Right time to play NFC East
With 3 of next 4 against division rivals, Dallas can cure what ails it
FRISCO — The NFC East functions like time for the 2020 Cowboys.
It’s relative and can heal all wounds.
Whatever issues ail the Cowboys — turnover margin and shoddy defense have plagued of late — pale to the nameless Washington Football Team demoting its starting quarterback Wednesday to the No. 3 spot, the winless New York Giants scoring nine points in each of their past two games and the Philadelphia Eagles’ overall unremarkable play.
On Sunday, the Cowboys enter an NFC East pocket in their schedule, and it’s about time.
The Giants come to town, lugging a scuffling offense whose best player, running back Saquon Barkley, is out for the season. They’re the first of three division opponents for Dallas in a fourweek span. If this NFC Eastheavy sequence doesn’t lighten the Cowboys’ turnover and defensive issues, those problems reach a new height of concern.
To record a minus-8 turnover margin and allow 126 points in the past three games against the Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks and Cleveland Browns is one thing. To be unable to break that pattern in the NFL’S weakest division is another.
After the Giants, the Cowboys face the Arizona Cardinals before returning to NFC Eaat play against Washington and Philadelphia.
On Wednesday, inside the Ford Center, coach Mike Mccarthy
addressed players in a team meeting about the significance of division games.
“There’s a very clear statistic based on the number of wins in your division; the (probability) of making the playoffs goes up with every win,” Mccarthy said in a conference call with reporters. “So really, you’ve got to be north of four (wins) from a pure numbers standpoint to think you’re going to be in the hunt for the tournament. I think we all clearly understand that.
“You obviously play these (opponents) twice a year. We spend as much time as we possibly can on division games. A little different this year because of the offseason and not knowing because two of the three division opponents are brand new (coaches). But this is of high importance to me — it’s the most important games of the year.”
The Cowboys were plus-1 in turnover margin in Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams. They’ve since fallen to an Nfl-worst minus-7 through four games.
If recent history is any indicator, that statistic soon in each weeks.
“This is the NFL,” safety Xavier Woods said. “They’ve got talent, just like any other team. You speak on them struggling, scoring nine points. I feel like we’ve also struggled the last few weeks. It’s all about us right now. I feel like if we do what we need to do on defense, everything will take care of itself.”
It’s only Week 5.
The Cowboys have time and the NFC East on their side. of the past two