Now that Dallas Cowboy fans have had a while to digest the greatest single-game collapse in Cowboy history and to make all of the customary knee-jerk comments, here are a few facts woven together to to create a Snuggie of hope that you can wear during your bye week.

First, a quick review to set the stage:  The Dallas Cowboys entered the season with one of the most talent-laden offenses in the league. Unfortunately, injuries quickly took hold.

Dez Bryant caught just three passes before sustaining a serious thigh contusion that held him out of two games.

Miles Austin re-injured a hamstring in Game 2 and was out through the bye week. Jason Witten was playing badly bruised, Felix Jones suffered a separated shoulder and then of course, there is Tony Romo and his fractured ribs.

The offensive line is very young and banged up as well. 

First year center Costa is playing on a bad knee and has a penchant for prematurely snapping the ball if a defensive lineman so much as sneezes.

With all of that, it would be understandable if the Cowboy’s offense ranked near the middle or back of the pack. After all, they‘ve yet to have the entire starting offense on the field for an entire game.

Instead, the Cowboys offense is ranked sixth in the league overall, fourth in passing yards, third in pass plays over 20 yards and first in pass plays over 40 yards.

Whenever you look at stats like these, its useful to examine who you compiled the stats against. If you’re racking up offensive stats against terrible defensive teams, its nothing to write home about.  

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But the Cowboys have done this against defenses ranked fifth, eighth, 11th and 17th in total yards allowed. Those defenses are ranked third, seventh, eight and 15th in points allowed. That’s a pretty stingy group to reach fifth in the league in offense against. 

Now add to that the fact that the Cowboys have done much of this offensive work with a quarterback with fractured ribs and a team that hasn’t seen its two starting wide receivers on the field at the same time since Game 1. And there were significant portions of that game where Dez Bryant was off the field. 

Here is where the news gets good. Dallas will have all its offensive starters healthy and on the field after the bye. Dallas will also have all of its defensive starters on the field after the bye. In what will be the sixth week of the NFL season, Dallas will be fielding it’s whole team for the first time this year. 

From that perspective, 2-2 doesn’t look as bad. Yes, I realize they could have been 4-0, but they could easily have been 0-4 as well. Two wins and two losses isn’t so bad. The best news though, is this:

After the bye, Dallas will face defenses with the following rankings (these are post Week 4, prior Week 5):

32nd, 26th, 16th,  13th and 27th. Bye the way, if you’re concerned about that 13th ranked defense, it belongs to Seattle. They have the 32nd ranked offense in the league. They are scoring an average 14.5 points a game. 

127874883_crop_340x234 Laurent Robinson Emerges
Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Want more good news? Dallas has found their third receiver, in Laurent Robinson who went off for 7 catches and 116 yards against the Lions. So the Cowboys won't just come out of the bye with Miles Austin and Dez Bryant, now they add a receiver in Robinson who is experienced in this offensive system (he came from San Diego), runs a 4.4, and goes 6’2”, 200 lbs.

 

New England, with their number one offense is a concern, but they got those gaudy stats against defenses currently ranked 30th, 6th, 27th and 29th. The sixth ranked defense belongs to San Diego and that game was a quality win for New England, without question. But keep in mind, New England has the 32nd ranked defense in the league. Dallas should have no trouble moving the ball and scoring enough points to win that game, provided they can take care of the football.

Dallas must travel to play New England, which is naturally a disadvantage, but they do so after a bye week, which gives them a distinct advantage in rest and preparation. Jason Garret will have plenty of time to include plays in his game plan that look like plays the Patriots have seen on film, but are actually different plays that attack the defense in a different manner. This is the kind of thing coaches get to do with a bye week. It will be an intriguing game to say the least.

After New England, Dallas gets winless St. Louis at home. They rank 27th in offense and 26th in defense. Enough said.

123277539_crop_340x234 Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Next on the schedule, a trip to Philly. Despite their 1-3 schedule, Philadelphia is a talented and dangerous team. They rank fourth in offense and 16th in defense and they currently lead the league in sacks. The most glaring weakness in Philly’s pass defense is that they allow opposing quarterbacks to play at a high level, with a 106.7 average ranking.

That’s second only to Denver. This is due in part to their unique spread formation on defense. It works great for getting sacks because of the angle of attack, but when properly blocked, the quarterback has plenty of time to pick apart the secondary.

Philly is tied for worst in the league for TD’s given up through the air, with 10. It’s an odd scheme that they are employing and I wouldn’t be surprised if Garret is taking some time over the bye to sketch some ideas for attacking it. There is ample film on the subject now, given that they have lost three of their first four games. 

 

After the Philly trip, Dallas heads home for two games: Seattle, with its 32nd ranked offense followed by Buffalo, with its 27th ranked defense.

Even after the meltdown against Detroit, Dallas ranks fourth in the league in defense (yards allowed) and second in sacks. Every credible NFL analyst agrees that the Dallas defense is formidable.

Everything bad that has happened to Dallas this year has been the result of poor decisions on offense. Some of these are attributable to the offensive coordinator, some the center and some rest squarely on Romo’s shoulders.

Cowboys fans can take solace in the fact that their team could easily be 4-0 with just a few different decisions, despite being significantly short-handed on both sides of the ball. After the bye, they field their full team for the first time this year. Let’s hope better decisions will be in play as well.