Watching the WFT beat up on imploding Cowboys squad made Washington fans feel better

The Cowboys took a beatdown at the hands of the Washington Football Team in Week 7, and it had an immediate effect on how good Hogs Haven readers feel about the direction of the team. After bottoming out at just 44% following the 1-point loss to the Giants in Week 6, fan confidence rebounded to 67% after Sunday’s festivities at Landover.

Interestingly, the confidence of Hogs Haven fans is the highest in the NFC East at the moment.

• Giants fans, who were at 83% in Week 1, now sit at 55%
• Eagles fans, who were at 80% in Week 1, now sit at 39%
• Cowboys fans, who were at 70% in Week 1, now sit at just 2%, second lowest only behind Jaguars fans

The current confidence seems to be the inverse of expectations for the 2020 season, with most NFL fans and pundits picking Dallas and Philly to finish #1 & #2 in the division before the regular season started, and NY and Washington to be among the worst teams in the league.

The current fan confidence from Washington and New York fans comes against the background of low to non-existent pre-season expectations. Cowboys fans, meanwhile, had put themselves through an even more frenzied preseason overhype of their limited team than usual, with crazy talk of NFC titles and super bowl contention.

As a result, the mood at Blogging the Boys this week is sombre...resigned, even. They passed angry a couple of weeks ago. Now they seem to be at the acceptance stage.

This week, the emerging theme among Cowboys fans is that first-year head coach Mike McCarthy might not survive to see a second season in charge of the Cowboys, and that, if he does, he shouldn’t. Well, that is, among Cowboy fans who know who the coach is, anyway.

Of course, this is the bye week for the Washington Football Team, so fans of the burgundy & gold get two full weeks to celebrate an all-to-rare victory. It’s all the sweeter that it comes against the Cowboys. After getting swept by Dallas in three of the past four seasons, Washington fans are all too happy to have come out on top this week, even if it was against a weakened and crumbling team — heck, for some fans, the chaos in Dallas made the victory even more enjoyable. The last time Washington had held the Cowboys to less than 5 points in a regular season game was in 1971, when Washington beat the Cowboys in Texas 13-0. We need a lot more like this one.

Of course, the victory pushed Washington up to second-place in the staggeringly bad NFC East.

While the Washington players enjoy a weekend of rest and relaxation in Week 8, the other three division teams are featured in two prime time games.

The Giants host Tampa Bay on Monday Night Football. I rarely do this, but I’m gonna go ahead and mark that down as a Giants loss right now, which will keep NY solidly in last place in the division for a while. It doesn’t matter much. Even with a win, the Giants would still inhabit last place in the division.

Dallas, of course, travels to Philadelphia for the Sunday night game, with the winner securing first place in the division. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where the Cowboys get their shit together and win this game against a Philly team that seems to still be interested and motivated by the idea of playing professional football.

Here’s how I see the division standings at this time next week:

PHI 3-4-1 (2-1)
WAS 2-5 (2-1)
DAL 2-6 (1-2)
NYG 1-7 or 2-6 (1-2)

Of course, if Dallas gets the upset, they would be in the lead:

DAL 3-5 (2-1)
WAS 2-5 (2-1)
PHI 2-5-1 (1-2)
NYG 1-7 or 2-6 (1-2)

Either way, Washington fans can enjoy another week of gloating about an enjoyable victory against the hated Dallas Cowboys, comfortable in the knowledge that the softest part of the Football Team’s 2020 schedule is ahead after the bye.

Enjoy the good feeling. You’ve earned it!

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