A Dallas Cowboys Loss to Philadelphia Eagles Would Be a Good Thing

When the Cowboys and Eagles square off Sunday night in an otherwise meaningless game against the Philadelphia Eagles, and it burns me to say this, a loss is what every true Cowboys fan should be hoping for.  I say this despite the fact that somehow the Cowboys still have about a 1 percent chance to make the playoffs. Based on all of the reading I’ve done, I still don’t see how.

We know that Dallas cannot qualify for a wild card spot based on losses to virtually every team that also seek one of those two spots. Losses to Chicago, Green Bay and New Orleans really hurt right about now. Then again, so do all the rest of them in this soon-to-be beneficial yet tragic 2010 regular season.

Keys to victory over the Eagles? Who cares? If you’re not going to be in the post-season then winning games seldom matters. This might be true if your team is 0-12 or 1-13 at this point. Then again, if you’re that bad don’t you really need that first overall pick? I would sure think so.

The Cowboys have a very busy offseason approaching in about a month. Among the biggest decisions owner and general manager Jerry Jones will have to make is who exactly will be the head following  the culmination of his ridiculous decision to hire Wade Phillips as head coach in the first place.

The only part of that idea that made any sense on any level was the fact Phillips had a good understanding of the 3-4 defense. But then one has to ask why exactly Phillips thought, year after year, that starting a 300-pound nose guard was the thing to do despite having had good defenses in San Diego just prior with massive Jamal Williams lined up over center.

And how about the idea that a 235-pound linebacker named Zach Thomas, at 35 years of age, would be a good fit at inside linebacker? Wow.

To the point, the Cowboys need to take advantage of the state they are currently in. If there was any realistic chance that Dallas could fight their way to the Super Bowl I would say “go get ‘em.” Win at all costs, right? Well, not this year.

We know that Dallas has a good bit of talent, even if some of it was overrated. I still say that with just a few minor adjustments that this team is easily the best in the NFC East. They are easily better than Philadelphia, as they may show on prime time Sunday night, and we know they can beat New York.

The Cowboys need to be playing for 2011 and this should involve a top ten pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. If we assume that there will be football next year, which there might not be in all honesty, then we want the new regime to be loaded as much as possible with more blue-chip talent. The horrible draft class of 2009, all by itself, makes this necessary.

Sure, the Cowboys can fight it out and finish 8-8. But what would this really accomplish besides possibly securing the permanent head coaching position of a raw, green and fundamentally challenged Jason Garrett? All the Cowboys do, in this case, is drop themselves as many as eight to 10 slots lower in the first round of the NFL Draft.

Am I saying that the Cowboys should throw these games? Of course not. These players are competitors and I’m sure that the theme amongst the players this week is something like “let’s not cost any more coaches their jobs.” That’s noble and perhaps a shame that they did not decide that coming in the season to begin with.

But if you’ve followed the Cowboys closely since Phillips and Garrett showed up almost four long years ago, you know that this is not championship material.

Now is the time to look at the big picture and start planning for future contention. The Cowboys do not have that thing that Jimmy Johnson brought to the table in 1989. Garrett might very well make a good head coach at some point in the future. I just hope Jones doesn’t decide to let him take the training seminar now.

As we’ve seen recently, young head coaches typically show that they just aren’t ready for an NFL head coaching gig. Look no further than Josh McDaniels and Lane Kiffin.

Realize that a high pick in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft also means a high pick in the second round, barring a trade of some kind. That’s almost as good as two first round picks! Dallas needs them.

If the Cowboys beat Philadelphia in Week 14, then great. But if they lose, that’s great too.