At 4-4 Cowboys are Still in the Hunt

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Felix Jones has been hampered by injuries

I never ever thought I would say this but now that Baseball season is over, and we are still letting the body cool before we discuss the tragic ending, it is time to focus our attention on football and the Dallas Cowboys! Can you believe we live in a day where we are just a few more 6-10 seasons away from becoming a baseball town? I know that maybe a stretch. After all, nothing can penetrate the loyalty between SMU and its alumni. Have you seen the crowds at Ford Stadium this season? Highland Park High School puts more butts in the seats. That is a tragedy to see on Saturday’s when the team itself is going to its third straight bowl game after being resurrected from the dead by the great June Jones. But I digress, back to the Cowboys.

So we are half way home and sitting at 4-4 the Cowboys are headed straight for 8-8 and home for the holidays, right? Probably so, but there is no basketball right now so we need to make this Cowboy season as fulfilling as possible. So, the first step to doing that is beating the Buffalo Bills this Sunday at Jerryworld. Seems reasonable, but unfortunately the Cowboys have had trouble putting wins together under Jason Garrett, who celebrates his one year anniversary as the head man at The Ranch this week. In his first 16 games, Garrett is 9-7 as a head coach. Getting his tenth career win would mean winning back to back games for just the second time this year. That task has been made tougher by the loss of WR Miles Austin, who aggravated his hamstring and looks to be out until Thanksgiving at least. Look for more of Laurent Robinson who has filled in nicely after the Cowboys snatched him off the scrap heap earlier this season.

What the Cowboys really need to see more of is touchdowns. The team had three long first half drives against Seattle that ended in two Dan Bailey field goals. Kicking field goals in this league will get you beat all the time. You have to be able to finish drives, and the Cowboys must improve in the red zone. The Cowboys rank seventh in the league at 400.2 yards per game but are only 18^th in scoring at 22.4 points per game. That tells you they can drive the ball between the twenties all day but they can’t finish drives like they need to. With the offensive line in the shape it is in and Felix Jones and Miles Austin injured it sure would be nice to see Martellus Bennett to show up around the goal line. More importantly, it would be nice for Bennett just to show up anywhere. Have we seen about enough of him, or maybe I mean we haven’t seen enough, or maybe I mean he wasn’t the best player coming out of high school when he went to A&M? Again I digress.

Unlike last year at this time the team still has hope. A record of 4-4 is much better than 1-7 after eight games. The Cowboys are two games back of the G-Men in the division and will play them twice. One could say they control their own destiny when it comes to winning the division which is something they will have to do to make the playoffs. It doesn’t look like the Cowboys will get in as a wildcard the way things are shaping up in the conference. The team gets back at it tomorrow as they prepare for the Bills. We will be right back here tomorrow as well like good Cowboy fans should be…