of his play calling, many are calling for Tony Romo’s head for his lack of good decisions, many are calling for the heads of the offensive linemen due to their lack of blocking, and many are calling for the heads of the running backs for not being able to break off a long run.

All of that being said, the Dallas Cowboys did something Sunday that nobody has been able to do for the past 13 regular season weeks in the NFL – hold the New England Patriots to under 30 points. Rob Ryan is leading a defense that is really overachieving, compared to what we expected from them heading into the season.

In addition to holding the Patriots to just 20 points, the Cowboys also forced four Patriots turnovers – no easy task either, and they somehow managed to hold Wes Welker to just 45-yards receiving! Now trust me, I do know the Cowboys did lose the game, but if you’re on the ‘Cowboys suck’ bandwagon brace yourself for a vicious fall in a few weeks.

Thus far this season, the Dallas Cowboys have faced opponents with a collective record of 20-8… In that span they have faced off against three teams that currently find themselves with a 5-1 record (San Francisco, Detroit and New England). It’s no wonder they’ve had issues in the redzone, and have lost really close games huh?

The sledding from here on out gets substancially easier for the team in big D.

Their next three games are against St. Louis (0-5), Philadelphia (2-4) and Seattle (2-4). So realistically the Cowboys could head into the homestrech of the season with a 5-3 record – in a division that could easily see the divisonal champion only winning 10 games.

As the season trolls on I fully expect the Cowboys to close in on the New York Giants and Washington Redskins in the NFC East – each of these teams have yet to face the New England Patriots or San Francisco 49ers (and for the record I was on the Redskins bandwagon at the beginning of the season).