In the Cowboys-Buccs game today, neither offense thought it would be a good idea to show up. The two teams combined scored only one touchdown, and the Cowboys' offense gained just 172 total yards -- the lowest number of yards every put up by a Cowboys offense in a win. Even the game's one touchdown wasn't a testament to a well-developed sustained drive, as much as it was a testament to the 4 defensive penalties on Tampa Bay that all but handed a touchdown to the Brad Johnson-led Cowboys.
The real story in the game was the Dallas defense. They kept the Buccs out of the end zone for the entire game, and allowed just 9 points on 5 Tampa Bay drives into the red zone.
I do not feel confident about a Cowboys win next week at the Giants. New York has a smothering defense who just sacked Ben Roethlisberger 5 times in this afternoon's game against Pittsburgh -- and Big Ben is much tougher to bring down than the 90-year old Brad Johnson who will continue to start in place of the injured Tony Romo. Today the Dallas defense won a football game. Against the Giants I don't think that's nearly as likely.
So let's assume the Cowboys head into their bye week at 5-4. After their bye they'll get Tony Romo back, and what I saw today makes me think that they aren't completely out of the playoff hunt this season. However, a brutal schedule is yet to come, and it'll be a tough deficit to overcome.
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