Can the Dallas Cowboys continue to dominate the NFL?
The Dallas Cowboys have been one of the most surprising teams of the 2014 NFL season, and they are currently sitting at 5-1 after yesterday’s huge win over the Seattle Seahawks. They have been one of the most mediocre and disappointing football teams around for quite some time, so this type of start has been taken with a grain of salt by most people. It begs the question, can the Cowboys continue their early season dominance throughout the entire season?
Tony Romo has been playing an excellent season so far, but has shown some problems as well at times. He has thrown five interceptions so far this season, but three of those interceptions were thrown in the first game of the season. Since that game against the San Francisco 49ers, he has thrown 10 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Romo has also thrown for 1,260 yards with a 69.2 completion percentage.
DeMarco Murray is the biggest reason for the Cowboys’ success this season, and he has been having a career season. He is completely healthy, and has forced his way into being in the conversation of best running back in the league. Murray has carried the football 159 times for 785 yards and six touchdowns, and hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down.
Not only has the offense been impressive early on in the season, the defense has stepped up in a major way from last season. They may not look amazing on paper, but they are a much improved defensive unit than what they have been in the recent past. Jason Garrett has done an excellent job coaching the team as well, and has gone from being on the hot seat to being an early front-runner for the Coach of the Year award.
Dallas has had a bad habit of getting late into the season with a good chance to make the playoffs, and then choking things away. Romo has had his name dragged through the mud due to his struggles in clutch situations, and it remains to be seen whether or not the Cowboys can work things out this time around. Having a running back that is putting up the type of production that Murray has been will be a nice change from recent years as well.
While the Cowboys did win their game against the Seahawks, they did everything that they could to give it away. They had multiple special teams errors that gave Seattle easy points, and they had some key penalties that could have hurt them as well. Dallas has all of the pieces to make a run at the playoffs again, but they need to put everything together and finish strong.
It will be very intriguing to see what ends up happening throughout the course of the season. At 5-1 they are right at the top of the NFL power rankings, but consistency is something that many are waiting to see from them. Romo and the offense will have to continue making winning plays and taking care of the football, and the defense will have to continue playing at the level that they have been so far.
All of that being said, the Cowboys and their fans have plenty of reasons to be excited about this season. They look very good and are winning big games and coming up clutch in situations where they need to. Dallas may not end up winning the Super Bowl, but they should be a playoff team and will likely keep this type of play up through the end of the year rather than falling apart like many have come to expect from them.
So to answer the question, yes, the Cowboys are for real and will continue playing at the high level that they have been assuming they stay healthy.
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