Cowboys Are Searching For Answers This Bye Week

The Dallas Cowboys may have enjoyed their victory over the Kansas City Chiefs last weekend at Arrowhead Stadium, but the Cowboys still have to figure out exactly who they are this season, an answer they must find during their bye week.

On paper coming into this season the Dallas Cowboys were projected to be one of the better teams in the National Football Confrence alongside the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings. The reality however, is that the Cowboys are a mediocre 3-2 and their only three victories have come against teams that were win-less going into their match-up with "Big D". The bigger story is that Dallas could very well have been 5-0 going into this next week against Atlanta if they had better play from their quarterback, better protection from their offensive line and not giving up big plays when it mattered on defense against both Denver and NFC-East rival New York.

Dallas needs to figure out exactly which Cowboys team they are. They're certainly not the offensive powerhouse of two seasons ago that lead them into the NFC Divisional playoff game, and they don't seem to be as bad as the Drew Bledsoe years in Dallas. As of right now they've shown that they can mimic both of these past squads, but neither of these are the identity of the 2009 Dallas Cowboys. They no longer need Tony Romo to make all the big plays on the gridiron, but they do need him to make the big plays when called apon, something he has struggled with at times during this season. They need consistent play from their field general on offense and they need the defense to play consistently stingy from beginning to end of ball games.

The good news for the 'Boys is that they have had all week to prepare for their big game against the Atlanta Falcons at home in the palace that Dallas now calls home: Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Head coach Wade Phillips will have had two weeks to prepare for the formidable Falcons offense, as well as evaluate what to do with emerging talent such as wide receiver Miles Austin who torched the Chiefs secondary for 250 yards last Sunday. The Cowboys have some emerging solutions to their season's woes, but we as NFL fans can only watch and see if America's Team can live up to the hype of this past off-season.