The Dallas Cowboys are a predictable mess but it's not all Andy Dalton's fault

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The Dallas Cowboys got on with their season last night without their franchise quarterback, Dak Prescott, in the lineup and, well, things didn’t go well for them.

Veteran QB Andy Dalton took over as the starter and went out there against the Cardinals and looked like Andy Dalton. He opened the night with one of the worst passes you’ll ever see and then continued his less-than-mediocre play the rest of the way in Dallas’ 38-10 loss at home. He did have one TD pass but the came late in the fourth quarter when the game was well over.

This was expected, unless you were one of those people, like Tony Dungy, who thought Dalton could step right in and lead the Cowboys as well as Prescott has during his career. It was a silly thing to think, and that was proven last night. Prescott is a franchise QB who is a million times better than Dalton, and better than most QBs in the league.

The Cowboys are a mess right now but you’d be a fool to put all the blame on Dalton. Ezekiel Elliott fumbled twice in the first half Monday night and was never really himself.

Their offensive line has been decimated with injuries and suffered more against the Cardinals.

And then there is the Cowboys’ defense, which is an absolute train wreck and has been all season. It’s a historically bad defense. Prescott had to put up monster numbers just to stay ahead of how bad the defense had been. There’s no way Dalton can do that – a lot of QBs in the league would have a tough time keeping up with Dallas’ embarrassing defense.

The Cowboys had a fighting chance of being OK with Dak under center but with that defense they weren’t really going to be Super Bowl contenders.

Now it’s just going to get really ugly for Dallas.

But there is some good news for Dallas fans – the Cowboys are in the NFC East, which is an embarrassment of a division this year. Dallas is in first place with just two wins through six games. Two wins! The Eagles (1-4-1), Giants (1-5), and Washington (1-5) are right on their heels and should all be ashamed of themselves.

The Cowboys could win the division somehow but there really is nothing more for this team this year.

They are a mess.

A big mess.

Quick hits: Buck and Aikman on a hot mic… Tank for Trevor update… Six teams that could win the Super Bowl… And more.

– Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were caught by a hot mic rightly talking about how military flyovers are a waste of money.

– Charles Curtis looks at which NFL teams are at the top of the “Tank for Trevor” race.

– Steven Ruiz says one of these six teams will win the Super Bowl this year.

– Mike Vrabel found a genius way to use the rules to his advantage late in Sundays’ win over the Texans.

– Henry McKenna has some guys you should be targeting on your fantasy football waiver wire.