have a 3-5 record to show for it.It feels like they’re a lot worse than a 3-5 football team if we’re being honest [url=http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-demarcus-lawrence-jersey]http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-demarcus-lawrence-jersey[/url] , things haven’t been this grim since 2015. The thing about three years ago though is that while the Cowboys were 2-6 at the midway point they felt like a better team than that, the exact opposite of this season. Can you believe that the 2015 offense was actually better than 2018’s to this point?Odds are you accepted that this season doesn’t have much in the cards for the Cowboys after their 28-14 loss on Monday night against the Tennessee Titans. Things set up relatively nicely for the Cowboys entering that game as the Washington Redskins lost on Sunday. Dallas didn’t get a whole lot of help within the conference during Week 9 (our handy rooting guide was there for you every step of the way), but the fact is winning the NFC East is by far the best chance the Cowboys have at the playoffs.2018 NFC East standings through Week 9:Washington Redskins: 5-3, 2-0Philadelphia Eagles, 4-4, 1-0Dallas Cowboys, 3-5, 1-1New York Giants, 1-7, 0-3We’re all aware of just how quickly things can change in the NFL. It’s a week-to-week league and considering the Cowboys are playing against a division rival this week, a win there could significantly boost their chances.There are obviously people that believe the Cowboys aren’t going to the playoffs this season and if that’s your belief, hey that’s your cup of tea and you’re entitled to it. If you’re still holding on to hope that Dallas can do something special this season then you’ve come to the right place.Here’s the official Cowboys fan rooting guide for Week 10 of the 2018 season.EARLY GAMES: Bengals, Browns, Lions, Chiefs, BuccaneersThings already started breaking the Cowboys way in Week 10’s Thursday Night Football contest when the Pittsburgh Steelers drop a 50-Roethlisberger on the Carolina Panthers. As is obvious, any loss by an NFC team helps the Cowboys. Also keep in mind that this crop of games includes three games between AFC opponents so what happens there doesn’t impact the Cowboys one way or another. Onward.The Cincinnati Bengals will play host to the New Orleans Saints, although Dez Bryant won’t be playing. While it’s extremely unlikely that the Cowboys can catch New Orleans in some sort of wildcard race it still can’t hurt to have them lose a game. Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty ImagesWhile the Cowboys are staring straight up at the Saints they can still definitely catch their NFC South rivals in the Atlanta Falcons (Dallas will play them both before the month is over as well). Atlanta will be in Cleveland and here’s hoping that Baker Mayfield is able to help the Cowboys out to any degree.The NFC North will see a great game between the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions this Sunday. Chicago definitely looks to be a team that can contend for a playoff spot, possibly even their own division’s crown, and Detroit looks like a team ready to give up. The Cowboys have already beaten the Lions on this season and therefore hold the tiebreaker over them. It would serve Dallas well if the Bears stayed within a reachable distance and would harm Dallas less if the Lions were the team to walk away with the victory.While we technically have rooting for the Chiefs on this list, that particular checkmark wouldn’t end the world if it went unchecked. The Arizona Cardinals are an NFC team so we want them to lose, but they’re not a playoff contender (cue the “neither are the Cowboys!” remarks). Finally, as obvious as it is that we always want NFC teams to lose to AFC ones, it’s even more obvious that we always want division rivals to lose. Go Buccaneers. Beat the Redskins. Pretty please. They almost helped the Cowboys out last week against Carolina, time to actually get the job done.LATE GAMES: Rams and DolphinsThe Los Angeles Chargers and Oakland Raiders will square off so at the very least let’s root for something interesting, right? The Raiders always deliver there.More importantly, the Los Angeles Rams will try to rebound from their first loss of the season at home against the Seattle Seahawks. While LA won it last year the NFC West has been Seattle’s division for a long time. The Seahawks will likely put up a fight, but we want that to fall short. It would serve the Cowboys best if the Rams simply ran away with their division (and presumably a first-round bye) and continued to push the Seahawks down because that could be a team that Dallas contends with for a wildcard spot. Got it? Good.The same logic holds true for the Miami Dolphins at Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers. We’re seeing a Green Bay team that’s almost falling apart, and it would be great if the Dolphins pushed them over the edge. If, a big if admittedly, the Cowboys are going to be near contention for a wildcard spot the last thing they need hanging around is Aaron Rodgers.MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: 49ersWe always want to see division rivals lose. Go 49ers. Go a lot.Week 10 Rooting GuideThere you have it. If you’re getting a head start on your Christmas list or just need something to direct some positive thoughts towards, it’s these eight things. Not all of them are critical to the Cowboys playoff hopes [url=http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-maliek-collins-jersey]Maliek Collins Jersey[/url] , but some of them are, the others would just make us smile.It goes without saying that while it’s not listed on the rooting guide... we need the Cowboys to win. If they’re going to have any chance at winning the division or contending for a wildcard they simply have to get this win in Philadelphia.Here’s hoping they do.Two lessons learned from the Cowboys’ loss to the Seahawks They say you learn more from adversity than you do from success. Based on that, you’d think there would be a ton of lessons learned from the Dallas Cowboys’ simply miserable showing against the Seattle Seahawks.But sometimes, the problems are so big, so widespread, and so intertwined that it is just daunting to try and come up with discrete and easily digested things to take in. So let’s take two things. One is on offense, where just about everything that could go wrong seemingly did. The other, an attmept to add a small ray