Dallas Cowboys Remain In Playoff Race In NFC East
By Shawn S. Lealos
The Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football and their playoff hopes are still alive and well. However, with the Green Bay Packers next up on the schedule, things are not going to be easy. With a lot of football left to play, here is the biggest news stories this week concerning the Cowboys and their 2015 season.
Dallas Cowboys Still in Playoff Hunt
When a team opens a season with a 3-8 record, the thought turns to the NFL Draft the next season. Such a poor record would result in a nice high draft spot, but for the Dallas Cowboys things are not heading in that direction. After beating the Washington Redskins, the Cowboys are only one game out of first in the NFC East, splitting the season with the Giants and Eagles and taking the first of two meetings with the Redskins. This means that, as long as the Cowboys win two more games in the final four than their rivals, they could make the playoffs with a .500 record or worse. That is why Dallas is keeping Tony Romo on the active roster, in case he is healthy enough to return for the playoffs. "If Tony's ready to play," head coach Jason Garrett said, "he's going to play."
Jason Witten's Milestone
On Monday Night against the Washington Redskins, Jason Witten became only the 12th player to surpass 1,000 receptions in a career and only the second tight end to reach the milestone after only Tony Gonzalez. Even more impressive is that only Andre Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald are still playing out of the players on that record list. Witten is nowhere near finished yet and could end his career in third place if he just averages 50 receptions a season for the next two seasons. "Jason's a Hall of Famer anyway," Tony Romo said. "I think he's proven that with what he's done more than the numbers."
Dez Bryant Wants to Work with NFL on Pass Catching Rules
There is a rule in the NFL when it comes to pass catching called the Calvin Johnson rule. It basically says that a player must establish control when he catches a pass or it is not considered a completion. However, this has resulted in two major controversial moments. The first involved Johnson and the second came in the playoffs in 2014 when Dez Bryant was trying to stretch out the ball across the goal line for a touchdown, only to be ruled incomplete because of the rule. As this season has progressed, it has become clear that different officials interpret the rule in different ways and no one knows what is and isn't a reception. Roger Goodell wants to put a committee together to examine the rules. Calvin Johnson wants to be part of that committee and so does Bryant. "They need to invite me," Bryant said. "Tell them they need to call me, so I can have my input."
Jason Garrett Explains Clock Management Against Redskins
There was just under two minutes left in the Dallas Cowboys game with the Washington Redskins and the teams were tied. The Cowboys recovered a fumble by DeSean Jackson and were in position to score, but the Redskins still had two timeouts remaining. The idea was to run the clock down and kick the game winning field goal. Anything else would give the Redskins time to answer back. However, the first play was a sweep from Darren McFadden, who ran for nine yards and then went out of bounds and stopped the clock. The idea was then to pick up the first down, kneel down, and then kick the field goal. However, McFadden scored on the next play and the Redskins answered with a touchdown of their own in the last minute of the game. Garrett admitted that the original plan was to run the clock down, but McFadden running out of bounds ruined that. "What we wanted to do, given what we thought they would do to try to play defense, we wanted to come off and have our best football play," Garrett said. "What happened was we scored a touchdown on it."
Shawn S. Lealos is a freelance writer who graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2000 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism. He writes for a variety of national publications and has over 15 years of sports journalism experience. Follow Shawn on Twitter @sslealos. Examiner.com.