The Dallas Cowboys can’t seem to catch a break this year. At 2-7, their record more than halfway through the year is far worse than even the bleakest of critics could have predicted. The team has looked over matched, unmotivated, and completely inept all year long. They have been beaten, battered, and bruised both physically and mentally. The Dallas Cowboys have been so bad that Cowboys fans across the nation are begging to be put out of their misery, hoping to lose out and earn a high draft pick next season. But this Dallas Cowboys team can’t seem to do anything right, even when it comes to tanking. My sincerest apologies to those on team tank but it appears the Dallas Cowboys season is still not over.
At 2-7 the Dallas Cowboys season SHOULD be over but welcome everybody to the NFC East where anything is possible. Even a team like the Dallas Cowboys who started the season playing historically bad defense, playing awful on special teams, and playing from so far behind that they needed to score 40 pts a game just to give themselves a chance. Even a team that has lost almost their entire starting offensive line, their starting tight end, several key defensive starters, and most notably starting QB Dak Prescott. Even after losing backup quarterback Andy Dalton and trotting out 3rd and 4th string QB’s against two of the better defenses in the NFL. Even with the Cowboys front office getting a terrible return on their free agent signings (which is ironic because they had been more active than they have been for years in that department). Even with all of these great calamities and the awful record (currently last in the worst division in football) the Dallas Cowboys are still a game in a half out of first place. Better yet, they get to play all three division rivals one more time each during their final 7 games and they are actually starting to show signs of life. They just came off their best overall performance of the year barely losing to the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers. Whether or not it is in the best interest of the team long term, the 2020 Dallas Cowboys season is far from over.
For those of you who are still clinging to any reason for hope be warned. Hope is a dangerous thing. Inevitably for Dallas Cowboys fans in 2020, as soon as a glimmer of hope emerges bad news is sure to follow. No sooner did Garrett Gilbert emerge to lead the offense to some semblence of functionality, did the Cowboys front office announce Andy Dalton was going to be named the starter once gain. No sooner did rookie standout Trevon Diggs start to emerge as a consistent playmaker, then he was lost for the season with broken foot suffered on a freak collision with teammate Jaylon Smith. The 2020 Dallas Cowboys season appears doomed to break the hearts of Dallas Cowboys fans.
READ MORE: 5 BIGGEST CONCERNS FOR THE DALLAS COWBOYS
I myself am conflicted. I am a pragmatist and I want what’s best for my team long term. I want them to lose this season and I want them to lose often. I want them to get a high draft pick which they can then parlay into a treasure trove of draft capital that they can use to rebuild and replenish their roster. I want them to come back with a vengeance in 2021 because my eyes tell me that they are not nearly good enough to win it all in 2020. Yet at the same time (usually midday on Sunday’s) I want them to win. I believe they can turn it around and win the division. I also make myself believe that no matter how bad they appear to be, if they get into the playoffs that anything can happen. This is a dangerous train of thought. This is the kind of thinking that most often leads to disappointment, heartache. A feeling that I and fellow Cowboys fans have known all too well the past quarter of a century.
My biggest fear is that of all the possible outcomes for the 2020 Dallas Cowboys season, the worst scenario will prevail. The scenario where we beat the Washington Football team and we beat the Eagles and then we win a couple more games. The Dallas Cowboys go on an unlikely run that culminates in a trip to New York for the regular season finale against the Giants with the NFC East title and a trip to the playoffs at stake. In this nightmare scenario, not only do the Cowboys lose but Jason Garrett is hoisted unto the shoulders of his players as the vindicated former Cowboys coach gets the better of his old team. To make matters worse it is the Eagles or the Washington Football team (our most hated rivals) who end up with the prime draft pick currently destined for the Cowboys. That draft pick is then used as a bargaining chip to collect a slew of draft picks or used to get the next generational talent at QB in either Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, or a surprise candidate such as Zach Wilson.
WHAT ARE THE COWBOYS CHANCES OF WINNING THE NFC EAST?
A division title or a premium draft pick? I honestly don’t know what I want more. As I said before, hope is a very dangerous thing but I do have hope. I hope that the Dallas Cowboys season ends up as EITHER/OR instead of in between because right there in the middle is the place where there is no hope at all.
*Photo by Joe Glorioso All-Pro Reels https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/legalcode