The 7-2 Dallas Cowboys no longer are flirting with success, they’re flirting with NFC home-field advantage. Their game Nov. 23 against 7-2 Carolina is looming large.
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Nobody is taking charge in the NFC. Twelve teams are bunched within three games of one another with seven to play, so wild-card races are going to be a scramble. That’s one reason the Bears’ loss in Detroit was so devastating. The Bears are now one of only four NFC teams that appear out of the picture.
Dallas coach Bill Parcells has called his November schedule “showtime.” Four of the five games are at Texas Stadium. He already has won the first two there against Washington and Buffalo. Both were ugly, but the Cowboys are beginning to remind people of a certain duckling.
Parcells travels to New England this week to meet old pal Bill Belichick, then returns home against Carolina and Miami.
“We were looking at our division first, then we looked around the league, and, really, nobody scares us,” cornerback Mario Edwards said. “There are a couple of teams out there that are playing well, but what about us?”
The Cowboys have the No. 1 defense, no longer a fluke.
If the Patriots could rebound from 5-11 and the Rams from 4-12 to win the Super Bowl one year later, why not the Cowboys, who were 5-11 last year? In a year when the Florida Marlins won the World Series, why can’t the Cowboys win the Super Bowl?
“Let’s face it,” Cowboys tight end Dan Campbell said. “Why are you playing this game if you are not playing to get to the Super Bowl? What are you doing? Is it just a job? Are you just out here to play?
“When you have a young team like we do, sometimes you need to look ahead and say, `Hey, man, we’ve got a chance to do something here. So let’s correct the problems we have, specifically offensively, and let’s become a powerhouse. Let’s become a real contender here.'”
Said defensive end Greg Ellis of Parcells: “He never told us we were rebuilding. He said: `I didn’t come here to wait until next year for us to be successful. Let’s do it now.'”
Parcells has even given his quarterback, Quincy Carter, some rare praise.
“Here is the difference,” Parcells said. “When we first started and he made a mistake, I wasn’t surprised. When he makes one now, I am surprised. He’s still a work in progress. Keep that in perspective. He’s got a long way to go, but now he’s marching a little bit. He’s no longer in boot camp.”
Bucs fading fast: The 4-5 Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers have gone from bad to worse in their quest to repeat. The goal now is to repeat as a playoff team before they can think ahead.
After losing to the Panthers for the second time this year, repeating their NFC South title is a real long shot. The wild-card route appears the best option for getting to the postseason, and the Bucs aren’t even in position to do that. Their game Sunday against Green Bay will be another must win.
If the playoffs started now, the Bucs would be on the outside looking in. So would the 2-7 AFC champion Oakland Raiders.
Only three times in NFL history have both Super Bowl teams failed to make the playoffs the next season. But if Tampa Bay and Oakland fail, that will be three times in five years.
The other seasons when both Super Bowl teams failed to advance to the postseason were 2002 (New England, 9-7, and St. Louis, 7-9), 1999 (Denver, 6-10, and Atlanta, 5-11) and 1988 (Washington, 7-9, and Denver, 8-8).
Free agency and the salary cap have leveled the playing field. Expansion has diluted the talent pool, leaving teams too thin to absorb injuries.
“One of the biggest reasons the Kansas City Chiefs are undefeated is they haven’t had any injuries,” Baltimore Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said. “The injuries are key, especially along the offensive and defensive lines. If you get injuries, you can’t find anybody.”
New low: It’s official. If you think the Bears have the worst offense in the league, it’s hard to disagree. They not only lost to the Lions, they fell below them in yards gained. The Bears are now No. 32. Detroit jumped all the way to No. 30, ahead of Cleveland. What is it about the Great Lakes?
This is after the switch to quarterback Chris Chandler. The Bears think they’re getting better on offense, but they rank 30th in passing yards, ahead of only No. 31 Philadelphia and No. 32 Baltimore.
Short gain: Among the top 100 NFL pass catchers listed Monday, no other wide receiver has an average per catch as low as the 6.5 yards by the Bears’ David Terrell. The closest is Cleveland’s Kevin Johnson at 9.3 yards.
Of the 15 tight ends on the list, none is as low as 6.5 yards. There are running backs as low as 6.5, but not all of them. Detroit fullback Cory Schlesinger, for example, is averaging 7.9 yards a catch.
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A new view: Everybody used to think the Cincinnati Bengals were bad despite the presence of some excellent players such as running back Corey Dillon and linebacker Takeo Spikes.
It now looks like they were bad because of Dillon and Spikes. With Spikes gone to Buffalo and Dillon on the sidelines, the Bengals are 4-5 and in the thick of the AFC North race, only one game behind Baltimore. They beat the Ravens in their first meeting. They face the unbeaten Chiefs this week in Cincinnati in the game of the week.
The Bengals have taken off with unsung backup Rudi Johnson running the ball better than Dillon. He has two 100-yard games in the last three weeks as Dillon nurses a strained groin and talks his way out of town.
NFC streaks: Through Monday night’s Philadelphia-Green Bay game, the longest winning streak in the NFC is the Eagles’ four games, followed by Dallas and Detroit with two.
Who has the easiest NFC schedule down the stretch? Try the Rams, with road trips to Chicago, Arizona, Cleveland and Detroit. They have Minnesota, Seattle and Cincinnati at home, where they are 5-0.
It was strange: The Rams became the first team in NFL history to score more than 30 points while gaining as few as 121 yards in Sunday’s 33-22 victory over Baltimore. The combined 11 turnovers–seven by the Ravens and four by the Rams–were the most in any game this season.