Cowboys Get Shocking Playoff Odds As Jerry Jones Offers NFC East Opinion

The Dallas Cowboys' loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had fans in the doldrums heading into the rest of Week 5.

But after seeing the Philadelphia Eagles implode and the New York Giants and Washington Commanders stumble to a tie, Dallas' loss wasn't punished.

At 2-3, the Cowboys are still in it with a shot at capturing the title a division that seemingly no one wants to win right now.

That in itself was enough to perk up Cowboys Nation a little, but also made them frustrated because had they beaten Tampa, there was a real chance that they could have been leading the division.

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But for a team like Dallas, when it sees how the rest of the division is playing, what does it need to do to take what is seemingly a wide-open NFC East race and win the division?

Owner Jerry Jones, who was on 105.3 The Fan, knows.

"We've got to start making stops," Jerry said. "We've got to basically improve this defense and there are things in the offense that we can do better than we did last weekend. It's that simple. We do have some help on the way, but we're for all practical purposes in the middle of the season and you can anticipate some attrition that comes with the games.

"You're going to probably have some more injuries, you've got to anticipate this. All teams deal with it. I've just noticed this weekend how close these scores are. We've got to continue to push to get better, that's what you're seeing out here this week in a way that you would expect."

And Jerry is right.

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All games seemingly are now close, which means on any given week, upsets can happen, which is why there is an urgency to fix this embattled defense.

You have the offense (we think) to win a Super Bowl, but the defense can't stop anyone, so it has to tighten up.

Will the hiring of Mike Pettine to advise Christian Parker help? Well, that is the hope, because something needed to be done, and now the Cowboys have got their young coordinator some aid.

Strangely, Dallas' Super Bowl odds are about the same as they were five weeks ago (moving from 25-1 to 30-1). And per ESPN analytics, the Cowboys' chances of winning the NFC East are up to 63 percent.

Shocking, really.

It is a saving grace that the rest of the NFC East stumbled when Dallas did, but you can't count on that happening every week.

Which is why the Cowboys have to get their own house in order, regardless of the obstacles thrown at them.

The NFC East is wide open and just begging to be taken by the Cowboys.

But can they do it?