Former Cowboys coach Bill Parcells liked to say that his teams were what their record said they were. But current Cowboys coach Wade Phillips says his team is better than its record would suggest.
“I guess we think we’re a better 1-4 team than some teams that are 1-4,” Phillips said. “I mean mentally. They don’t think they might not win the next game. Gosh, we might not win this next one. This team thinks . . . I still think they think they’re going to win this next game.”
There actually aren’t any other 1-4 teams in the NFL right now, so I’m not sure which teams Phillips is referring to when he says “some teams that are 1-4.” But Phillips’ phrasing is interesting: He says the Cowboys think of themselves as a good team, even if their record is 1-4.
But the whole point of Parcells’ old saying is that it’s irrelevant how good the Cowboys think they are. What matters is how good their record says they are. And their record says they’re two and a half games behind the Giants and Eagles in the NFC East, and a game and a half behind the Redskins.
So with the Giants coming to town on Monday night, the Cowboys had better be right when “they think they’re going to win this next game.” Unless they’re going to be satisfied thinking they’re better than other 1-5 teams.