Not everyone is jumping on the "Cowboys will be better with a healthy Tony Romo" bandwagon and unfortunately, that list includes Cowboys hall of fame quarterback Troy Aikman.
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"Everyone thinks that Dallas is the team to beat because of what they did two years ago and with Romo going down last year. I just don't know," Aikman said in an interview on ESPN's The Michael Kay Show. "I just have watched this team from afar and I don't know that they're going to come back even with a healthy Romo and play to the level that they did back in 2014."
That's a big difference from what many others are projecting for Dallas, though Aikman still views Dallas as the team to beat in the NFC East.
"So as far as trying to pick somebody, I'd probably go with Dallas, but I think it's going to be a heck of a race this year — it was last year but for all the wrong reasons," Aikman said.
Aikman's choice for Dallas to win the NFC East sounds more like reluctance than confidence. In 2014, the Cowboys ran away with the NFC East, finishing with a 12-4 record and the No. 5 ranked offense in the NFL. Of course, the Cowboys took an 180-degree flip in 2015, finishing last in their division at 4-12, and were ranked second-to-last in total offense. Jumping right back into the fray as contenders does seem a little premature.
Even if Romo is healthy, Dallas is still finding it difficult to keep players off the injury report, having lost rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott to a hamstring injury and backup quarterback Kellen Moore to a broken ankle earlier in training camp, and last year's leading rusher Darren McFadden to a broken elbow in June.
It's starting to get easier to understand Aikman's position on the current state of the Cowboys.
[h/t Sport Day]
