Tim Cowlishaw: Weeden isn’t Cowboys’ biggest problem but could be

PHILADELPHIA A game like Sunday’s leads one to many random thoughts, especially while enjoying the ambience of the Philadelphia airport. Here, in no particular order, are 10.

1. For the last 12 months, we have praised Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones for holding the line on his more impulsive father and ensuring that the Cowboys drafted guard Zack Martin instead of quarterback Johnny Manziel. The results in Cleveland and Philadelphia Sunday at least temporarily cause us to look back and ask “What if ... ?”

2. Many of you criticized a league that would allow a losing team (Carolina at 7-8-1) to advance to the playoffs last year while a 10-win team (Philadelphia) stayed home. Not so fast. Doesn’t the NFC East look like a division that could produce an 8-8 champion? Or perhaps even worse?

I’ve always said, whether it’s the NFL or NBA, your first job is to win your division. If it isn’t, then why do they have divisions? Winning even a bad division should count for something.

3. Until now, I never considered the Cowboys fortunate that they don’t play Washington until December. Given that the Redskins have the only other victory in the division, maybe that is a stroke of luck. You would expect Dez Bryant and perhaps Tony Romo to be back at full strength when the teams meet at FedEx Field on Monday, Dec. 7. The rematch is the regular season ender on Jan. 3.

4. The Philadelphia Daily News headline shouts: SAM THE SHAM? It reminds me that when the Eagles made the trade with St. Louis last spring I thought for about two days that the Eagles were the ones getting picks, not giving them up. Not that Nick Foles played great Sunday but at least he produced big plays in a win over Seattle a week ago. Hard to see how anyone tortured genius or not prefers the oft-injured and immobile Bradford over Foles.

5. The Cowboys’ defense is good. It’s surely better than most of us expected it to be. And it will get better with the addition of Greg Hardy, Rolando McClain and Randy Gregory in the next month. That doesn’t mean the Eagles’ offensive line isn’t awful. Chip Kelly said repeatedly Sunday that if you can’t block a three-technique (tackle), you can’t win. This team can’t block.

6. Brandon Weeden is not the Cowboys’ biggest problem for the next month. Brandon Weeden getting injured is the Cowboys’ biggest problem. Any quarterbacks showing up at Valley Ranch have to be considered as his backup, not as the 2016 starter. Learning a playbook from scratch near the end of September is impossible.

7. Having said that, Waxahachie High School coach Jon Kitna saw his son injured Friday. Maybe now is a good time to take a break from coaching and ... well, you never know.

8. The Cowboys offense had the ball for 40:30 Sunday and scored one touchdown and just 13 points. That’s hard to do when you think about it.

9. If you include tight ends as part of the group, I have 13 penalties on the Cowboys’ vaunted offensive line. Did I miss one? While Jerry Jones was clearly more distraught about the Romo injury, he was more incensed over the repeated flags thrown at this group and puzzled as to what these officials were seeing.

10. Baltimore and Seattle, teams picked by lots of folks to get to the Super Bowl, are 0-2. So are the Eagles, who were chosen far and wide (oops) to win the East. Oakland, Jacksonville, Tennessee and Tampa Bay all have wins. Do we really know very much about who’s good and who isn’t after two weeks? It seems like less than ever.

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