Cowboys in flux: Can depleted Dallas still contend for NFC East title?

Sometimes the good doesn't outweigh the bad. In the Dallas Cowboys' case, winning a divisional contest against the Philadelphia Eagles doesn't overshadow losing their franchise quarterback. Tony Romo exited the game with a broken clavicle and won't be back until Week 11 at the earliest. That setback, on top of Dez Bryant's foot injury -- which has sidelined the All-Pro receiver for at least a couple more months -- isn't what the Cowboys had in mind when they entered the 2015 campaign with such high hopes.

But there's still a division to win. And after Week 2, the Cowboys (2-0) lead the NFC East, with Washington (1-1), New York Giants (0-2) and Philadelphia (0-2) trailing. Backup quarterback Brandon Weeden actually played quite well in relief this past Sunday. Now he hopes to keep this team chugging along in Romo's absence.

Can the Cowboys still win the NFC East with Romo and Bryant each missing a significant amount of time?

This division still is winnable for the Cowboys. They're good enough to win half of their games before Tony comes back. Dallas has four home games and a bye within the next eight weeks. Brandon Weeden has 21 NFL starts under his belt. He only won five of those games, but 20 of them came in Cleveland. Now he's an experienced quarterback on a better team. With Weeden's supporting cast, this team can win despite its losses. On Sunday, Weeden went 7-for-7. That's definitely a good start at keeping the Cowboys in contention to repeat as NFC East champs. But they also have to figure out a way to run the ball more often. Dallas is averaging less than 100 rushing yards per game. That has to change.

The Dallas defense is playing pretty darn well. The Cowboys completely overwhelmed Philly's running backs (15 rushes for -2 yards). Not surprisingly, Dallas leads the league in run defense. The defense has been solid overall in the first two weeks and will help the Cowboys dramatically. Yes, Dallas can win the NFC East, because I'm not confident in the other teams in that division. Other players have to step up, and coaches are going to have to escalate those players' roles. Jason Witten, who is more of a reliable target, usually catches around eight balls per game. Now he needs to catch 12. (And first things first: He needs to get healthy.) Terrance Williams, who is really a No. 2 receiver, is going to have to play like a No. 1. Obviously, neither can make the type of plays Dez Bryant does, but you have to put the ball in those guys' hands to have a chance.

The East is attainable, but the Cowboys can't win the NFC with all of those injuries. They're just starting too far behind the eight ball. Teams know the injury bug is going to hit, so they actually prefer it to happen early in the season. But you don't want these types of injuries. These are injuries that are taking away your top two players for half the year. There aren't too many teams that can overcome that situation. That's like Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski going out for 10 weeks. I don't care how good the Patriots are or the coaching is -- you just can't bounce back from that. To say that the Cowboys definitely are going to win the NFC East ... Well, that would be an absurd statement at the moment. The Cowboys lost their top three offensive players ( Tony Romo, Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray) from a year ago with the two injuries and Murray signing in Philly. It's going to be tough.

Still, now we get to see how much the younger guys behind those stars have grown and matured. Dallas has guys who can step in. Brandon Weeden and Terrance Williams are two guys who have to be focal points. They have to want to grasp and take advantage of the opportunity they have. If those guys get on a roll, then it's possible Dallas can repeat. But right now, it's hard to say. If Romo and Dez aren't in the mix, I don't think the Cowboys can win the division. Romo has been the driving force of that offense, along with Dez. At this point, if you don't have an overwhelmingly dominant run game, then you have to be able to throw the ball. And the Cowboys are missing two intricate parts of the aerial attack. I think if Weeden can get some help from the ground game, be efficient and take care of the football, the Cowboys might have a shot. But I'm skeptical all of that will happen.

Also, you've got to consider what the other three teams in the division are doing. Washington is starting to play better, and at some point, the Giants will get better and Philly will get going. I think they can, and most of that is attributed to the fact that NFC East is horrible this season. The Giants are playing below their expectations. Washington is a very average team, and Philly can hardly score.

The Cowboys can definitely win. Defensively, Dallas is sound, so that'll be a big help.