With Bye Week Over, Dallas Cowboys Need to Get Back to Work

Now that the bye week is over, the Cowboys have found themselves in last place in the NFC East.

The Cowboys treated last week as if they were 0-3 instead of 1-2, and while the Cowboys have said that this was their best week of practice, they still have a game this week against the Tennessee Titans, a notoriously dirty team—which means they need to stay focused.  

The Cowboys have made improvements on offense and defense, but they can't regress to the team they were when they started the season. The penalties, mistakes, and lapses in judgment cannot happen again this Sunday; all that hard work cannot go out the window because of one win. 

Also, the bye week didn't stop the Cowboys from being controversial. While Dez Bryant paid the 50 grand tab on the offense's dinner, it seems that Roy Williams is being blamed once again, but he fought back by talking to The Dallas Morning News:

"I don't understand why my name is associated with this whole ordeal. I mean, it's the same offensive dinner that we've been doing, that every team does in the NFL, so I don't know why my name is the single name in this thing. I have nothing against Dez; Dez has nothing against me. Like I said in training camp, I don't want you guys to bang our heads together and try to make us hate each other. That's not going to work. He didn't take my pads. Whoop-de-doo, he didn't take my pads. But he's still out there as a punt returner, catching balls and doing things he needs to do, and I'm doing things I need to do to make this team better. So don't associate me with being the bad guy with Dez and Dez being the bad guy with me, because that's not what it is.''

It's no secret that Bryant is being groomed to take over for Williams, who's had a disappointing tenure in Dallas, but Williams should be credited for handling the situation so well. He could be a mean cuss about it, but instead he's embraced Bryant as a teammate and a friend. 

He also showed some toughness during the Cowboys' last game, pushing the Texans corner around to create space, something he usually doesn't do. 

The fact that Williams is handling this so well and the fact that Bryant has been nothing short of a team player and a model citizen since he's come to Dallas will keep this from being a distraction. The days of the Cowboys being talked about off the field seem to be over...for now. 

The Titans are a good team, and the Cowboys will need to be on top of their game on both sides of the ball. They have to stop Chris Johnson and force Vince Young to pass the ball, and they also have to score against the Titans' physical (and sometimes dirty) defense.

The Cowboys are still in desperation mode. After this week, they go on the road to face the team that took them out of the playoffs last season in the Minnesota Vikings and then face the only team in the division last season to beat them in the Giants, who are trying to turn their season around as well. They don't have time to read their press clippings and talk about how they're contenders again if they win this week.

The Cowboys need to forget quickly, win or lose, and stay hungry. They've succeeded every time their back is against the wall; it's when they assume things are good that they fall apart. Right now they have to act like nothing is good, because in reality another early season loss will mean just that.