On Monday Night Football, the Chicago Bears scored relentlessly on the hapless Dallas Cowboys‘ defense to win 45-28. Both teams were on the outside of the playoff race looking in, but only a half-game out of first place in their divisions. The Bears are now tied for first in the National Football Conference (NFC) North division, with a 7-6 record, but lose the tie-breaker because the Detroit Lions beat them twice this year. Only the winner of this division will make the playoffs, because they trail the lowest seeded wild card by 2 games, with 3 games remaining.
Now onto the Dallas Cowboys, who seem to be doing their traditional December swirl down the toilet. They are 7-6, and only one game behind the Philadelphia Eagles for first place in the NFC East, but their National Football League (NFL) worst defense never forced the Bears to punt even once on Monday night. Their defense is surrendering 426.8 yards per game, which is over 25 yards more than any other team in the league. They are last in passing defense, 28th in rushing defense, and 26th in scoring defense, in the 32-team NFL.
Now I do want to point one thing out – this is not quarterback Tony Romo‘s fault. He obviously doesn’t play defense, and is the bright spot in the Cowboys team this year. He has thrown for 3244 yards, with 27 touchdowns, and only 7 interceptions, in the 13 games the Cowboys have played so far this year. Of course, someone needs to catch those passes, and receiver Dez Bryant leads the team with 70 receptions, 908 yards and 10 touchdowns. Tight end Jason Witten also has 7 touchdown receptions.
A look at the offensive team statistics shows conclusively that the main problem with this team is the defense, especially the secondary. Dallas is just 22nd in total offense, which is based on yardage gained, and 24th in rushing offense. However, they are 15th in passing offense, and tied for 3rd in scoring offense, with 27.5 points per game. Only the Chicago Bears, who passed them last night, and the Denver Broncos, who lead the NFL by more than 11 points per game, at 39.6 points, have scored more than the Cowboys.
I have always considered scoring offense and defense more important than yards gained or given up on defense. But guess how many points per game the Cowboys are giving up a game. Their defense has given up 26.8 points per game. When you average 27.5 points per game scored , and you give up 26.8, it makes sense that your record is 7-6.
With all this said, Dallas can win the division by winning all 3, or maybe even 2 of their remaining games, as long as one of them is their season-ending home game against the Eagles. They play the Green Bay Packers next at Dallas, then they go to Washington to play the 3-10 Redskins, before the Eagles game. The Eagles are at the 3-9-1 Minnesota Vikings, then play at home against the Bears. If the Eagles lose either of those games, and then lose to the Cowboys at Dallas, and the Cowboys win against the Packers or Redskins, then Dallas will win the tie-breaker because they beat the Eagles twice. So even though the Dallas Cowboys looked bad on Monday night, they can still with the NFC East and make the playoffs.
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Sports With Frank Thomas