Ironic division twist

All the talk about the NFC East being football's toughest division turns out to be... exactly on the nose after week 4.  With the Cowboys and Eagles both losing, the East no longer holds three of the top five teams in the newly released ESPN Power Rankings.  However, with the Cowboys' loss coming at the hands of the Redskins, the division still proves to be a powerhouse.  Now the Giants, Cowboys, Redskins, and Eagles are ranked 1, 3, 6, and 9, respectively, and have their entire division among the top ten teams in the NFL. It's a little bit frustrating to know that one of these teams will not make the playoffs and still possibly be one of the best teams in the league.

weird dream

I seriously had a dream last night that I was hanging out with Tony Romo and Jason Witten. It was kind of funny. I don't know why they were there, but they were. Tony kept wanting to play basketball and frisbee and was kind of like a little ADHD kid. Jason was much more laid back and tried to keep Tony under control. They were both really nice guys.

Maybe I'm a little bit overloaded on football right now.

Recap

Of the three wins the Cowboys have this year, two of them came despite mediocre performances. Today against the Redskins their mediocre performance wasn't enough. Overall, both teams played well, but the 'Skins played better.

Despite rushing for a career high 142 yards against the Packers last week, Marion Barber was only given eight touches this week. That makes me wonder what was going through the mind of Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. On the other hand, it seems like many teams are most successful when under pressure, running the no-huddle offense out of desperation. Dallas is even more this way than most teams. Both at the end of the first half and at the end of the game the Cowboys were able to move the ball at will from a no-huddle shotgun-only offensive scheme. I realize that one of the reasons that such a scheme is effective is because the defense is usually in some sort of prevent defense which allows teams to gain 10-15 yards per snap, but if a dangerous offensive team were to go no-huddle for a large part of the game, a defense would be forced into undesirable situations where they wouldn't be able to blitz as often or set themselves to know what's coming. It just seems to me like an offense with such potency as the Dallas offense should be able to overcome a defense that gives up 26 points.

Anywho, this is a setback for the 'Boys, but maybe it'll wake them up a little. If Philadelphia wins the game they're currently playing against Chicago (as they should), three NFC East teams will be 3-1 with New York a half game ahead at 3-0 (they're on a bye week). It almost makes it look like by week 15 or 16 the top four teams in the power rankings could be from the East. That'd be something else, huh?

Football Day in America

It's game day. This afternoon the Cowboys will seek to take the lead in the NFC East with a win over the division rival Redskins. With the Giants on a bye week, a Cowboys win will put them a half-game up. If the 'Skins win, then Philadelphia, Dallas, and Washington will all be 3-1 (assuming the Eagles beat Chicago), with each team's loss coming at the hands of a division foe.

The game starts at 3:15 central time, and will be broadcast nation-wide on FOX with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman providing the commentary and Pam Oliver on the sidelines.

My prediction:  Dallas 31, Washington 23

'Boys-'Skins

The Cowboys seem to be the best team in the NFL. The Redskins seem to be somewhere between the 9th and 16th best team in the NFL. Logic says that I have nothing to worry about. My team should win relatively easily at home this weekend. However, NFC East rivalry games are almost ALWAYS closer than they should be. You can bet that Washington will play one of the best games of their year so far. Hopefully Dallas will to. At the front of my mind I still feel fairly comfortable about this game. The Cowboys are better in every respect than the 'Skins, and they're playing a home game. Still, in the back of my mind I'm a bit nervous because it's a rivalry game and you never know what's gonna happen there.

More evidence

I don't believe that ESPN's opinion on things is always a definitively correct assessment of anything. Therefore, I just wanted to point out that power rankings on NFL.com and SportsIllustrated.com also have Dallas, New York, and Philadelphia as the top three teams. So, in the world of educated football analysts, it looks like there's no argument about the best three teams in football.

Beating the Dead Horse

There is absolutely no doubt in the football world that the NFC East is easily the most competitive and most dominant division in the league. I don't need to say anything about it, but I will because that's the division in which my Cowboys play, and I love to watch all the teams in it as well.  If you're looking to argue division supremacy with anyone, consider the following:

The top three teams in the just-released Power Rankings from ESPN this week are the Cowboys, Giants, and Eagles.  The top three teams from a single division!  I feel safe in assuming that that's never happened before.

With the Redskins ranked 15th, the NFC East doesn't have a single team in the bottom half of the rankings.

The NFC East is a combined 10-2 this season, with their only losses coming within the division. Other divisions records:

AFC East 7-5

AFC North 4-7

AFC South 5-6

AFC West 5-7

NFC North 4-8

NFC South 7-5

NFC West 5-7

So there you go.