Cowboys Prepare for Rams Amidst Turmoil

Dallas needs road win @ St. Louis

Despite a tumultuous week for the Cowboys, there’s still a game to be played on Sunday. The Boys will visit the St. Louis Rams this weekend where a victory could help to calm the raging waters surrounding them early in this 2008 campaign. A loss, however, and they’ll be sinking for sure.

The big question for the Cowboys going into Sunday’s game is will Tony Romo play. Romo, who suffered a broken finger against the Cardinals last week, has made a strong push to start Sunday’s game in St Louis. It was initially thought that he would be unavailable for at least four weeks, but after an encouraging phone call from Brett Favre, Romo began to express his desire to play, regardless of his fractured pinky. He participated in some light throwing to all his receivers on Thursday, but did not partake in drills as back-up Brad Johnson was running the show. Owner Jerry Jones told reporters that it’s a real possibility his pro-ball quarterback will start.

Over the past few weeks the Cowboys (4-2) have showed that no opponent they face is easy to beat. Throw in the ever increasing list of injuries and the odds of the Rams pulling off an upset go up a little more. The Rams (1-4) are coming off their first win of the season and their first with new head coach Jim Haslett. St. Louis is still a very flawed team, but they did knock off the Redskins in Washington. They did it in dramatic fashion, with a last second field goal and stopped the Redskins four game winning streak. The Rams should come into the Dallas game on a high and with a feeling of nothing to lose, being such overwhelming underdogs, Dallas by 7.5. They also still have some deadly weapons on offense with the likes of Marc Bulger, Stephen Jackson, and Tory Holt.

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This is another game on the Cowboys schedule that at one time looked like a cakewalk. Just a couple weeks ago the Rams were playing some of the worst football imaginable, being outscored by opponents through the first four games by a total of 147-43. Meanwhile, the Cowboys got off to a fast 3-0 start with an offense that appeared unstoppable. But momentum in sports is a capricious thing. It can change at any time, and clearly the Cowboys have lost some of the momentum they started the season with.

Two losses, key injuries to Romo, Felix Jones, Terence Newman, and Mat Mcbriar as well as the suspension of Adam Jones have Dallas a bit shaken. If there was at least one positive thing that happened for the Cowboys this week it was the acquisition of Roy Williams from Detroit who should help boost their passing game and perhaps their spirits. There is still a tough road ahead throughout the course of the season, and this is a game the Cowboys cannot afford to lose. It is also an opportunity to show some of their toughness, a trait that this team has often been accused of lacking. The football world will be watching to see how the Boys respond to this latest batch of adversity.

By Steven Mondelli
ProFootball-fans.com Dallas Cowboys Correspondent