Dallas Cowboys: Who are the real Dallas Cowboys?

With a somewhat surprising blowout of the Philadelphia Eagles, the question to who the Dallas Cowboys are is more prevalent than ever.

Go back a week ago and everyone thought the Dallas Cowboys were a bad team, with bad coaching, and a bad scheme, who just happened to beat three worse teams. Confidence was not high heading into the first Eagles’ game of the season. It could be said the Eagles were in the same boat, but there was not a lot of confidence the Cowboys would win, and especially in the fashion they did.

For the first time all season the Cowboys defense gave the offense short fields to start with. The offense was back to the first three games in terms of originality, style, and playcalling. The team adjusted to the game and utilized all of its weapons. The defense was merciless and relentless. There was life.

However, slowly questions have crept in that the Eagles are just another bad team and the Cowboys have still not shown the ability to beat a good team. Some of it is based in validity as the injuries have certainly taken their toll on the Eagles, but they were still a 3-3 team going into the game. They had their starting quarterback, who some believe (or believed) was better than Dak Prescott.

These Dallas Cowboys couldn’t create turnovers, they could pressure the quarterback, but lacked sacks. The offense was back to being “Jason Garrettesque” and overly conservative. The coaching was off and the players weren’t playing for them anymore. Ezekiel Elliott had lost a step and was not worth the contract he signed. All of this was the conversation surrounding the Cowboys.

Then the Eagles game happened. All of a sudden everything that had been wrong for the last three games was different. They still made some bad penalties, sure, but the team just looked and felt different. There was a swagger, confidence, creativity, and fun. Something had happened.

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With the bye week approaching, the question now is, “Who are the Dallas Cowboys?” Are they a team that can overpower teams with their offense? Are they a team that can clamp down on defense? Are they a team that can play well against inferior opponents? Are they poorly coached? Are they finding themselves?

All of these could be true, false, or something in between. The deal is, none of us know who the Cowboys are at this point. They are a 4-3 team with four really outstanding games, and three really bad games. They are a team that flashes on defense, and a team that gives up yards. They are a team that can blow the doors off of teams, and a team that struggles and gets conservative.

There was some really good hope this game they are a good team. Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch looked the best they have all season. The offense looked to be healthy and explosive. Even the kicking game looked to be good. It all came together to show what the Cowboys could be.

However, we will all have to wait two weeks to see if they are “who we thought they were,” or if they are something else. The Cowboys need to be the Cowboys from the Eagles game, they have to be that team if they want to achieve their goals. For now, we have no idea who the Cowboys really are though.

• Published on 10/22/2019 at 12:01 PM
• Last updated at 10/22/2019 at 10:50 AM