The Dallas Cowboys have been a total flop so far in 2020, starting the season with a 1-3 record and looking really bad in the process. Even though injuries have played, they’ve mostly performed far below expectations and have the Mike McCarthy Era is whimpering loudly. But despite their best efforts, Dallas is still arguably the best team in the pathetic NFC East.
In the land of the blind, the one-win team is king.
The division has produced just three total wins so far in 2020, evenly split between the Cowboys, Eagles, and the Football Team. Right now the NFC East is an abysmal 3-12-1 after the first quarter of the season.
Philadelphia is technically the current division leader thanks to having tied with the Bengals in Week 3. Their 1-2-1 record overall gives them a slight edge over Dallas and Washington who are both 1-3.
The Giants are 0-4 and barely functioning right now as a professional football team. They have the second-worst point differential (-49) of all teams so far this year other than their roommates, the Jets.
But as bad as the state of football is in New York right now, the Dallas, Philly, and D.C. areas have little room to brag. Washington’s only win so far this year came within the division, the Eagles’ only victory came against the injury-plagued 49ers, and Dallas’ is just a goofy special teams play away from being 0-4 themselves.
It’s hard to imagine so much suckage in one division but that is the reality of the NFC East in 2020. And of all these floundering franchises, the Cowboys probably have the best chance to get hot and create some separation at some point this year.
That’s because, for all their issues, Dallas does have something going very right at the quarterback position.
Dak Prescott is putting together an MVP season, already crushing his fellow QBs in passing yards with almost 1,700 yards in just four games. He has been keeping the Cowboys in games that their defense, poor rushing attack, and preponderance of turnovers have no business competing in.
It’s not so good for the QB situations in Philly or Washington. Carson Wentz is the worst-rated passer in the NFL currently and Dwayne Haskins is only a couple spots above him. They’re among the key reasons for their teams’ losing records.
Meanwhile, Prescott’s play so far gives the Cowboys hope. If they can find some degree of solvency on defense then Dallas should be able to start winning some games with their passing production (1st) and scoring (3rd).
Hopefully that begins this week with a cushy home game against the Giants.
Week 5 presents a great opportunity for Dallas to get on top of the division. The Eagles will be on the road in Pittsburgh, currently undefeated, and Washington will be hosting the 3-1 L.A. Rams.
This season is going to defy all of our usual logic when it comes to things like momentum and trends. Even this September is hard to analyze, especially for a team like the Cowboys which had a massive coaching overhaul. How much of their struggling is because of a new staff being unable to fully implement a system during the pandemic?
Right now it’s just about survival; staying afloat and finding a way to sneak into the playoffs. Thankfully, the NFC East makes that goal a lot easier.
With games against the Giants, Eagles, and Football Team in three of the next four weeks, the Cowboys can hopefully use their superior QB play to start overcoming weaknesses and picking up some wins. Even if they only win division games the rest of the way, finishing 7-9 on the year just might be enough to win the East.
Sure, we’ll be the least bad team in our sorry division. But if that means Dallas will be playing in January then I’ll take what I can get.
