The 3-5 hole the Dallas Cowboys find themselves in this year is a total team effort. From the front office to coaching staff to players, everyone has fallen short of expectations, and if things don’t change things could be over by Thanksgiving.

But in the immortal words of Monty Python, they’re “not dead yet!” Which means as long as they can tread water and keep pace with the NFC East leading New York Giants, they have time to correct things. The 4-2-1 Giants are hardly the front runners most division leaders are at this point. They’ve somehow backed into first place with their QB1 on injured reserve. While they’re far less dysfunctional than Dallas, they’re still dysfunctional.

Catching up to New York won’t be easy. They’re well coached and have a few key players performing at a high level. But they have a harder schedule ahead of them than Dallas, so the path is there if the Cowboys are up to the task.

Given the nature of the most recent loss, it’s understandable if fans and media have all but thrown in the towel. The Cowboys themselves aren’t so fortunate. Players and coaches are playing for their jobs so every day is a chance to prove their place in this league.

Things don’t have to look pretty but they do need to improve. Wins are all that matter while the Cowboys try to stay afloat. Style points can come later, when, or if, they figure things out down the road. Everyone always knew things would be a work-in-progress this year but the Cowboys need to buy themselves some time with a few wins and a little luck while they work through that progress.

Dallas has the Colts, 49ers, Titans and Eagles next on the schedule. Only one of those teams is a winning team. If the Cowboys can go 3-1 in that stretch while the Giants go .500, the division crown will be in striking distance. And make no mistake, with the NFC North and NFC West playing as well as they are, it’ll probably take the division crown for Dallas to make the postseason.

They don’t have to be great, or even good for that matter, but they have to get wins against bad teams and tread water while they figure things out. Is that too much to ask for?