Sitting at the bottom of the NFC East with a record of 0-2, the Dallas Cowboys have found themselves in an extremely unfortunate position. Not only were the Cowboys expected to win their division and make it to the postseason in 2010, they were considered by many to be a Super Bowl contender. Two games and countless offensive line and red zone blunders later, it appears as though Tony Romo and the Boys are a bubble team at best.
When the Redskins defeated Dallas in Washington week one, it was easy to dismiss the loss and write it off as a rusty performance where a playoff team beat themselves. When the Bears beat the Cowboys on their own turf on Sunday, we saw a team that doesn’t look like a playoff contender in the slightest. Tony Romo turned the ball over and the defense made Devin Hester look like Jerry Rice.
Only two games have been played in a 16-game season, but is it unreasonable for Cowboys fans to panic already? With a road match-up upcoming against the impressive Houston Texans, I’d have to say it’s not. The thought of Dallas starting the year 0-3 is more than feasible at this point. If they don’t approach Sunday’s game with the urgency of a playoff game, their season could be over before it really gets underway.
A lot of the blame for the Cowboys’ slow start will fall on the shoulders of Romo, as it would with any starting quarterback. He should certainly shoulder some of it, but his offensive line isn’t doing him any favors. The best passers in the game have the best protection. That’s something that has been difficult to come by for Romo through the first two games.
If Dallas let the Bears score 27 points, how many will Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson, and company be able to light them up for? With the way things are going, the Cowboys will need to build any early lead if they want to be successful against Houston. The pass protection just isn’t good enough right now to be playing catch-up.
The bottom line is the Cowboys desperately need a win on Sunday. If they can’t get it, they won’t be making the playoffs. If it seems like Dallas has had a tough schedule already, take a look at what they have to look forward to. Jerry Jones’ squad still has two games against the Eagles, two against the Giants, another with the Redskins, road match-ups with Green Bay and Minnesota, and a home game against the Saints.
With the expectations the Cowboys had leading up to the season and the way they’ve started out, I’d be stashing away a good chunk of money if my name were Wade Phillips.
