I'm not a big of the phrase "if the season ended today" … mainly because it doesn't end. For some reason, that one always bugs me a little bit.
But I do think you can follow trends and the way a team or a player is performing after a certain amount of games can be a good indication how things might end up.
Just like any football game, after the first quarter, it's about the time to start figuring out how this game is going to finish. Of course, things can change in a hurry, but at least after one quarter of play, you get an idea.
That's where we are in this season, too.
One quarter in. Now if the Cowboys stay on this 2-2 course, even my math knows this will be a repeat of 8-8.
But individually, there are some pretty alarming stats if these players stay on the current course. Again, it's early, so let's have some fun with this and not get too carried away.
- It always starts with the quarterback, so let's get straight to Tony Romo. You don't care that he's on pace for 4,592 passing yards which would be a franchise record. His 20 touchdown passes would surpass Troy Aikman on the all-time list of 165, but it wouldn't be a great total figure for Romo. What would be mind-boggling is the interceptions. He's at eight right now. Obviously a season of 32 interceptions would be horrific, shattering the record of 25 set by Eddie LeBaron in the inaugural season of 1960 and Danny White in 1980.
- DeMarco Murray rushed for 131 yards in the first game of the season and we all thought the Cowboys might have found their next star back. Now, he's sitting at 237 yards and that's on pace for a 948-yard campaign, which would once again continue the Cowboys' streak without a 1,000-yard rusher to six seasons.
- Just for fun, Felix Jones is on pace for a 52-yard regular season. He's sitting at 13 yards at the moment. Can you say contract year?
- After a slow start, Jason Witten is on pace for 84 catches, 752 yards and four touchdowns. Other than his 9.0 yard per catch average being relatively lower than his typical 11.4 average.
- Dez Bryant is also looking at 84 catches for 1,076 yards but still doesn't have a touchdown catch this year.
- Miles Austin is pacing out at 72 catches for 1,200 yards and 12 touchdowns. The catches are low, but that many yards and touchdowns would give him a good shot at a third trip to the Pro Bowl.
- How about Kevin Ogletree? Would this be a solid No. 3 receiver for you? 68 catches, 884 yards and eight touchdowns.
- Dan Bailey hasn't missed a field goal yet. Now he really hasn't had any kick longer than 40 yards yet, but a pace of 25-for-25 would be rather impressive. It's not likely, but I have to mention that, too.
- On defense, DeMarcus Ware is on pace for 20 sacks this season. He needs just 10 more to pass Harvey Martin (114) for first place in NFL history. But at 20 sacks, he would be the first player in NFL history to have two 20-sack seasons in a career.
- Ware also has three forced fumbles, halfway to his own record of six in one season, set back in 2008. He's pacing out for 12 forced fumbles at the moment.
- Anthony Spencer has two sacks and would pace out for eight, which would best his career-high of 6.5. Don't forget Spencer did miss last week's game with a shoulder injury.
- And then there's Sean Lee. Maybe this is the best for last. He's got 63 tackles after four games. That's a pace of 252 tackles, which would completely shatter Eugene Lockhart's record of 222, set in 1989. Lee also has 52 solo tackles. A pace of 208 would also easily surpass Lockhart's 154 solo stops in 1989.
Again, all in good fun. It never really paces out like that, but it's interesting to see where things stack up a quarter into the season.
