Pro Football Hall of Famer, Cowboys great and Fox broadcaster Troy Aikman paid his weekly visit to Sportsradio KTCK-AM (1310) and FM (96.7) The Ticket on Tuesday morning to talk about the Cowboys and the rest of the NFL. Here are some highlights:
On how Sunday's game may further highlight that the Philadelphia Eagles are the team to beat in the NFC:
Troy Aikman: "Well, they're certainly one of the more (well-)rounded teams, when you consider how good they are on offense, and then their defensive front and the job that Jim Schwartz as a defensive coordinator has done. There's not a lot of those types of teams that are good on both sides of the ball. I think Atlanta is one of those teams. There's a few others, but the way that Philadelphia was able to come in here in a game that -- I've seen this so many times in the past, to where a team has a chance to basically eliminate another team from the race, from the division, and it just seems that it never quite happens. And, so, yeah, it was gonna be a tough game for Dallas, but I really expected Dallas to go out and play well, play better than what they did -- especially there in that second half -- and thought they would likely win that game and at least give themselves a chance as we move through the next six weeks in winning the division. Now, as you said, that's all but over, and they're scrambling right now to even get in as a wild-card team, which is a real shock for an organization that came into this season talking about Super Bowls and why that happens is beyond me, too. There's a lot of other teams in this league that lose players, and -- the Minnesota Vikings, they lost their star running back, they lost their quarterback, and they've won six straight. So, those things happen in this league. I cover a lot of these teams, and overcoming injuries and overcoming guys unavailable to go is part of the deal."
If the Cowboys can't bounce back from back-to-back losses on Thanksgiving (with the advantage of being the home team after playing at home Sunday), then are we looking at a team with real problems?
Aikman: "Well, I think you can probably start in on that now. I don't know that you have to wait till necessarily the Chargers game and whatever the outcome of that might be. It is an advantage, as we know, to play at home on a Thursday game. As we also know, at one time it was just Detroit and Dallas that got to do that, now all these teams are playing on Thursdays, so they've gotten better at being prepared. It was tough, I thought, for us. A quick turnaround and playing on Thursday, and we were doing it without having to travel. Wednesday was our long day at the facility to get ready for that game. Well, the opposing team -- the Chargers, for instance -- they're flying in on Wednesday, and to try to then get up and play at the level that you're certainly capable of, it's very tough and the home teams have, I think, a very decided advantage in that one. Yeah, this is a game that Dallas, if they're -- how do you even say it? If they're gonna stay alive I guess within the wild-card race, they've gotta win, and you've gotta be able to win at home and you've gotta find a way to get it done."
On finding a way to string wins together in a key part of the season while fighting through injuries:
Aikman: "Yeah, I think that what most people would point to, I think which is a bit unfair, is: What would Bill Belichick do and the New England Patriots. They do a lot of things a little bit different than everybody else and that's why they've been able to have the success that they've been able to have, and he's regarded as arguably the greatest coach that ever walked the planet. So I think you've gotta be careful, but yes, part of coaching certainly is being able to overcome those injuries and come up with some different schemes, but that's true for all teams in this league. Whether it's the Ezekiel Elliott suspension, whether it was that cloud kind of hanging over this team -- is it Tyron Smith? Is it Sean Lee? What is it? I don't know. But right now, considering that just a few weeks ago, we were talking about what a roll this team was on and how well they were playing -- which they were -- and now, just a few weeks later, talking about whether or not they're even going to make it into January and still be playing, it just seems to me like there's just been a lot of discussion about things around this team that have nothing to do with whatever's happening on the field. And it's been going on all season long, and those things are hard to continue to overcome, and then when you do get into a little bit of a stretch where you are struggling a little bit, I think -- obviously this team's not playing with a great deal of confidence and whether or not they can pull it together in a short week against a team that's certainly very capable of putting points on the board, we'll find out on Thursday."