Three unique wins in 12-day stretch put Cowboys on brink of playoffs

The Dallas Cowboys just won three games in 12 days, a defining stretch of what has become – to borrow the backup quarterback’s phrase – a “magical” season.

So coach Jason Garrett said this 10-day layoff before their next game is “absolutely a break.”

“We played a lot of football in a short period of time,” Garrett said on a conference call Friday. “We’re working today as coaches so that we’ll have the weekend off. And then we’ll get back out on Monday.

“So, I really think when you play these Thursday games, you have to view the weekend after it as an opportunity to get refreshed, look at this as a mini-bye and get yourself recharged, get everybody physically as well as they can get, and then get going again.”

The Cowboys have certainly earned a little time off.

At 11-1, this is the NFL’s best team and one that could become the first to clinch a playoff spot, as early as Sunday, with a little help. If the Washington Redskins lose or if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lose or tie, the Cowboys will have secured a wild-card berth at worst.

Next week, the Cowboys could be within striking distance of clinching home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. That would require beating the Giants on Dec. 11 and getting a little more help.

Garrett brushed off playoff talk, saying it won’t affect the team going into the home stretch.

“We live in this world and I just think it’s part of how we go about our day-to-day and week-to-week operation,” Garrett said. “Something we preach … focusing on the task at hand and focusing on us and how we get better. It’s part of our culture. Our football team – coaches and players – have bought into it.

“So we’ll just continue doing that. It’s the best way to live.”

Of course, it’s easy to live that way when you’ve won 11 straight, something that has never been done before in franchise history. And this three-game stretch certainly showed how versatile the Cowboys can be in terms of how they win games.

They overcame an early deficit and held on late to beat the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 20; then they won a fourth-quarter shootout against the Washington Redskins on Thanksgiving; and then they prevailed in a defensive slugfest against the Minnesota Vikings in a hostile environment on Thursday.

Rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott have proven to be grind-it-out players who get the job done when it matters most. Prescott had a season-low 139 passing yards against the Vikings, but used his feet at critical times throughout the game.

Elliott didn’t top the 100-yard rushing mark in any of the three games, but found ways to make something out of nothing multiple times in each game.

“There’s no question you can get challenged differently over the course of a 16-game season,” Garrett said. “The teams that are able to withstand the certain challenges in each of the games are ultimately going to be the ones that are going to be the most successful. And you do have an ability to win different ways as you’re not just relying on one guy, one portion of your team, one phase of your team, it’s certainly going to make you more difficult to beat.

“[Thursday] night was a good example of that.”

It was an all-around team win for the Cowboys.

The offense put up just enough points. The defense delivered timely stops, particularly on a potential game-tying 2-point conversion at the end. And the special teams made the play of the game by forcing the Cowboys’ first takeaway in more than a month.

This Cowboys team has its deficiencies, including its pass rush and inability to force turnovers, but it’s also found ways to win when not playing at its best.

That’s why they can possibly lock up home-field advantage in Week 14.

“The way we won all three of them [in this 12-day stretch], they were different games and that’s hard to do,” tight end Jason Witten said. “That’s the thing that says the most about our team. Just the ability to lock into that game and get it behind you and move forward. Now we can take a deep breath a little bit.

“Not relax. We understand there’s more down the stretch. These next four will be big games.”

This story was originally published December 2, 2016 at 8:32 PM with the headline "Three unique wins in 12-day stretch put Cowboys on brink of playoffs."