So this week it is the old Dallas team vs. the current one. Both teams started in their professional football seasons in 1960. Kansas City (formerly the Dallas Texans) will host the current Dallas team the Cowboys. It would be easy of me to look at the records of the two teams and pick the .500 team over the .000 one. It would be easy to pick the team with the more experience starting QB, Head Coach, and the majority of pro bowlers. Yeah it would be easy to do that.
Injuries – (not a complete list)
The Cowboys
Gerald Sensabaugh - Broken thumb and out for this game. He will be replaced by Pat Watkins. Watkins has some starting experience and is tall at 6-5 for a safety. With a struggling pass defense this could be greater doom or an answer to a problem.
Marion Barber - He will play even with his quad injury.
Flozell Adams - His injured shoulder should not limit him in this game.
Felix Jones- is wearing a brace, but I would be shocked if he played in this game.
DeMarcus Ware - is not listed as injured, will play but may still have some lingering issues with his neck strain.
Roy Williams – injured his ribs leaping for a pass he should have run through. I would be surprised if he played as well.
The Chiefs – Don’t have any major injuries to report.
The Game
Right now the weather calls for showers later in the day. With the game being early, noon central, this should bode well for Dallas. Their running game suffered last week in their contest against Denver and could do so again on Sunday. This would call for a heavy dose of the struggling Tony Romo. Without Dallas’ primary receiver, Roy “The Truth” Williams, this game could be a testament to Tony’s prowess as a top QB or another example of his lack of that ability. That is assuming that the coaching staff does not decide to be overtly conservative which they can tend to do.
Kansas City is a team that is at a pivotal point in their season. They still have reason for hope as they have only played 4 games and are hungry to get that first win. While Dallas comes to town beaten up over their first 4 games with merely at .500 record to show for it.
This is Kansas City’s game to lose. They put up 16 points on New York who only scored 27 on them. An 11 point difference is not a dominating performance. Normally I would say that the team with the better record has the opportunity to decide the win or loss, but in this case Dallas is not coming into town with a strong resume of play. Though I have a lot of confidence in Wade Phillip’s coaching experience, there is something about Todd Haley the coach for K.C. that makes me think he will make a game of it.
The prediction
I don’t expect to see any drastic improvement from Dallas and will probably see them struggle once again. As much as it pains me to type this, I think K.C. will win here with a 24 to 17 victory.
The Fantasy Focus –
Tony Romo – I want to predict a bounce back game for him and he is due one, but if I want to win my fantasy league I would look at other options.
Felix Jones – High risk start as I don’t expect him to play.
Marion Barber – Should see a lot of carries. I would expect a 50% of the rushing yards to go to Marion.
Tashard Choice – Should see a lot of carries as well. I would expect 50% of the rushing yards and 30% of the passing yards to come here.
Dallas WR’s – Hmm.. well put Miles Austin, Patrick Crayton, Sam Hurd, and maybe even Kevin Ogletree’s name into a hat and pull one out. You have a better chance of picking the player with the most fantasy points that way.
Dallas D/ST – Regardless if you get return yards or not, I expect this to be a low fantasy day for Dallas. Injuries, poor secondary performance, and lack of pressure should play into K.C.s hand.
For K.C.
You could take a chance on Matt Cassel or the K.C. D but that is all I would risk if I wanted to win.
The Summary
The main point here is that Dallas is limping along in this season. No matter how you slice it they have not played well enough to win in the last three games, though they were able to pull it out at home against the Panthers. Kansas City is a team anxious for a win and with several pieces waiting to fall into place. With rumors swirling of coaching changes in the bye week if Dallas loses and the debate over the quality of the offense, Dallas is on the brink.
As a Cowboys fan I know that if they lose then the world will be near its end around Dallas over the bye week. If Dallas wins then the button of destruction will be pressed but not released until the next game.