Dallas Cowboys: Why Week 3 Is an Absolute Must-Win After Digging Early 0-2 Hole

Well, through two weeks Wade Phillips and Co. have hardly played like the contenders that many fans and analysts thought they would be before the season. The Cowboys don't look to have had any semblance of an offensive gameplan and the defense often looks uninspired. That being said, they need get it together before they go to Houston to play one of hottest teams in the NFL, the Texans. This game is absolutely a must-win for the Cowboys, pretty early for a game of such magnitude. Here are the reasons why:

Upcoming Bye Week:

    The Cowboys have a bye week following the Houston game. Teams entering a bye usually want to have something, anything, to build on for the rest of the season. With the ridiculously high expectations in the Metroplex this season, an 0-3 start would be cataclysmic heading into the bye week. Sports radio hosts in the Dallas area wouldn't even have to attempt to come up with anything to talk about. "Fire Wade Phillips" would be the trending topic in Dallas for 2 solid weeks. However, this immediate bye week is hardly the most prevalent reason why this is a must-win.

Tough Schedule:

    Dallas has a very tough schedule after the bye, with games against Tennessee, Minnesota, Green Bay, New Orleans, and Indianapolis. You can see that I didn't even have to mention the 5 remaining NFC east games to make that look daunting. Heading into the season, every Cowboys fan assumed a 3-0 start was in the works, thereby setting Dallas up for this season-long challenge. Instead, the complete opposite must be true.

So, as I sit on my couch Sunday, unabashedly cheering for my Dallas Cowboys as they no doubt let me down again, I'll know that if the Houston Texans emerge victorious I should probably wait until 2011...

Or get my hopes up again in Week 5