It is round two of the playoffs http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-demarcus-lawrence-jersey , and the Dallas Cowboys are headed out to the west coast to play the Los Angeles Rams. offense and one real monster on defense against a squad in the Cowboys that have struggled at times to score, but have been improving of late and have just found ways to win. Our Michael Strawn and Tom Ryle are looking forward to the game, and of course have some points they want to discuss.Michael: As Red would say, I’m really excited about this opportunity; just a great opportunity to play against one of the best teams in the league and find out how you rate. I’ve repeatedly used the phrase “irrationally confident” as, rationally, it’s hard to make the argument Dallas should win this game. The offense simply isn’t wired to win a shootout against an explosive offense like the Rams. But, that’s what was said before the Saints game. Now, the defense has looked kinda vulnerable lately (in fact, it’s looked vulnerable at various times throughout the entire season). The Seahawks hit multiple big plays downfield but simply didn’t take enough shots. Expect the Rams to do so; expect them to target Awuzie and Jones and expose the not-so-great safety play.That’s the rational thought. I just don’t think it’s going to happen. Not sure how, not sure why. I just have faith in this particular Cowboys team. Seems like whenever one unit falters, another steps up. At various times this year every unit has struggled . . . and the other units have always managed to up their play and carry the team. I would not at all be surprised to see things we’re not accustomed to seeing - big plays from the offense, a defensive score, a blocked punt or field goal or long kick return. Basically I’m saying expect the unexpected as you never know what can happen in a single NFL game.Tom: Ha Maliek Collins Jersey , channeling your inner Garrett. I like it.But let me say, I feel that the rational thing is to look at how these two teams have been trending, and that makes me feel pretty good about Dallas’ chances in this contest. We all know how the Cowboys have done, going on an 8-1 tear with just the (rather big) hiccup against the Indianapolis Colts. I think getting that one out of their system may have been a good thing as a bit of a wake-up call.On the flip side, the Rams were just not the juggernaut of the early season over the last five games. Todd Gurley was of course hurt, and has been off the field for nearly a month. They were still limiting him in practice on Wednesday, so rust may be a real issue for him (he was a full participant in their final session, it must be mentioned). And Jared Goff was not the offensive machine of earlier during that same stretch, either. Dallas can’t dare sleep on those two, but they don’t strike fear in hearts as they once did. And their defense does not either, as long as you don’t let Aaron Donald beat you by himself. They are weak against the run, so Ezekiel Elliott may be feasting. Their secondary are a bunch of ballhawks, but also can give up some big plays Authentic Chris Jones Jersey , so there is certainly a chance for Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper, and Michael Gallup to make some big plays.Michael: Yes, rationally you can make some sound arguments in favor of the good guys. Specifically, the Cowboys running against the Rams suspect run defense looks promising. I do think there’s one thing the Cowboys have to do - which they’ve been doing with regularity throughout this nice run - is play from ahead. They’re modus operandi simply works better when they’re able to play with a lead. Falling behind three or four points won’t be a disaster, but falling behind 10 points? That would spell trouble in my opinion. But the first quarter is where the Dallas defense has been outstanding. Dallas ranked first in the league in first quarter points surrendered (1.4 per game). Look at last week (held Seattle to three consecutive 3-and-outs) or New Orleans (held to 21 yards on first three drives).Keeping the Rams off the scoreboard early, quieting the L.A. fans, frustrating the Rams offense is really a good recipe for success. It also relieves some pressure on the offense and allow them do their run-heavy, ball-control, clock-consuming thing. So yes, there are some rational reasons to feel optimistic. Of course that doesn’t touch on the reasons not to feel optimistic. But combine the rational reasons for optimism with the general feel-good vibe coming from this group and, as I said, I’m feeling pretty frisky about the team’s chances.Tom: I’ll throw in a couple more things. The team has kept a really sharp edge with not having the bye week. It does have the downside of the Cowboys’ injury report dwarfing that of the Rams Youth Terrance Williams Jersey , but if you put any faith in the idea of momentum, Dallas has a truckload of it. The defense is fired up and wants to do the same thing this week as you pointed out from the Saints and Seahawks games. And I think Zeke is licking his chops to put up some big numbers.But the real thing for me is Dakota Rayne Prescott. He has been truly clutch, playing his best ball when the margin is within one score either way. Despite the threat of Donald, I think he will show that last week was not a fluke. I think the Cowboys’ season is not about to end on Saturday. I look for a score like 27-20 in Dallas’ favor with the defense keeping Goff and company well in check.Michael: Yes, the QB is always important. And not to end on a downer here, but Dak is going to have to do better than he has on the road this season; his splits are not good:Michael StrawnBut I ‘m going back to my original thought - I’m drunk with optimism. I think the Cowboys play the best game they’ve played all season. I think they combine their usual ground-and-pound with some big plays and win going away: 33-17.OK, there you have it. So what do you predict?FanPulse: Cowboys fans have almost no confidence left in the direction of the team The Dallas Cowboys are experiencing some serious lows on offense. Dak Prescott has failed to eclipse 200 yards passing in five straight games. The last instance of this was Quincy Carter in 2003 to give you a feel for where we’re at. As further evidence, the Cowboys are one of three teams (Titans and Cardinals) to not score a touchdown in either the second or third quarter this season. Understandably, morale is low.Just how low is morale, though? We have a nifty tool here at BTB as part of the SB Nation family, a tool called FanPulse. Many of you participate in the FanPulse surveys and the intent of them is to do just that, gauge a pulse of the fans from the most intelligent pool of people possible. FanPulse results are in and to no surprise they are not particularly glowing for Dallas. Cowboys fans dropped 43% in confidence from Week 3 to Week 4 (the seventh-largest dip) and now sit at a season-low 6%. Only Arizona Cardinals fans feel less confident in their team (5%).The rest of the NFC East is feeling a lot better about their teamsWe’re only in Week 4, but the Cowboys sit in third-place within the most storied division in the NFL. Things can change quickly in this league as they were in first place last week http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jeff-heath-jersey , but with Philadelphia and Washington sitting a game above Dallas and New York you would imagine things wouldn’t be too far apart in terms of confidence. You’d be wrong.Consider the confidence level of our division rivals and think about the disparity. Is this truly an accurate representation, or are Cowboys fans just more fickle and overreactive than the rest? FanPulse has proven before that our group’s pendulum swings further than anyone’s on a weekly basis.Eagles fans are 97% confident in their team.Redskins fans are 74% confident in their team.Giants fans are 54% confident in their team.All three division rivals sit above 50% while the Cowboys can’t even crack a lucky seven. While it certainly is possible that this is simply an overreaction the possibility does it exist that this lack of confidence is warranted. SB Nation recently polled all fans as to who the worst team in the NFL is. The options were the Arizona Cardinals, Oakland Raiders, Dallas Cowboys, and Houston Texans. They finished in that order, so the house isn’t totally on fire at least from an outside perspective.While Cardinals fans do have a lower level of confidence in their team than us it seems as if Raiders and Texans fans are at the very least more optimistic in their squads than anything. Oakland and Houston have 32% and 12% confidence in their teams respectively, and both of them are still winless on the season. Perhaps it’s even blind optimism, but it is more optimism than Cowboys fans nonetheless. A Cowboys win will (obviously) do a lot for confidenceIf history is any indicator then a win on Sunday for Dallas would help boost things in the positive direction. Lions fans are 66% confident in their team, but to be fair they did just beat the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football. That’ll make anybody feel invincible.Detroit fans swung 48% upwardly this week so they may be as reactive as we are. Here’s to hoping they swing back the other direction on Sunday afternoon. Custom New England Patriots Jerseys