The NFC Least
by VAfan on Sep 20, 2010 3:23 PM CDT
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Have the Cowboys lucked out this season? The NFC East has no team that looks ready to run away with things.
Washington just blew a 17-point lead to the Texans at home. Any number of plays would have iced the game for Washington, and they blew them all. Plus their new LT was dinged up. There is no depth on that team. Shanahan will do his best, which means they will be in the hunt for 8-8 or 9-7. But they are flawed.
The Eagles look the most dangerous with Michael Vick at QB. He nearly brought them back against GB, and led a high scoring attack in Detroit. But they gave up 32 to the Lions, and Kolb is the QB as soon as his concussion clears.
The Giants are absolutely awful. They beat an even-worse Panthers team. But they have no hope. The oline is in worse shape than ours, which means no running game. And they can't win many with Eli trying to pass his way to victory.
The division also has touch matchups against the AFC South and NFC North.
Thus, 9-7 looks like a division-winning record. 8-8 with the right tiebreakers might be enough. This is the only silver lining I can find in our 0-2 start.
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OMFG
its week 2! This site has never been so filled with pessimist. You can either be 2-0, 1-1, 0-2 how can anyone determine anything with those results.
Ugh.
Cowboys were 2-2 last year and then bam we blow out back to back division rivals and win a playoff game.
Really?! Really?!
Our schedule last year was nothing compared to this year
That’s what scares me most is the strength of our schedule.
SOS can only be determined after the season is over. For the love of… …Just because a team is favored doesn’t mean they are guarantee to win.
The sky is falling… not
Really?! Really?!
Agreed
For example, the Vikes don’t look so tough this year, though they are one of the teams people include as part of our tough schedule.
by RisingSunCowboy on Sep 21, 2010 9:57 PM CDT up reply actions
Look up playoff chances for 0-2 teams
They are NOT good.
so that means its impossible?
NO. Wow especially in todays NFL. You can’t use anything before 2000. Its a completely different game of parity. Plus the Cowboys aren’t just any team either.
Really?! Really?!
Thanks Ham. Well said. I'm tired of the giving up attitude
Semper Fi Do or Die
Projected 2010 Record: 12-4. You heard it here first
Vafan isn't giving up
He’s just being realistic. No, the season is not over yet. But I bet that every single person that say’s the season isn’t over yet would not have believed they would be saying that to themselves after the 2nd week.
Just a reminder- we don’t want to win the NFC east, we want homefield advantage through the playoffs. The condition and performance of the Oline doesn’t offer much hope, and if Garrett continues his playcalling issues, it really doesn’t offer much optimism either.
"Amongst the enemy's Lair, there will always be a DallasPalace!"
by DallasPalace on Sep 20, 2010 11:50 PM CDT up reply actions
Home field advantage is nice but not necessary.
Only 1 out of the last 6 Super Bowl winners had home field throughout the playoffs.
Yeah, it's nice , but it certainly isn't necessary.
"I have a feeling that when the lights come on, he's going to respond." - Coach Wade Phillips on rookie WR Dez Bryant being ready for prime time.
by APerfectStar on Sep 21, 2010 4:23 PM CDT up reply actions
Sorry Bishopwest
I believe differently. I believe that the Cowboys won’t, with this leadership, be able to go on the road in the playoffs and win. i’d like to believe they can, and hey, they could surprise, but I wouldn’t bank on it.
"Amongst the enemy's Lair, there will always be a DallasPalace!"
by DallasPalace on Sep 21, 2010 10:27 PM CDT up reply actions
I recall
a certain team in 2007 started 0-2 and had given up 80 points in the process and went on to SB glory.
The season has just started and anything can still happen.
by G Fan in England on Sep 20, 2010 5:30 PM CDT up reply actions
But how many of those 0-2 teams
had 0-2 talent? there is a difference between being 0-2 because you stink and being 0-2 because you are underachieving. one can be remedied, one cannot.
by RisingSunCowboy on Sep 21, 2010 9:57 PM CDT up reply actions
11% chance of making the playoffs
History dictates that since the 16-game schedule was adopted in 1978, teams that lose their first two games have roughly an 11 percent chance of reaching the postseason.
