DERRICK BRAZIL
PITTSBURGH, PA
Do you agree that there are no 'moral victories', or do you believe the Cowboys can build from their loss at Baltimore?
Johnny: In a league with so few regular season games, a 'moral victory' is not nearly as important as a real victory. It's hard to spin 2-3 in a positive way. But I do think the Cowboys can build from the loss. Their performance last Sunday would have resulted in a win against a lot of teams in the NFL. Their mistakes seemed to be pretty specific so if they are able to learn from them then they should be better moving forward.
Rowan: No, moral victories don't count. Jerry Jones said earlier this week in a league where so much is on the line, there's not a whole lot of time to find silver linings after losses in the NFL. That doesn't mean there isn't anything to build from, though. The Cowboys finally ran the ball efficiently with a medley of backs in the backfield. They've yet to put together consecutive games running the ball well, so that will remain to be seen in Carolina.
JORGE GUAJARDO
EL PASO, TX
How thick or thin is the line between the Cowboys being a good team and a bad team? And what do they need to do to get on the good side?
Johnny: Their inconsistency makes that line pretty thin. When you think about Dallas' weaknesses this season (turnovers, blocking, special teams, etc.) the expectation is that the Cowboys will perform well in one or two of those categories, but not all of them, regardless of whom they are playing. If those expectations can change, they can be a good team.
Rowan: It's a thin one, but it's been that way for a few years now. So far, the Cowboys have played the same average football that's made the team hover near the .500 mark for a while. The problem is that every week it's something. One week it's the offensive line. The next week it's the running game. The next week it's drops. The next week it's penalties. But I think it all begins with the offensive line.
