would be able to compete. I didn't see any scenario that resulted in the Cowboys going down.
You know what? Neither did Todd Haley. Now, I'm sure the Chiefs head coach, who like five other coaches on his staff spent some time with the Cowboys and wanted nothing more than to get their first win against them, would tell you differently. I bet he says that his team thought they could win and undoubtedly should have won.
The latter is debatable. His team played well enough and hung in the game long enough to get a win. But it didn't look like he thought they could just line up and beat the Cowboys. If he did think that, he wouldn't have run a flea-flicker and a double-reverse on the first possession of the game. Maybe to some it looks like a coach that has nothing to lose and is pulling out all the stops. To me it signals a coach that doesn't think he can beat a team without trickery.
Haley and the Chiefs lucked out that the Cowboys were in a giving mood, especially in the first half. Fumbles by Crayton and Romo helped the Chiefs get a 10-0 lead. But just as the Cowboys squandered a lead by the same margin last week, this time they found a way to respond.
And that will benefit this team more than a blowout.
I know some will disagree. And when you're watching the game as a fan, you want your team to step on the gas and not let up until the final gun. You want your team to win 42-3, and you're going to go to work on Monday upset about the field goal that spoiled the shutout.
But in reality, that's not what this Cowboys team is. They're not that much better than even the bottom barrel of the league. They've won three games - two against winless teams as well as one over a one-win club, Carolina, who earned their first victory on Sunday against the Redskins. And all of them have been at least one-possession games in the fourth quarter.
On the flip side, the Cowboys aren't that far away from the best in the league. Two losses against teams that are now 5-0, and both defeats went down to the final play.
Not that far from the top. Not that far from the bottom. This Cowboys team is sitting 3-2 and somewhere in between. But they've got two full weeks now with the bye to figure it out. And that's two weeks that would've felt like a month had they not squeaked this one out.
Five weeks into the season, the Cowboys should know exactly what they are - good enough to play with any team in the league; not good enough to bury even the worst team in the league.
They're somewhere in the middle. And it looks like they're going to be that way all season long.