of optimism to a week of sackcloth and ashes, is about an offseason decision that is turning out much better than we might have imagined at the time.The offense is a hot mess, and everybody deserves blame.You want to blame the coaching? You are right. Dak Prescott? Yep, he shoulders his share. The offensive line? Certainly, although the problems against Seattle were on the left side while La’el Collins was doing a real number on the rushers from that side. Ezekiel Elliott? He absolutely wasted a good day running the ball with a series of boneheaded mistakes. The receivers? The team definitely needs someone to step up, and it really isn’t happening yet.Lots of problems. And the real stickler is that it is almost impossible to solve any of them in isolation. One leads to another. Some are ones we have seen since last season, while others, like Elliott’s stinking mess of a game and Tyron Smith having one of the worst performances of his stellar career, came out of nowhere. But how do you fix one aspect when it is clearly impacted by another? There is a strong belief in the fault of the offensive coaching, both in-game and preparing during the week. Yet the failure of so many players to simply do their job has to open up the idea that at least some of the plays would have worked if Prescott had put the ball in the right place, or the player had caught the pass (looking at you, Michael Gallup), or the line had blocked the pass rush or not let Bobby Wagner come untouched to blow up Zeke on 3rd and 1. Some of that might indicate a failure during prep for the game. Or it could be fundamental things that the players knew to do and simply whiffed on.Complicating matters is that things are past the point for some solutions. There is a growing validity to the idea that the Cowboys need a new offensive coordinator, but you can’t change that during the season, at least with any real expectation of success. The only possible option there is for Jason Garrett to take the reins back during games. The system is as much his as Scott Linehan’s, and it is not like Garrett has never done that before. Garrett’s job is on the line. It might be time to take more direct control of his destiny.Likewise, you aren’t going to get very far by benching Prescott. If you think Cooper Rush or Mike White could do a better job, you are entitled to your opinion. We’ll leave it at that. And there is no way to go sign more free agents and replace some of the skill players, get them up to speed, and build some chemistry all on the fly. That is what was needed in the offseason, perhaps, but that water has gone a long way past the bridge it was under.All that the team can do at this point is to try and make something out of this sow’s ear that the season has devolved into. It is a very tall order, indeed, and may well be beyond the capabilities of this staff. Dallas leans towards working harder with what they have, anyway. There is just so much work that needs to be done in every aspect of the offense. If some observable improvement isn’t made in the coming game against the Detroit Lions [url=http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-chris-jones-jersey]Authentic Chris Jones Jersey[/url] , then the one truly radical move is about all that is open. And who exactly do you replace the head coach with? Lincoln Riley isn’t walking out of his job at Oklahoma in mid-season. There certainly aren’t any out-of-work head coaches that look like a solution, unless you are a big Jeff Fisher fan or something. The most likely interim head coach is probably Kris Richard, and a defensive mind is not exactly what the situation cries out for.No, the Cowboys are stuck with the people they have on the staff and, for the most part, the roster. That means this may be a very bumpy ride.Leighton Vander Esch is for real.When the Cowboys did what they were basically telling everyone they were going to do on day one of the draft, the reactions mostly varied from disappointment to grudging acceptance that maybe they had a point. Well, after three games, that point seems to be proven. Vander Esch has, at least in terms of production per play, been the best linebacker the Cowboys have. Sean Lee looked to be breaking out of his early season slump against the Seahawks, but injured his other hamstring, and now is nursing problems with both. All indications are that Lee will not be good to go this week and possibly for several. And the team may be in better shape with LVE starting.No one, not even the Dallas staff and coaches, likely saw that coming, especially not after just three games. But now Vander Esch is likely meet that important threshold for first-rounders, become a starter as a rookie. And if he just continues his play so far, he will be not just a starter-by-necessity. He should be a very good one. Even better, all indications are that he is still improving with every game. The original plan for LVE seemed to have been as an insurance policy in case of injury to Lee, and being the eventual successor to the General. That policy is already being cashed in as Lee has left the past two games early with no real detriment to the defense, and the succession plan may be in effect much sooner than we thought. Lee will probably get the starting job back when he is healthy - but as Tony Romo can tell him, that is no given. Further, Lee’s long history of injury and age make a retirement at the end of the year an option that is more likely than it was at the start of the season. Lee still has tremendous value when he is healthy, but Vander Esch appears to be much closer to that than we imagined he would be. And that health is truly an issue once again.Despite some breakdowns and a poor performance by the defense, especially against a Seahawks offensive line that had let Russell Wilson get beaten up the previous two games, the defense wasn’t the real reason for the loss in Seattle. And now LVE means that the disastrous falloff in performance that we saw last season when Lee was out is not at all likely to reoccur. The questions about why Dallas took him in the first are being answered, and those answers are very good. Maybe some other player that was available might have been more helpful, but given how things have played out, that is very questionable.It is small comfort, but Vander Esch is one true bright spot from that sorry game. And given the train wreck that the offense has become, this team needs all the good news on defense they can get.