How about them Cowboys!!

Here we are half way through the season. 8 games into a 16 game schedule and the Cowboys are sitting very pretty at 7-1, and doing it in a very convincing manner.
I rate the Boys as the #1 team in the NFC. Their Offense with Romo, Witten and TO are unstoppable. The only team to slow them down was Buffalo. Romo had a horrible game and looked lost. He was good enough and lucky enough to bring them back. Their only loss came against the undefeated Patriots, and the New England D didn't slow them down, the Cowboys did that to themselves with Penalties. They are ranked 3rd in passing, 2nd in total yards and 2nd in points scored.

Dallas Defense is still suspect, but only against the pass. They shut down the best runner in the League, Adrian Peterson of the Vikings. They are ranked 5th in the league verse the run and 8th overall in yards allowed. They are 20th in points, but usually the Cowboys are so far ahead, teams are getting junk points at the end of games to make it look respectable against our 2nd stringers.

For the 2nd half I expect the Cowboys to do even better. Why?
1. Adding Tank Johnson in the middle to help plug things there. Ratliff is doing very good since Ferguson went down, but now you got a real force in there.

2. Our 2 DB's have never started a game together. Newman and Henry have both been out (1 of them) in every game this year. Henry finally made it back for dime package work last week and I expect him to start this week or next. And Jacques Reeves, meanwhile, has picked up some invaluable experience to be a great Nickle back. This will help Ware and Ellis pick up even bigger numbers than they are already starting to get in the sack category.

3. Terry Glen, where are you? With any luck, Glen will be back soon. His speed to stretch the field is sorely missed right now. (Yea, our O does have 1 weakness.) Once we get Glen back, watch the hell out. Defenses will be struggling to keep up with the Witten, Owens, Glen, Crayton and Fasano. Romo will be shooting fish in a barrel. Add in the fantastic job our Offensive Line is doing and Romo's ability to avoid pressure and I think we can even give Indy and the Pats a run for their money.

The only other teams even close are:
#2. Green Bay also at 7-1 and how, I have no idea. They keep finding a way to win, but they struggle through every game and you keep expecting them to lose. A tough team and with Farve at the helm you can never count them out. Their defense keeps them in games right now, but I think a good team will rip these guys a new one. They will play the Boys in a few weeks. Should be a good game.

#3. The Giants. Sitting just 1 game back at 6-2, they seem to be the biggest threat to the Cowboys from just running away with this. And actually may be the best bet to stop New England from getting an undefeated season in the last game. But they still have Dallas, Minnesota, Philly, Detroit and Washington left. So even a win against the Cowboys this Sunday doesn't win them the division. I expect them to end up 11-5 and 2 games behind the Boys and end up as the #1 wild card. Should still be a great game Sunday even though the Boys beat them pretty handily the first time. I expect a repeat.

#4. Detroit. Who'd thunk it. Which team is showing up this week. The team that rolled over Denver 44-7, or the ones that lost to a weak Philly team 21-56. Their 2 losses are really bad, but their wins are impressive. They are still looking at the Giants, Dallas, Green Bay twice, San Diego and a Minnesota team that will run over them. Detroit is on a precipice that will collapse soon. I expect them to lose at least 4 of those games. So a 9-7 or 10-6 record is about the best they can hope for and slip into the playoffs as a #3 wildcard and a quick exit out of the post season.

Looking ahead to the Dallas schedule the only teams that even give me pause at this point is the Giants this week and then Green Bay and Detroit. Washington always gives us a tough time in one of our games. So assuming 1 loss to the Redskins and 1 loss to the Giants, Pack or Lions and we end up with a 13-3 record and 1st place in the NFC, a first round bye at least get to the NFC championship game.

Looks like the road to the Superbowl is going to run through Dallas this year. Can we make it to a rematch with the Pats. That is a game I'd love to see.

Until next time...