At the beginning of the season, many labeled the Dallas Cowboys as one of the frontrunners for a Super Bowl crown. Experts then began listing the Washington Redskins as one of the top squads in the league after they reeled off six wins between Weeks 2 and 8. But after both teams were thoroughly humiliated earlier this week, their chances to be part of the Super Bowl festivities in Tampa Bay in February are dwindling by the day.
The Cowboys, favorites to reach the Super Bowl since training camp opened in August, rode yet another sorry performance into the cellar of the NFC East, getting embarrassed on the road by the New York Giants, 35-14. With their offense in disarray and their defense in shambles, the 5-4 Cowboys have a serious uphill climb ahead of them if they want to make the playoffs.
To have even a glimmer of hope, Dallas will have to make a serious run after its bye this week. This seems unlikely, especially considering the way its defense has been playing. The Cowboys have allowed three 100-yard rushers and four 100-yard receivers this season. On Sunday, New York's Brandon Jacobs ripped off 117 yards, a 6.9-yards-per-rush average and a touchdown.
In the absence of quarterback Tony Romo, the defense has failed to pick up the slack for the abysmal offense, headed by backup Brad Johnson. In five of its first seven games, the leading receiver for Dallas had at least 90 yards, while Romo reached the 300-yard mark four times. Since Romo sprained his pinky during a loss to Arizona on Oct. 12, however, Johnson has gotten progressively worse, throwing for 234 yards in his first game under center and finishing with 71 and two interceptions against the Giants.
Even the running game, the bread and butter for Dallas, has faltered under Johnson's stewardship. Marion Barber, the sixth-leading rusher in the NFL, has posted a sub-3 yards-per-carry average in three of his past four games. Barber is recognized as one of the most bruising rushers in the league, yet the Giants somehow held him in check, as he gained no yards or racked up negative yardage on eight out of 19 carries.
As a franchise, Dallas has a history of fading down the line in December, so the Cowboys might be due, as coach Wade Phillips' squad has not had a winning record in the last month of any season since 2001. But these sloppy Cowboys trudge on and off the field, commit foolish penalties and exhibit a general disinterest in playing the game. Until Phillips finds some way to motivate his squad, Romo's return won't even make the slightest bit of difference.
With an opportunity to gain control of the division and to play before a national television audience on Monday night, the Redskins were shellacked at home by the Pittsburgh Steelers, 23-6. The Steelers, who jam-packed about 10,000 fans donning gold and silver into FedEx Field, held the vaunted Redskins to 221 total yards of offense, a substantial decrease from the 384-yards-per-game average Washington had been boasting for the year.
Like Barber, Redskins running back Clinton Portis was held to one of his lowest offensive outputs of the season. Portis had fewer than 20 carries for the first time all season and was held below 120 yards on the ground for the first time in six games. The inability of coach Jim Zorn to get Portis going and give him his necessary workload was a prime reason why the Steelers' defense was able to manhandle Washington.
Jason Campbell came into the Steelers game as just the third quarterback ever to make it through the first eight games of the season without an interception. So what did he do? He promptly deposited the football into the hands of Pittsburgh defenders twice. On third downs, Campbell was able to help his team convert just 20 percent of the time, and both conversions led to Shaun Suisham field goals in the first quarter.
While the Steelers (6-2) remain atop the AFC North, the Redskins (6-3) lost ground to the Giants (7-1) in the NFC East. Washington enters its bye week needing to tweak an offense that put together promising drives but struggled to find the end zone.
Unlike the Cowboys, the Redskins still have hope. From this point on, Washington has by far the easiest schedule out of anyone in its division and can easily make up ground with home games against all three NFC East opponents in the next month and a half.
In fact, heading into Sunday, the Redskins had the 18th-hardest schedule in terms of opponents' winning percentage, while the Giants, Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles were all in the top five. However, strength of schedule is irrelevant if said team cannot even find its way to the end zone.
Halfway through the NFL season, it is safe to say that the Giants have supplanted the Cowboys and the Redskins as the team to beat, not just in the NFC East, but in the entire league. With all of the offensive issues plaguing Dallas and Washington, New York and Eli Manning just might have a legitimate shot at defending their Super Bowl title.
