The Dallas Cowboys’ incredibly disappointing 2015 season has caused even some of their most level-headed fans to say some ignorant stuff over the past few weeks. And while some columnists have joined them, others have encountered writer’s block because the only thing we can think to say over and over is the season would be drastically different had Tony Romo not gotten hurt – twice.

That doesn’t help anyone except maybe provide content for another one of those Captain Obvious commercials. But what will blow you away are the statistics compiled by America’s Team, which will either give you faith in 2016 and beyond (assuming Romo can stay healthy and perform at a Pro Bowl level) or make you even more frustrated about 2015 and the next three weeks.

Through 14 weeks, the Cowboys lead the NFL in time of possession. However, Dallas’ offense hasn’t done much with all that time, tallying 321.6 yards per game, good for fourth-worst in the league. If that’s not enough, that unit has recorded just 16.9 points per game, which is third-worst among 32 teams.

And yes, those numbers include the four games in which Romo played; the stats are even worse if you take those games out of the equations.

But before you bash your forehead into your computer, check this out: the Cowboys’ defense ranks top 10 in yards per game allowed (total defense), touchdowns allowed per drive and three-and-outs forced per drive.

Now a lot of folks will point out the Cowboys have fewer takeaways than any team in the league, which is true, but the only other teams in the top 10 in total defense and touchdowns allowed per drive are all playoff-bound as of publishing time. So we can conclude from this that Dallas’ defense is a “playoff unit.”

It makes one wonder if the Cowboys’ defense would be a championship unit had Romo never gone down at all.

When football teams at any level play with a lead for the majority of a game like the Green Bay Packers did on Sunday, they have a huge advantage over opposing defenses. It’s the same advantage defenses have when playing with a lead: they can just pin their ears back and rush from wide nine techniques at the ends without worrying about gashing runs up the middle.

The Cowboys have been plagued by being the team at the disadvantage in both of those scenarios for a lot of this season, and that’s even taking into account how many close games in which they’ve been involved.

Among all the pessimistic and oftentimes ignorant stuff you may have heard about the Cowboys this year, it’s a certainty you’ve also heard “the defense kept/is keeping them in the game” at least a handful of times this year. If not, you need to find new friends with whom to watch football.

If this were the Dallas defense of recent years (specifically 2013), this team would be lucky to be 2-11 at this point. That shouldn’t really cheer you up in 2015, but it should make you at least somewhat more optimistic about 2016, especially considering the Cowboys will probably have a top-five pick and a relatively easy schedule.

Add in a healthy Romo (keep fingers, toes and eyes crossed on that) and a – dare we say – championship-caliber defense (with a healthy Orlando Scandrick and a year older Randy Gregory, Demarcus Lawrence and Byron Jones), and the Cowboys could have the success they planned to have this year.

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