Big Loss

Not only did the Cowboys poop the bed and lose to the Cardinals (who are pretty formidable at home), but with every breaking news feed on Monday afternoon the loss got worst.

The sight of Felix Jones trying to loosen up a tight hamstring on Sunday was bad. Now the news reports fluctuating from partially torn to severely sprained hamstring was worse. Felix who has been a huge weapon in the early part of the season (TD's rushing, receiving and in the return game) will miss 2-4 weeks. Even when he does return, will it be the same speed demon who started out so strongly. I doubt it, hamstrings injuries tend to linger. With no other viable backup to Marion Barber, expect the Marion to carry the ball often in Jones absence. It should be interesting to see how this plays out with Barber who has never been a solo feature back (he split time with Maroney in college and Julius Jones his first 3 seasons as a Cowboy).

Sam Hurd, the Cowboys 4th receiver (as well as a solid special teams contributor) was caught from behind in the third quarter and then had to be helped off the field. He re-aggravated a high-ankle sprain that kept him out most of the first month of the season (it originally occurred during their last pre-season game). His season is now over as his ankle will require surgery. The Cowboys are very thin on experience at wideout. Owens and Crayton really the only receivers with in-game experience. Miles Austin has emerged as a solid 3rd receiver of late, but now untested Isiah Stanback will have to play in 4 receiver sets. I see the Cowboys going to more of a two tight end set for the rest of the season. With Witten and Martellus Bennett taking the place of the third and fourth receivers.

Another key contributor (and Pro-Bowl player) Matt McBriar will be lost for the rest of the season with a broken right foot. McBriar is on of the best punters in the league. He has a tremendous leg (evidenced by his 49.0 average) and consistently pins the opponents deep in Cowboy territory. This is one loss that will hurt tremendously. Punters aren't generally hard to find... good punters are though.There is an outside shot that McBriar will be ready for the post-season. I wouldn't hold your breath.

Even though the loss of McBriar is huge, nothing is bigger (or scarier) than the loss of Tony Romo with a broken pinkie. The Cowboys have gone 23-9 in Romo's 32 starts. Only Brady and Philip Rivers have better records. He is the unquestioned leader of their offense and the main reason they have the swagger they do. He completes almost 65% of his passes and tosses nearly 2 TD's a game. He throws a very easy to catch ball and generally hits his receivers in open spaces and gives them a chance to run after the catch. He is everything you could want in a quarterback. Now he is out for 4 weeks with a broken pinkie. One also has to wonder how that pinkie will affect him the rest of the season. He already has problems holding onto the ball, do these become magnified with a hurt digit. Only time will tell.

The Cowboys are pretty lucky to have a pretty capable backup in Brad Johnson. He's proven to be reliable and a very good field general in his multiple stops (I mean he is a Super Bowl winning QB). I do worry that the aging offensive line (which allowed Romo to be pummeled by the Cardinals) won't be able to keep Johnson upright. With the amount of talent the Cowboys have on offense, I can't imagine they will slip that badly. The game this weekend against St. Louis seems very winnable. After that they face the Bucs and Giants, two teams that love to come after the QB. If the Cowboys can weather the storm and go 2-1 (with the fourth week being the bye week) while Romo recovers I'd be a happy camper. If they go anything worse than 2-1 they might start to be on the outside looking i at a playoff spot. The NFC East is brutal.

This was easily one of the most costliest losses in recent history.