The Dallas Cowboys are seemingly at a crossroads for the season. Fresh off a disastrous 27-7 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the team’s playoff hopes are dwindling by the week.
Now at 5-4 on the season, Dallas finds itself one game out of the final wild card spot and three games behind the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East.
It obviously hurts that Ezekiel Elliott is serving his long-awaited six-game suspension. Being without stud left tackle Tyron Smith on Sunday also impacted the team big time. Heck, Falcons defensive end Adrian Clayborn recorded six sacks against Smith’s replacement, Chaz Green, in the game.
However, the departure of All-Pro linebacker Sean Lee also had a major impact here. Lee exited early with a hamstring injury, only to see the Cowboys’ defense give up 132 rushing yards to Atlanta.
It now looks like Lee might miss substantial time with said injury. According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, this may include several games.
Bad timing for #Cowboys LB Sean Lee: Source said he’s unlikely to play this week vs #Eagles and then it’s the Thanksgiving Day game against the #Chargers four days later. May miss several games.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 13, 2017
That’s just no good right there.
Dallas is set to take on the aforementioned Eagles this upcoming weekend. At 8-1 on the season, Philadelphia boasts the best record in the NFL. It also ranks No. 4 in rushing at nearly 137 yards per game.
Without Lee in the mix, we can’t envision the Cowboys being able to stop one of the best offenses in the NFL. It that ends up ringing true, Dallas can throw out any real possibility of winning the NFC East this season.