Sean Lee wants more time to decide if this is the best chance the

Dallas Cowboys have to be defined by their defense in the linebacker's eight years with the club.There's no question about the answer through two weeks.The Cowboys (1-1) are fourth in the NFL in total defense Womens Travis Frederick Jersey , with a loss to Carolina that could have been a blowout and a win over the New York Giants that wasn't nearly as close as the seven-point margin.In both cases, it was thanks to a defense that is delivering on preseason hopes of being a difference-making unit."I think we're starting to show the type of defense we can be," Lee said Thursday. "It's still early in the season. Still room to improve. Still a case we can cause and make more turnovers. But we're around the football. We're making plays. We're keeping points down, yards down."Dallas is tied for second behind Chicago with nine sacks after bringing down Eli Manning six times.The Cowboys visit Seattle on Sunday, and the Seahawks have allowed six sacks of Russell Wilson each of the first two games.DeMarcus Lawrence, who finished tied for second in the NFL with 14陆 sacks last season and ended up with the $17.1 million franchise tag, has a sack in each of the first two games. Three fellow defensive linemen had a sack apiece against the Giants.For that and other reasons, Rod Marinelli is comfortable saying the Dallas defense has the most upside in his five seasons as defensive coordinator."I just think we've gotten better every year," Marinelli said."We've improved and our talent level has gotten a little bit better. I know we're fast. We're really fast. Now we've just got to direct our speed."For years, talk of the Cowboys surrounded the offensive stars: quarterback Tony Romo, tight end Jason Witten and receiver Dez Bryant.With all three gone within the past two years http://www.thecowboysfootballauthentic.com/geoff-swaim-jersey-authentic , the buzz drifted to the sensational 2016 rookie pairing of quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott.But the offense is in transition, with Prescott getting used to a revamped group of receivers following the retirement of Witten and release of Bryant in the offseason.The Cowboys cruised against the Giants anyway, despite Elliott falling short of 100 yards rushing for the second straight week (78) and Prescott throwing for fewer than 200 yards for the eighth time in 10 games going back to last season."It's great when you see the defense going out there and doing what they're doing," Prescott said. "That gives the team a lot of confidence and the way they're playing allows us to want to go out there and do the same."Lee is nursing a sore hamstring that sidelined him late against the Giants. The Cowboys are calling his limited approach in practice this week precautionary. But Dallas is also in a different place with its linebackers.Jaylon Smith is starting to show the promise of his days at Notre Dame before a devastating knee injury in his final game with the Irish.He leads the Cowboys with 16 tackles. Smith's emergence is allowing Dallas to bring rookie first-rounder Leighton Vander Esch along slowly.The Cowboys like free agent pickup Joe Thomas, and fourth-year pro Damien Wilson forced a fumble on a sack of Manning."Feel good about that group right now," coach Jason Garrett said. "Obviously Sean's the leader. He's the leader of our defense. He's a great, great football player. But depth is important on your team."As Lee mentioned, turnovers are lacking so far. The Cowboys have recovered two fumbles, but don't have an interception.Still, they've been pleased with 2015 first-rounder Byron Jones making the switch back to cornerback. Chidobe Awuzie has been solid on the other side."We're very confident, not only in our ability but in our system and our coaching http://www.thecowboysfootballauthentic.com/tyrone-crawford-jersey-authentic ," safety Jeff Heath said."I just think we have the combination of guys to work really well together. We play for each other. I think you've been able to see some of the fruits of that."Surprise: Elo ratings predict 10-win season for Dallas Cowboys! Elo ratings are a relatively simple rating system originally developed by the physicist Arpad Elo to rate chess players. The system can be easily adopted to other head-to-head competitions, and that’s just what Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com did in 2014 when he extended the ratings system to football.Elo ratings estimate each team’s skill level using only the final scores of previous games and the locations of each game. That skill level is translated into a points system where an average team has 1,500 points, and teams usually fluctuate somewhere between 1,300 and 1,700 points. The Cowboys for example are currently ranked 14th overall with a middling 1,517 Elo points.Using those points, the Elo system can calculate an expected point spread and win probability for the next opponent.The Cowboys’ next opponent, the Lions, are ranked 20th with 1,497 points Womens Joe Looney Jersey , which gives the Cowboys an Elo point spread of -3.5 and a win probability of 62%. And what can be done for the Lions can be done for all of the remaining 2018 opponents. Here’s what that looks like, according to fivethirtyeight.com:The title of this post gave it away early, the Elo ratings system currently sees the Cowboys finishing the season with 10 wins. How’s that possible you might ask?It starts with a little win streak: The Elo system favors the Cowboys in the next three games against the Lions, Texans, and Jaguars, which would have the Cowboys at 4-2 after six games.After that, everything goes south again: The Cowboys are projected to lose three of their next four games, including losses in Washington, in Philly, and in Atlanta. That leaves them at an unimpressive 5-5 after 10 games.And then the Cowboys get hot: The win projections above have the Cowboys winning five of their last six games to finish the season 10-6. Sure, that includes the game against the Saints in Week 13 which the Elo ratings have as a pick ‘em. I picked the Cowboys. So sue me.But that projected 10-6 record is not written in stone Youth Kavon Frazier Jersey , not by a long shot. The Elo rating system always improves a team’s Elo rating after a win, just as it always reduces a team’s rating after a loss. And the system also factors in margin of victory. A convincing win against the Lions on Sunday could improve the team’s rating to such a degree that the win probability for a game like in Week 7 in Washington might swing in the Cowboys’ favor. And already we’re at a projected 11-5.Of course, that works both ways: If the Cowboys put up another stinker against the Lions, a lot of the games that currently have the Cowboys as slight favorites might suddenly have the Cowboys as underdogs. And just like that the Cowboys could be looking at a 6-10 record, which you’ve probably already deduced from the table above if you’re a glass-half-empty kind of person.Either way, the season is far from over, and it can develop in wildly different ways. Right now, anything between a playoff spot and a top 10 draft pick is still possible.