Cowboys Fights to Stay Alive
By: Chassity Oubre
As odd and ridiculous as it may sound, the Dallas Cowboys are still in the playoff hunt, even after losing 28-7 to the now 9-4 Green Bay Packers last Sunday afternoon. The Cowboys are going into this Saturday’s contest against the New York Jets (8-5) only two games out of first place in their NFC East division.
With only three games left on their schedule, along with the other divisional teams, Dallas will have to “win out” and hope the other teams basically “lose out,” to have a chance to play in the post season. The Cowboys are still shaking up their roster to make a strong effort to claim a stake in the playoffs when cornerback Tyler Patmon was released Wednesday. He has since been picked up by the Miami Dolphins’ practice squad. It is reported that he was released due to performance or the lack thereof.
It is expected that cornerback Terrance Mitchell a seventh-round 2014 draft pick will be promoted form the practice squad to replace him. Mitchell spend two seasons with the Chicago Bears before resigning two weeks ago with the Cowboys practice squad. As with all the NFL teams, having multiple players injured is quite common at this point in the season. Considering the Cowboys’ injury report, cornerback Morris Claiborne who is still nursing a hamstring strain, has yet to practice with the team this week, after injuring his hamstring in the dying minutes of the loss to the Packers.
Linebacker Rolando McClain also has yet to practice this week with his teammates. Rolando sustained a concussion in last week’s hard fought game. He has participated in the team walk throughs, but not practice. But he is doing fine through the concussion protocol which was mentioned by Head Coach Jason Garrett. Also, defensive end Demarcus Lawrence has been dealing with chest injury. He missed the early portion of Tuesday’s practice, but did get a little practice time in later.
Defensively speaking, the Cowboys which had been stout against the run, especially as of late, only allowing its opponents just over 100 yards total rushing per game. Dallas 15th ranked rush defense got blasted by Packers running back Eddie Lacey who rushed for a season high 124 yards along with a touchdown. The defense will have to play much better in the remaining three games, if they hope to make it to the playoffs.
Offensively speaking, although running back Darren McFadden rushed for 111 yards on just nine carries, the Cowboys offense could only manufacture seven points on a 7 yard run by backup running back Robert Turbin for the whole contest. They were in the negative for third down conversions, it was as if the offense was out of sync.
Certainly, the offense will have to get clicking on all cylinders as they prepare to take on the 8-5 New York Jets this Saturday at 7:25 PM in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Jets are coming in trying to keep their playoff hopes alive as well. The Jets are coming off a 30-8 victory over the now 3-10 Tennessee Titans. It is practically a must win situation for both Dallas and New York.
The Cowboys are looking to get back in the win column to finish strong and perhaps find a spot in the playoffs. It may take a miracle for that to happen, but nothing is impossible for these resilient Cowboys. I predict the Cowboys to miraculously come out with a tough win this week. I predict the Cowboys will win this contest by a 6 point margin. Dallas 23/ New York 17 Final.
