IRVING – The good news for Cowboys fans is that the Seattle Seahawks are a really weak 8-7 team, losers of three straight and looking nothing like last year's NFC champions. In all likelihood, in the wake of what looked like a Cowboys wake – a disturbingly easy 23-7 Eagles victory at Texas Stadium – Dallas will be headed to Seattle for its first-round playoff game.
That's about the extent of the good news. And frankly, even a lame Seahawks club may not be stoppable for a defense that hasn't generated so much as a phony "Doomsday" chant in the last month.
Unless you mean "Doomsday" of another kind.
Cowboys coach Bill Parcells called his team "noncompetitive," accepted the blame for its poor preparation but didn't single out areas of concern. There were too many.
But owner Jerry Jones, who has spent both millions of dollars and valued No. 1 draft picks to build this defense, didn't hide his frustration after watching Jeff Garcia and Eagles backs rack up 426 yards.
"That's pitiful," Jones said. "Under these circumstances with the players I believe we have, I didn't think there was any way in the world we wouldn't be able to slow them down."
This isn't meant to say the Cowboys' offense was a work of art. That unit was a disaster, too, but at least the offense saved Dallas when the defense was giving up 396 yards to the Giants or 376 yards and four Michael Vick touchdown passes to the Falcons.
In the last four games, the Cowboys' defense has surrendered an average of 433.5 yards.
And a total of 12 touchdown passes.
Don't be fooled for a second by the Eagles' relatively low point total. Garcia and his mates could have posted about any number they wanted.
Two of the Eagles' first three drives went for 89 yards, producing 10 points.
They held the ball for more than 37 minutes. They picked up blitzes and struck for big plays in the most elementary fashion.
In other words, while Tony Romo was under fire and on the run, the Cowboys' defense let Garcia pick them apart for four quarters.
Nose tackle Jason Ferguson was disgusted. "We've got too many weapons offensively not to get off the field," he said.
Maybe the Cowboys have fewer weapons defensively than they imagined. Other than DeMarcus Ware, who gets after the quarterback on a regular basis?
Who in the secondary is not susceptible to the big play? Maybe Terence Newman, but that's it, and after the game, Newman talked about being nervous about what lies ahead.
The team that stopped the Indianapolis Colts' winning streak can't stop anything now. And even with lowly Seattle the most likely playoff opponent, it's not hard to imagine the Seahawks putting enough of their offensive pieces together to end the Cowboys' season.
This is consecutive home games that the Cowboys' defense has given the offense no chance. Consecutive big games, at that.
Two weeks ago against New Orleans, the second-best record in the NFC was on the line. The Saints carved up the Cowboys and have now secured that first-round bye.
At the time, some of us wrote that off as coach Sean Payton coming home to exact a little revenge on his former boss.
Then the Cowboys made Vick look like Dan Marino.
Then came this.
The Cowboys had a chance to wrap up their first NFC East title since 1998. It would have confirmed at least one playoff game at Texas Stadium.
The only way that happens now is the Cowboys beat Detroit on Sunday and the Eagles, who have won four straight, lose at home to a struggling Atlanta club.
Parcells immediately challenged his team to respond.
"I told them they can either be judged by this game or they could come back ready to go next week and have a chance to compete for the championship," he said.
Barring an Eagles letdown vs. Atlanta, three straight road games are the only way the Cowboys can get that championship.
If you see similarities between last year's Steelers and this year's Cowboys, then you would say there's a chance.
If that's what you see.
E-mail wtcowlishaw@dallasnews.com
