Scratching Records...

After a week of controversy with injuries, suspensions and trades, things only got worse for The Dallas Cowboys as they were devastated 34-14 against The St. Louis Rams. Although having a 4-3 record doesn't sound too horrible, the fact that the 3 losses were in the last 4 games, is troublesome.

Another thing to be concerned about is that Dallas is in the NFC East, which is arguably the best division in the league and are now trailing the 5-1 Giants and the 5-2 Redskins.

It's time to start calculating the possibility of a wild card berth, and with the upcoming schedule The Cowboys face, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

- Week 8 - vs Tampa Bay

Not going to be easy at all. Tony Romo, Felix Jones, Terence Newman and a few other starters are expected to be absent, which won't help things at all. Tampa Bay is hot right now, and will certainly bring everything they can to Dallas. Unfortunately, I see 4-4 after this match-up.

- Week 9 - @ NY Giants

A win here will be a miracle. If the starters are still out, and if The Giants are healthy, I'm afraid Dallas will go 4-5 heading into the bye.

- Week 11 - @ Washington

A lot of injured players are expected to return this week, including Tony Romo, Felix Jones, Terence Newman, Kyle Kosier and Pat Watkins. If Dallas can tighten up the mistakes and execute like an NFL team, they could get to 5-5.

- Week 12 - vs San Fransisco

San Fransisco could go either way depending on how they continue their season. It sounds like an easy win, but so did The Rams. I'll be optimistic and say 6-5.

- Week 13 - vs Seattle

Thanksgiving Day is usually a good game for Dallas, and barring any further injuries, everyone should be back in and hopefully the team will strengthen by then. I'm still having the most wishful thoughts and saying 7-5.

- Week 14 - @ Pittsburgh

This is a rivalry game of sorts and begins the December games, which haven't been very pretty the past two seasons. The Steelers are one of just 3 AFC teams with only 1 loss so far, and they seem to have the winner's mentality that Dallas has lacked recently. I predict 7-6.

- Week 15 - vs NY Giants

It's probably far too early to continue predicting these late games, but if everything continues how it is now, I see 7-7 after this.

- Week 16 - vs Baltimore

A Saturday, NFL Network game. Hopefully Dallas will put together the pieces and be ready to roll for this game. 8-7.

- Week 17 - @ Philadelphia

The final game of the regular season, it could very well be a a do or die match-up to get into the playoffs. I really can't even come close to guessing how this season will end, but I'll be optimistic again and say 9-7 and Dallas will just barely get into the playoffs (pending on a lot of other teams failing majorly.)

That's about as positive a spin I can put on this. There's a lot that would have to happen for this scenario to play out. The coaching needs improved, the players need discipline, they also need to execute better and avoid mental mistakes.

One thing they can't control are injuries, and we'll just have to cross our fingers that no more key players are lost. This team needs to get really hungry if they want to keep playing in January, and I can only think that going 3-1 in 4 weeks will get these players hungry again.