The Cowboys have lost RB Felix Jones for a couple of weeks due to a knee injury suffered in last night’s game against the Panthers.  This is a huge loss for the Cowboys as Jones has carried the football 21 times for 212 yards (10.1 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also has caught 1 pass for 20 yards this season.  With Marion Barber also hurting this compounds the Cowboys’ problem at running back.  At least the Cowboys have quality depth as Tashard Choice is good enough to carry the load.  He has carried the ball 22 times for 100 yards (4.5 ypc) with 1 TD carry.  He has also caught 7 passes for 45 yards (6.4 avg) so far this year for the Cowboys.  The Cowboys will miss Jones who is averaging over 10 yards per carry which is unheard of.

The Dallas Cowboys (2-1) didn’t look great tonight, but they made enough plays to beat the Carolina Panthers (0-3) in Dallas Monday night.  After having a huge week one game with 353 yards and 3 touchdowns, Tony Romo collapsed last week and had 3 interceptions and only 127 yards.  Tonight, Romo was careful and found a medium between the two first games, as he went 22/33 for 253 yards but had no touchdowns and no interceptions.

The Cowboys running game came to play today, even without Marion Barber who missed the game with an injured thigh.  Felix Jones started off great tonight and finished with 94 yards on 8 (11.8 avg) carries before leaving with a knee injury.  This is another big blow to the Cowboys running attack, but third stringer Tashard Choice did a great job carrying the load.  Choice finished with 82 yards on 18 carries (4.6 avg) and had the Cowboys only offensive touchdown.

The Cowboys defense played great, as they forced Panthers’ quarterback into two interceptions, a fumble, and sacked him three times.  Terence Newman sealed the victory for the Cowboys when he jumped a Steve Smith slant route (which Smith stopped on the route), picked it, and ran it in for an easy touchdown.  The Cowboys converted on a two-point conversion soon-after and the game was over by that point.  The Cowboys are on the road next week against the Denver Broncos (3-0).

Running back Marion Barber has been trying very hard all week to get back into the Cowboys line-up, but his status is doubtful for tonight Monday Night Football match-up against the Carolina Panthers.  Barber has a left thigh injury, which occurred on his last carry of the Cowboys 33-31 loss to the New York Giants last week.  Barber probably could go if they need him, but the Cowboys have two good and healthy backs in Felix Jones and Tashard Choice to go in place of Barber.  I think Barber will get some carries tonight, and they will see how he feels from there, but expect Jones to take most of the carries tonight.

The Dallas Cowboys are hosting the Carolina Panthers this week and are hoping to rebound after a tough late loss to the New York Giants.  The Cowboys would have won that game easily if not for the four turnovers they coughed up.  The Cowboys really need to start limiting their turnovers, as they have a great offense that can really put some points on the board.  They need to stay sharp through all four quarters and their offense can be almost unstoppable at times.

The Panthers have had big turnover problems themselves, as their quarterback Jake Delhomme has thrown five interceptions already this season.  The Panthers won the NFC South division last year and are looking to jump-start their season after a disappointing start.  They have a strong running attack, and they are going to need to be effective on the ground if they want a chance at winning this game.

If the Cowboys can limit their turnovers they will win this game easily.  The Panthers have not looked at all like the team that won it’s division last year, and the Cowboys can definitely take advantage of the Panthers’ turnover problems.  I don’t think this game will be very close and the Cowboys are going to win easily.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Panthers 20, Cowboys 41

The Cowboys are giving up 303.0 yards passing per game but it’s not all the fault of the DBs.  The Cowboys are not getting any pressure on the opposing QBs as they have 0 sacks this year.  With a OLB like DeMarcus Ware this is a stunning development.  The front seven of the Cowboys are getting pushed around in the running game this season also as the opposing team in averaging 135.5 yards rushing per game.  The Cowboys better start getting better play from the front seven on defense or this is going to be a very disappointing season.