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Difference-between-20-and-02-is-immense.html
My point is actually not a pessimistic one. It is that our odds may be better than 11% because the NFC East is having one of its worst seasons in many, many years.
you can eliminate 60+% of those teams
as awful teams to begin with….teams that everyone predicted to be basement dwellers that followed through on that prediction
+1
sending up the O.C.C signal……
"Of all the things I have lost , I miss my mind the most-Random T-shirt
"There is a fine line between Genius and Insanity"-Unknown Author
by I draft the Cowboys!!!! on Sep 20, 2010 11:19 PM CDT up reply actions
Ha!
You can massage the stats all you want, but you have to consider cause and effect here.
Most teams that start the season 0-2 are truly bad teams. Plain and simple. Of course they won’t reach the playoffs. Look at the bumper crop of 0-2 teams this year: 5 of 8 (DET, CLE, STL, CAR, BUF) never stood a chance to make the playoffs anyway. As foyesboys said, those basement dwellers shouldn’t enter the equation.
3 of 8 (MIN, DAL, SF) are the only teams considered in some quarters to have playoff potential. Perhaps these teams are simply off to a bad start, and everything will be rosy in week 3, but here’s the catch: With two games down already, and assuming you need 10 wins to make the playoffs, they can only afford to lose 4 more games. Effectively, they have to play like a 12-4 team from now on. That’s a tall order.
by One.Cool.Customer on Sep 21, 2010 2:57 AM CDT up reply actions 2 recs
DET
I think, is somewhere between the “never stood a chance” and “playoff potential”.
It’s a slow start, but they have been in the game until the last minute, and should be sitting at a 1-1 record right now.
But, if you want to argue pessimism ...
I wrote before the first game that I thought our Oline could sink our season. I won’t put the playoffs as out of reach, largely because of this post. But doing anything once we get there looks like VERY long odds at the moment. That’s mostly because the team has shown little resilience or late-season intensity since the Tripletts retired. We mustered some last year, but it seems as if our balloon was burst in Minnesota last January, and so far there are no signs of us regaining our swagger.
I’d love to see us pull a San Diego late season run. But I’ll have to see it to believe it.
wrong
we laid the wood on the Falcons last year
both starting WR’s
the reason they dont get turnovers
they dont jump routes
the scheme is way too conservative
by Archie Barberio on Sep 20, 2010 5:20 PM CDT reply actions
The rest of the East has been equally unimpressive
Dallas should have won that WAS game (It was sooo great to see them go down in flames against HOU, icing the kicker against Shanahan’s team, such poetic justice) if Barron didn’t suck so bad, Romo’s last minute TD drive wins that game.
NYG got absolutely embarrassed, again, just like they did twice at the end of last season. And Philly’s defense? Wow, shockingly bad. Don’t even mention the QB situation they have in front of them. There is more disharmony in PHI, WAS, and NYG locker rooms right now than in Dallas’.
The division is still very winnable. The hole Dallas has dug for themselves isn’t as deep as it looks at first glance.
"I have a feeling that when the lights come on, he's going to respond." - Coach Wade Phillips on rookie WR Dez Bryant being ready for prime time.
eagles look the most dangerous huh
Eagles held on and beat the lions by 3 very impressive. Vick is a joke seen this before with dog killer. He will run around and eventually get hit and be out for weeks. I’ve never been impressed with Vick and never will be. Eagles defense is a joke and they have a full back thats out for the year and some o-line injuries. Giants didn’t look good against the Colts. Skins blew a game against the Texans but they looked good. Right now even though i’m a die hard cowboys fan i would say the skins have the best overall team in the division followed by the giants. But none of those teams are to impresive right now. NFC East is lookin kind of like the NFC west not very good.
2 games in
and the NFC BEast is now the LEast?
i doubt it. check back in 2 more weeks, i guarantee you’ll have about 2 teams with 3 wins in that column.
IMPEACH DOLAN!!!!
I agree that the East is looking weak
But curious to know where your coming from with the Giants are “Absolutely awful.”
They dominated a bad team and got dominated by a great one. Your knock on our O-line is one most Cowboys fans would say about their own team, and the consensus around football is that Eli is a good QB with good weapons at WR.
You play to win the game!
frankly, the Skins and Eagles look the best in this tiny sample
Skins beat a good team and almost beat a very good team, in two games they weren’t supposed to compete.
considering all the records are about the same, I’d say the Skins have had the highest degree of difficulty. They played 2 good teams; the Eagles & Giants, 1 good 1 bad, the Cowboys, 2 average — all about the same. Only the skins can claim a better 1-1 — which is kinda silly anyway
You play to win the game!
by Simms-McConkey on Sep 22, 2010 9:50 AM CDT up reply actions
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