The NFL’s playoff system is a bit different than what we’re seeing these days in college football, where a committee decides who gets in. If the NFL had the same system, however, and if Randy Moss was one of the committee members, he would leave the Dallas Cowboys out of the running for a shot at the championship.
Seriously.
ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown had a mock committee set up to determine the top four teams in the NFL with a month left to play.
As pointed out by SportsDay, three of the five panelists (Charles Woodson, Matt Hasselbeck and Chris Berman) picked Dallas as the No. 1 seed. This is the logical conclusion, as the Cowboys have the best record in the league and have won 11 straight games.
Trent Dilfer had Dallas at No. 2, putting the Oakland Raiders at No. 1 — not crazy, considering Oakland’s late-game feats this year.
Moss…he left the Cowboys out of the picture completely.
“I’m leaving the Dallas Cowboys out. Y’all are going on records, I’m going on who is ready for the playoffs and who has the experience,” Moss said.
Woodson then pointed out that Dallas was going to be the first team in the league to clinch a playoff berth (they did after Sunday’s action). That didn’t sway Moss one bit.
“I don’t care about that. Wait until January, they might be the first team to exit, boy, keep talking.”
Now, it’s worth pointing out that every panel needs that Skip Bayless-type character to throw a monkey wrench into conventional thinking. Otherwise, without any controversy the sports talk world would be much more boring.
That out of the way, to say Dallas isn’t one of the top four NFL championship contenders is a bit out of whack with reality.
Yes, like any team there are some weaknesses that can be exploited. But the Cowboys have taken on some tough challenges this year and have overcome them. With that in mind, we’re convinced the Cowboys will be among the top four teams when the playoffs have moved into the conference championship round.