Dallas Cowboys know they’re in a good playoff spot, but remain focused on Washington
The Dallas Cowboys’ offense remains a work in progress, but their defense is playing at a championship level that has carried them to consecutive December victories.
In fact, the Cowboys have won three straight games — all on the road for the first time since 1969 — after losing two of three and three of their previous five.
At 10-4, the Cowboy have yet to clinch the NFC East title on a playoff spot, but those are virtual certainties.
What is known is that thanks to a superior conference record, the Cowboys have moved ahead of the Arizona Cardinals (10-4) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-4) for the No. 2 seed in the race for the NFC’s top spot, and the lone first-round bye that goes with it. As it stands, the road to Super Bowl 56 in Los Angeles will go through Green Bay as the Packers (11-3) hold the No. 1 seed.
But the only thing that matters to them right now is getting a win Sunday against Washington Football Team (6-7) at AT&T Stadium. Because of the recent COVID spike that delayed some games last weekend, Washington will be playing a second road game on four days rest after Tuesday’s Eagles game in Philadelphia. But the team remains cautious about looking beyond their next opponent.
“We haven’t clinched anything and we went from the No. 4 to the two seed,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “I think you recognize where you are. I think we all understand we need to get this next game and we understand what our NFC record is and all those things. We clearly understand what’s going on around us.
“But at the end of the day, we have to take care of what’s in front of us. We have three NFC games and are all excellent opponents that are also fighting. So, this, to me, it’s a good place to be.”
Indeed.
After Washington, the Cowboys host Arizona on Jan. 2 and then end the season at Philadelphia. All teams are still in the playoff hunt.
But, as McCarthy said, the Cowboys are in a good spot.
Not only did they win a third straight road game for the first time in 53 seasons but they have already notched their second 10-win season since 2016 and are a virtually shoo-in to reach 11 wins for just the fifth time since their last Super Bowl title following the 1995 season.
The Cowboys have done it behind a surging defense that has recorded four turnovers in each of the last three game to give them 31 takeaways for the season, including a league-high 23 interceptions.
And while the Cowboys remain frustrated about a suddenly slumping offense — which still is second in the NFL in scoring but has scored just four touchdowns in the last three games — they know improvement is possible with a unit that features quarterback Dak Prescott, running back Ezekiel and receivers CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper.
Team owner Jerry Jones said he couldn’t have dreamed of the Cowboys being in a situation with three games to go in the season.
“We know how hard it is to have that kind of won-loss record,” Jones said. “To do it and to have a chance to be a better team over this next month or six weeks is really something rare in my experience. A better team: that sounds almost like you are dreaming of Christmas a little bit. But we do have a chance to be a better team.”
Clinching the division title with a win Sunday would be a nice present to get things started.
