Romo's return buoys Dallas
By DAVE GOLDBERG
The Associated Press
It certainly was premature to write the Dallas Cowboys out of the playoff picture after they fell to 5-4. So it's probably premature to write them back in now that they've reached 6-4, although in a very competitive NFC, they likely have a good shot.
If the playoffs started next weekend, Dallas would be out by just a hair -- missing the second wild-card spot to Washington because the Redskins have a 5-3 record within the NFC to 4-4 for Dallas.
This shouldn't be relevant with six games to go in the regular season, which means a zillion things can happen to affect everyone. Hey, the team that's closest to clinching a playoff spot is Arizona (7-3) -- yes, Arizona -- which on Sunday can secure an NFC West with no other team better than 3-7.
But it is relevant because Jerry Jones and the preseason media proclaimed the Cowboys would go directly to the Super Bowl without passing "Go" and collecting $200. Three weeks into the season, that noted pundit Keyshawn Johnson used the "U" word -- as in unbeaten -- in projecting their season on ESPN's Monday night pregame show.
That week, they lost. Then injuries hit and Dallas lost four of six overall.
So when Jones, the owner/GM/"Coach," proclaimed last week his team would make the playoffs, it was treated as head-turning news. As if Jones would proclaim the season over when his team was a game over .500 just past the midway mark -- after all, 9-7 and 8-8 teams have made the playoffs fairly frequently this decade.
After Dallas' 14-10 win in Washington on Sunday night, team "spokesman" Terrell Owens, was more cautious than that.
"Are we back to the old Cowboys?" T.O. asked rhetorically. "Who knows? But this is definitely a step in the right direction."
Which "old Cowboys?"
The "old Cowboys" Owens refers to presumably are the guys who went 13-3 last season but lost to the Giants in their first playoff game, leaving them without a postseason win since they beat Minnesota 40-15 in a wild-card game after the 1996 season. The "old Cowboys" who should be emulated are the teams of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin that won Super Bowls after the 1992, 1993 and 1995 seasons.
The current Cowboys might be close to the '95 team, an offbeat collection of talented players that really didn't perform all that well, yet won a title under Barry Switzer. Jimmy Johnson assembled the talent and coached it to the first two championships just as a lot of the current talent that Wade Phillips is coaching was assembled by Bill Parcells.
The Cowboys didn't get the full Romo Sunday night, but they certainly got a lot more than Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger gave them in going 1-2 in his absence. With a device on his broken right pinkie, some of Romo's throws looked pretty funky. But he was able to get the ball downfield to Marcellus Bennett for the winning TD and he was able to throw a Favreian third-down underhand pass to keep the winning drive going.
Just as important was the return of Terence Newman, who broke up the fourth-down pass intended for Santana Moss that ended Washington's last drive. And the return of the running game -- Marion Barber closed off the victory by pounding his way at the Redskins' defense, just as he did in a lot of contests last season when Julius Jones usually started.
So yes, the Cowboys can make it to the postseason, although 8-8 is probably not a playoff qualifier in this year's NFC and 9-7 might not be either.
But in the last 10 years, of the 19 non-division winners that have finished 10-6, 16 have made the postseason. The only teams that missed were the 2003 Dolphins, 2005 Chiefs and last year's Browns.
Can the Cowboys finish with four more wins? They have San Francisco and Seattle at home the next two weeks and should win both.
Then they need two more wins in their final four games against teams that currently have winning records: at the Eagles and Steelers, at home to the Ravens and Giants. Given Dallas' talent, two wins seem reasonable and three or four possible depending on where the other teams are in their playoff runs.
In any case, Dallas already has its new mantra, pronounced after it lost 35-14 without Romo to the Giants at the Meadowlands. Last season, the Cowboys beat New York twice, then the Giants came to Texas Stadium and beat them in the playoffs.
Jones, Owens and Phillips keep making note of that and many of the players are repeating it.
So give the Cowboys 10-6. Then they are on their own.
