Hey everyone, there is no link here.  Just me posting some of my thoughts on the Cowboys.

Being a big Cowboy fan and a student, I waste a lot of time reading "analysis" of the 'Boys.  Often times, I will pick up on something or be reminded of something that I had forgotten.  However, it seems to me that the Cowboys are getting respect for something that isn't entirely accurate, and aren't getting respect for something I think is incredibly important.  Here's what I mean.

As much as I love Romo, and don't get me wrong, he's the main reason for the Cowboys being so good right now, I feel like the main stream media has jumped on his bandwagon just because it is easy and the public seems to want a good Cowboys QB.  So we get (overly) inundated with information about him (who he's dating, where he goes, where he eats, etc) while other aspects of this team get left behind.  For instance, tonight was one of the first times we've heard people talk about the Cowboys O-line as something other than big.  It took an other worldly performance by TO to shed the "pass-dropping, malcontent" label and a helmet-less bloody nose run by Witten to get props for his toughness along with his skill.  This is the Sunday Night Crew's third Cowboy game this season, yet they are still suprised by how good MBIII is.  Maybe it's just the way main stream media works, but there are so many good to great players on this team, and it seems like the only two you hear about are Romo and TO.

OK, so the other part.  When analysts dissect the Cowboys game, they point out the how strong the offense is, and some even point out that the defense is very good against the run (AD didn't break any records against us!).  But many people discredit the Cowboys chances because of their perceived lack of a pass defense.  Here is my response: it has to do with the Cowboys health on defense!!  Why does no one realize this!?  They have yet to start their two starting CB's in a game.  Imagine what the Bronco's D would look like without Bailey, or the Patriots without Samuel, etc etc.  Also, Greg Ellis has not played the whole season and has probably only been at 100% for 2 or 3 games now.  Add the loss of Ferguson to that, and I would say you could make a legit claim that the 'Boys have been without 3 of their best 5 defenders for at least half of the games they played this year. (Ferguson out the whole year, alternating Henry and Newman, Ellis coming in late.)

One of the most exciting parts of next week's game to me (outside of the fact that NYG looks for real) is that for the first time, we'll get to see a fully healthy Cowboy's D assuming Henry makes the start (looked good to me tonight) with Tank replacing Ferguson.  It's probably the second best game of the week behind SD-Indy; maybe the best after how SD played today.

Finally, I think that the Cowboys success this season depends on health.  That is an exciting thing to say as we haven't had the talent in the past decade to only need health to be considered a true Superbowl threat.  Basically, here's what I think:
If Cowboys get:
a. Henry and Newman fully healthy: They battle NYG for the division, coin-toss decides it
b. (a) + Tank truly replaces Ferguson: They win the division, clinch home-field, win at least 1 playoff game
c. (b) + Terry Glenn back: A legit threat to WIN the Superbowl.  I truly believe that offense can matchup with the Pats or Colts (maybe not beat, but at least be in the same realm) and that defense would also be on the level of those teams (although, maybe not on the level of a Pittsburgh).

If you are still reading, congrats! Thank you! Now go do something productive!