At some point, both Tony Romo and Dez Bryant will be back from their injuries. Until then, it’s up to Brandon Weeden to steer the Dallas Cowboys offense in rocky waters, with the organization hoping there’s still something to play for when their two most important offensive players come back.
I wouldn’t say we’re trying to hold on. We’re trying to win games. We have to go play our ass off. We can’t hold on to anything. We’ll play with what we have and play as hard as we can play. If we go oh-fer while Tony is out we’re probably out of it, but we don’t feel like that’s going to happen. I think we’re going to win football games with the team we have, and we’re going to get better.
The Cowboys looked good in their two first games of the season, with divisional wins over the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles. But without Romo, they lost to the Atlanta Falcons, with Weeden unable to throw a touchdown pass (one interceptions) and the Cowboys incapable of getting anything done beyond short yardage gains when throwing the ball. They did score four rushing touchdowns, but without the ability to stretch the field a little bit, it’s hard seeing a handicapped offense and limited defense keeping up with good NFL teams.
The Cowboys are in the NFC East, which means playing the Washington Redskins twice (in December and January, when Romo should be back) and also one more game against the Eagles, who seem to be struggling coping through the whole Chip Kelly revolution, and the New York Giants, a team with a fun-to-watch passing game and nothing much else.
But there are also games against the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers along the way, games which require a full, strong, healthy team. The Cowboys have a matchup against the sorry Saints coming up this weekend. Struggling against them, losing to them, will tell us a lot about whether or not this team is capable of floating without Romo, or they’re headed for a lost season.