The Associated Press
It certainly was premature to write the Dallas Cowboys out of the playoff picture after they fell to 5-4. So it's probably premature to write them back in now that they've reached 6-4, although in a very competitive NFC, they likely have a good shot.
If the playoffs started next weekend, Dallas would be out by just a hair -- missing the second wild-card spot to Washington because the Redskins have a 5-3 record within the NFC to 4-4 for Dallas.
This shouldn't be relevant with six games to go in the regular season, which means a zillion things can happen to affect everyone. Hey, the team that's closest to clinching a playoff spot is Arizona (7-3) -- yes, Arizona -- which on Sunday can secure an NFC West with no other team better than 3-7.
But it is relevant because Jerry Jones and the preseason media proclaimed the Cowboys would go directly to the Super Bowl without passing "Go" and collecting $200. Three weeks into the season, that noted pundit Keyshawn Johnson used the "U" word -- as in unbeaten -- in projecting their season on ESPN's Monday night pregame show.
That week, they lost. Then injuries hit and Dallas lost four of six overall.
So when Jones, the owner/GM/"Coach," proclaimed last week his team would make the playoffs, it was treated as head-turning news. As if Jones would proclaim the season over when his team was a game over .500 just past the midway mark -- after all, 9-7 and 8-8 teams have made the playoffs fairly frequently this decade.
After Dallas' 14-10 win in Washington on Sunday night, team "spokesman" Terrell Owens, was more cautious than that.
"Are we back to the old Cowboys?" T.O. asked rhetorically. "Who knows? But this is definitely a step in the right direction."
Which "old Cowboys?"
The "old Cowboys" Owens refers to presumably are the guys who went 13-3 last season but lost to the Giants in their first playoff game, leaving them without a postseason win since they beat Minnesota 40-15 in a wild-card game after the 1996 season. The "old Cowboys" who should be emulated are the teams of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin that won Super Bowls after the 1992, 1993 and 1995 seasons.
The current Cowboys might be close to the '95 team, an offbeat collection of talented players that really didn't perform all that well, yet won a title under Barry Switzer. Jimmy Johnson assembled the talent and coached it to the first two championships just as a lot of the current talent that Wade Phillips is coaching was assembled by Bill Parcells.
The Cowboys didn't get the full Romo Sunday night, but they certainly got a lot more than Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger gave them in going 1-2 in his absence. With a device on his broken right pinkie, some of Romo's throws looked pretty funky. But he was able to get the ball downfield to Marcellus Bennett for the winning TD and he was able to throw a Favreian third-down underhand pass to keep the winning drive going.
Just as important was the return of Terence Newman, who broke up the fourth-down pass intended for Santana Moss that ended Washington's last drive. And the return of the running game -- Marion Barber closed off the victory by pounding his way at the Redskins' defense, just as he did in a lot of contests last season when Julius Jones usually started.
So yes, the Cowboys can make it to the postseason, although 8-8 is probably not a playoff qualifier in this year's NFC and 9-7 might not be either.
But in the last 10 years, of the 19 non-division winners that have finished 10-6, 16 have made the postseason. The only teams that missed were the 2003 Dolphins, 2005 Chiefs and last year's Browns.
Can the Cowboys finish with four more wins? They have San Francisco and Seattle at home the next two weeks and should win both.
Then they need two more wins in their final four games against teams that currently have winning records: at the Eagles and Steelers, at home to the Ravens and Giants. Given Dallas' talent, two wins seem reasonable and three or four possible depending on where the other teams are in their playoff runs.
In any case, Dallas already has its new mantra, pronounced after it lost 35-14 without Romo to the Giants at the Meadowlands. Last season, the Cowboys beat New York twice, then the Giants came to Texas Stadium and beat them in the playoffs.
Jones, Owens and Phillips keep making note of that and many of the players are repeating it.
So give the Cowboys 10-6. Then they are on their own.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:46 AM
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