Yikes, The Cowboys Are Good

Really, really good.

I don't want to rehash what's already been written, so let's take as our starting point this preview of the game written by the Inquirer's Ashley Fox.  I've noticed a couple times this year that Fox has been the reporter assigned to writing about the Eagles' upcoming opponents, which has to be kind of a bummer of a way to cover a team.  Everyone else is in Philly rocking it up at the Linc and you get to drive up to the Meadowlands to cover the pitiful Jets. 

Anyway, she sets out a pretty good overview of what's roaring into town this weekend:

[Dallas has] the conference's top-ranked offense and defense, and the league's second-best offense behind the juggernaut that is the New England Patriots. Dallas is balanced, with the rushing tandem of Julius Jones and the shifty Marion Barber, and with Tony Romo, he of the new contract extension, under center.

In his first full year as a starter, Romo ranks fifth - behind Tom Brady, David Garrard, Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger - with a 95.6 passer rating. His 62.8 completion percentage is 19th in the league but still pretty good. The nine interceptions are the glaring weakness on an otherwise gaudy stat sheet.

As for Owens, he isn't the Cowboys' leading receiver. That honor goes to tight end Jason Witten, who has 42 catches. But Owens' 556 receiving yards and five touchdown catches are team highs.

Scratch the surface of those numbers though and they get even scarier.  Here's an offensive comparison between the two teams:

Ouch.  As we all know, those Eagles' numbers would look a lot uglier without the one big game against the Lions.  And check out that last column.  Those are the points and yards per game numbers for the Eagles during their first seven games last year, when Donovan's Deep Attack was blitzing the rest of the league.

Through seven games, the Cowboys are outscoring that offense.

The defensive numbers are somewhat more balanced:

The Dallas defense officially ranks higher than the Eagles because it's been stingier with the yardage, but as usual Jim Johnson's unit has been better at preventing points than the yard numbers would suggest.  The bad news is that that's the only major statistical category in which the Eagles surpass the Cowboys.

If you're looking for silver linings, Romo's tendency to throw interceptions, mentioned by Fox above, is a place to start.  Here's the turnover breakdown:

That table gives you a sense that these are two very different teams.  The Eagles take great care of the football.  Say what you want about Donovan's unwillingness to do a Brett Favre impression, but the results speak for themselves.  He's generally not going to put his defense in a bad position out there.  The bad news is that the Eagles defense has not done a good job forcing turnovers (which is kind of a scary stat). 

The Cowboys, on the other hand, treat the football like one of Tony Romo's increasingly long string of celebrity girlfriends: disposable, and if they lose it they'll just get a new one and score with that instead.

The funny thing is that both teams end up in the same place, with mediocre +1 turnover ratios.  It will be interesting to see if either side breaks the trend in this game.      

Now yes, you can argue that the Cowboys really haven't played anyone of note other than the Patriots.  But it's not like the Eagles have been facing the truly elite teams either. 

Long story short, there are better teams to be facing the week of a must-win game.  Maybe we could convince the Vikings to come back and take another shot.

Comments

[ShouldaTookRickyWilliams]

jesus. i was just starting to talk myself into liking the eagles' chances this weekend, and you gotta go screw everything up with your "facts". thanks alot pal.

[HorseCollaredbyRoyWilliams]

I'm holding on to the fact that Dallas hasn't beaten any good teams yet. But the Eagles might just be another bad team.

[Dan]

The thing about the Patriots game was that the Cowboys might have won it but for their offensive penalties.

If you break down their offensive penalties, and closely examine the game situation and field position of the penalties, you'll see that it wasn't the Pats defense that stopped the 'Boys, it was the 'boys themselves.

Going into the 4th quarter, the Cowboys were driving, and as Jim Nance said, their offense was "unstoppable." And then they had that penalty when they went for it on 4th and one. Brady threw a touchdown pass to Stallworth about six plays later, which made it a two touchdown game, and then, and only then, did the Cowboys begin to stutter.

They lost their edge with that play. But it needs to be recalled, they climbed out of a 14 - 0 hole, and TOOK THE LEAD against Bellicheck and his famous defensive schemes.

And that wasn't smoke and mirrors.

And the Cowboys STILL haven't their best receiver on the field yet, who is Terry Glenn, so the Cowboys still can't fully stretch the field yet.

The Eagles ought to seek a trade with the Cowboys. Trade them Westbrook, for a first and a second rounder.

The Eagles ought to recognize and admit that they are going into full blown "transition." Get rid of anyone that might earn them a draft pick. Load up on draft picks, the earlier the better of course. And start rebuilding.

The Cowboys would surely be interested in Westbrook, because he would be the final piece in their offense. And that offense has to be able to respond score for score against the Colts, the Pats or the Giants. If the Cowboys intend not just on getting to a Super Bowl, but winning the thing.

But why worry about the Eagles right now?

That doesn't make sense. They're not going anywhere. So if that's the case, and it is, why not admit as much, and begin the process of rebuilding.

Rebuilding will take a couple of years, easy. So the earlier the team starts, the sooner the team will return to competing for NFC Championships. But the team as it is now, is barely treading water.

Too much delusion about this team. Too much fantasy that they're still the team of yesteryear.

The NFC East has changed. Giants and the Cowboys are for real, and getting better. Likewise the Redskins, though they have a serious QB problem. But that team is getting better too.

But the birds aren't getting better. They're running on the fumes of yesterday.

Realize that the window for that team that dominated the NFC East is closed. Realize that team will never get it done, for its time is past.

And start rebuilding.

And that means any member of this team that another team might give up a 1, 2d or 3d round pick for, get rid of.

Get rid of whatever talent exists on this team, and start the process of rebuilding.

[Me]

You want to trade Westbrook to the Cowboys???

[Dan]

For the purposes of rebuilding, yea.

I'm willing to face the hard, cold fact that this Eagle team, as presently constituted, is going nowhere, and doing nothing.

That being the case, I ask myself how that can be changed.

And that leads me to draft picks.

Westbrook could pry two top draft picks away from the Cowboys.

TWO top draft picks, maybe two number 2s, or a combo package.

That's not chump change.

McNabb is out the door. The new QB is going to take at least a couple of years to become competitive in the NFC East. So Westbrook's presence on this team becomes superfluous.

Westbrook can't deliver on his own. And the new QB won't be able to do anything really, he's not going to be able to make a true playoff run.

So get rid of Westbrook, get rid of Dawkins, Runyan, Akers, get rid of EVERY SINGLE player that you can get top draft picks for.

And begin rebuilding.

The best player on Jimmy Johnson's cowboys was Hershel Walker.

Did they hesitate to dump him for 5 top picks?

No. They didn't. And those draft picks formed the basis for MULTIPLE Super Bowl VICTORIES, not just appearances.

Draft picks are the key.

Westbrook will surely help the Cowboys get to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys would be facing an AFC offense that is amazing, and they'll have to answer score for score. Westbrook adds to the Cowboys what they lack, a true scoring threat from the backfield, from anyplace on the field.

This team is not going to get it done.

So start building a brand new team that will.

And that means draft picks, and teams just don't give away draft picks for nothing.