After a beyond embarrassing nationally televised loss for the Dallas Cowboys against the Washington Football Team, the question remains: should the Cowboys tank or try? It seemed like things were finally starting to click for the Cowboy during the team’s first matchup against the Eagles. The Cowboys had an impressive fight against the Eagles until the end of the game. The next week they were leading the undefeated Steelers for the entire game until late in the 4th quarter. The week after, they pulled off a huge upset against the Vikings in an impressive showing by Andy Dalton, Ezekiel Elliott, Daryl Worley, and more.
The Cowboys were then projected favorites in a revenge Thanksgiving matchup against the Football Team when the horrible news that Strength and Conditioning Coach, Markus Paul, had passed away in the hospital the night before the game. The day before his passing, Coach Paul had fainted while having a conversation with some of the players in practice. A lot of players and staff members were devastated with the news, and ultimately the bad news led to a very sloppy showing.
Dallas actually held a lead in the game, but after a fumble by RB Ezekiel Elliott, things started to get out of hand. The defense couldn’t keep up with the rushing attack and the offense stopped being able to move the ball. One thing led to another and the the Cowboys now seem to be back to square one after the Thanksgiving Day loss.
It seemed that after their best game of the season against the Vikings, the Cowboys would continue to try to win games and make the playoffs by taking over the disastrous NFC East. The Cowboys currently have the 5th pick in the draft but they also are a game away from having the lead in the division.
The Cowboys still have a very easy schedule where 4 of 5 of their opponents have 4 or less wins. If Dallas can beat their last 4 opponents (they have almost no chance to beat the 6-4 Ravens next Monday in Baltimore), then reaching the playoffs is more than likely, but if they slip up more than once, they should purposely lose out until the end of the season for a better draft pick. The rest of the division has an even tougher schedule to finish out the season giving Dallas an even larger chance for success. Jerry Jones came out saying that he didn’t want to lose a few weeks ago, and I’m sure he continues to maintain that mindset for now.
The doors to the division are wide open, but it all depends on if the Cowboys are willing to walk through them.
Photo Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn / USA Today Sport
