The Dallas Cowboys begin what might be a futile attempt to make the playoffs, but Tony Romo being back behind center to give the team, finally, a capable quarterback again, makes it seem that this impossible mission of erasing their awful 2-7 record and somehow making the playoff on top of it can be achieved.
As Romo himself said, it’s possible, it only gives this team a very small margin of error. Like zero, even if the division they’re playing in consists of a leading team that’s just 5-5. But it’s not likely the Cowboys make the playoffs with anything less than 8 wins, and even 9 might not be enough. Ten? Well, not enough games to make it to 10. That might be the biggest problem of all. Romo just got back from his injury a week or two too late.
While going 7-0 sounds plausible under certain conditions, are these Cowboys capable of it? With a defense that might be good at harassing the quarterback, but keeps giving up big plays? Of a running back crew that has a great blocking line to run behind, but just simply doesn’t have the talent to turn it into something bigger? And maybe there are some confidence issues with more than just quarterbacks after so many close losses during their seven game losing streak?
The Carolina Panthers turned a 3-8-1 start into a playoff appearance and a postseason win, the first in the Cam Newton era, with four consecutive wins to end the season. The Cowboys have a little bit more time and schedule to work with, but probably a more difficult road towards that goal, and with every loss that they do pickup (and it’s certainly possible considering who they’re playing, including Newton’s Panthers, still undefeated by the way), the reason to keep Romo on the field loses a little bit of argument strength.