State of the Cowboys Super Bowl Bound?

- By Brandon Brown

Wow. Wow! WOW! All hope had seemed lost when Dak Prescott injured his thumb during the opening game against the Buccaneers. Then out of nowhere, a Cinderella story in Cooper Rush unfolds, as he goes 4-1 during his time as a starter, and thus keeps playoff hopes alive as the Cowboys lie in second place in the division behind the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles. So let’s take a look into the rest of the season and not ponder whether or not the Cowboys can make the playoffs (because it’s obvious there’s a wildcard spot at the LEAST waiting for them at the end of the season) but rather if there’s a realistic Super Bowl appearance in the cards for Dem Boys!

FIRSTLY! A look at some Cowboys stats!

- Dallas ranks 11th in rushing yards per game, with Tony Pollard leading the locker room with 506 yards on the season and a whopping 6.2 yards per carry (only the most by a non-QB in the Super Bowl era)

- Dallas ranks 26th in passing yards per game, BUT did just get Dak Prescott back two weeks ago, and has been able to rely more on rushing than passing this season.

Dallas ranks 28th in receiving yards per game.

- Dallas has the 7th best overall defense thus far, which can be attributed to the number of sacks this front seven has earned: Micah Parsons, 8 sacks; Dorance Armstrong, 5 sacks; Demarcus Lawrence, 4 sacks; Dante Fowler Jr., 4 sacks; and skimming over every other defensive lineman or linebacker on the team, even safety Donovan Wilson has earned 3 sacks Overall, this team leads the league with 33 sacks!

While this team has some offensive struggles to work out, the defense is unexpectantly playing, not just good, but GREAT. Rushing Defense does need to be improved, as the Cowboys rank just 25th in that category, but a recent trade with the Raiders sending over Jonathan Hankins might help to at least improve rushing defense a bit, though I do not believe that trade was enough to completely turn it around.

SECONDLY, let’s revisit Dallas’ opponents after the Bye Week:

11/13: Visiting the Green Bay Packers - This is not last year’s team. Their offense looks inefficient without Davante Adams leading the receiving core, and have overall failed to win very obtainable games.

Brandon’s Prediction: W

11/20: Visiting the Minnesota Vikings - Like I stated last time… we don’t want the Cousins Curse with a legitimate Super Bowl window open. Of course, the Vikings and the aforementioned Cousins look quite good this season, with Cousins on pace to post career highs in every major statistical category and Justin Jefferson proving himself the next Randy Moss of the NFL.

Brandon’s Prediction: W

11/24: Hosting the New York Giants - I couldn’t have been more wrong about Daniel Jones… the man looks like a football player while leading this previously TERRIBLE football team to a 6-2 record thus far.

Brandon’s Prediction: W

12/04: Hosting the Indianapolis Colts - A team who just benched Matt Ryan for the remainder of the season and look destined for a top 10 draft pick in 2023.

Brandon’s Prediction: W

12/11: Hosting the Houston Texans - This Cowboys team would likely have to try harder to LOSE to this team than to win.

Brandon’s Prediction: W

12/24: Hosting the Philadelphia Eagles - This is going to be the most challenging game of the season. With how elite the Eagles’ rushing attack is, I don’t know if this Cowboys rushing defense will be able to keep up. But only time will tell if the Eagles finally slow down by this point.

Brandon’s Prediction: L

12/29: Visiting the Tennessee Titans - This is another team that I think is winning the division by default. If you had asked me two weeks ago if I thought Tennessee was a legitimate Super Bowl contender, I would’ve said yes… but I can’t help but feel that their window closed last season.

Brandon’s Prediction: W

1/08: Visiting the Washington Commanders - This one won’t necessarily be a walk in the park, as this team suddenly looks fairly dangerous with Taylor Heinecke at the helm!

Brandon’s Prediction: T

I’ve predicted the Cowboys to go 7-1-1 with the remainder of the season, which with how this defense is playing, I think is realistic. There are definitely some upsets here that could happen, as Minnesota defeating Dallas is an upset I can visualize, but I could also see New York having a good game against Dallas. Still, let’s say they lose both of those games and also lose to Philadelphia while tying with Washington. That would put them at 11 wins for the season, which is enough to qualify them for a playoff spot, especially if New York finishes with a worse record than Dallas.

FINAL VERDICT

I think the Cowboys have a realistic chance to grab the No. 1 seed in the NFC if the

Eagles and Vikings cool down and lose momentum. Regardless, give me a choice between the Giants and the Cowboys for second place in the NFC East, I’m taking the Cowboys. The Giants look good, and coach Brian Daboll has turned that program so much around that New York looks like a threat for years to come. That said, this is still their warmup season, and Dallas is ready to make offenses pay in the playoffs. Only the second half of the season is going to tell if Dallas is capable of making their playoff spot turn into a deep playoff run!