The Dallas Cowboys are going to the playoffs! Winners of eleven straight games (an America’s Team record), the Cowboys get to sit back today and watch the rest of Week 13 unfold, having secured their win in Minnesota on Thursday.
With the Cardinals 31-23 win over the Redskins at home, the Cowboys are officially going to the playoffs! The best part about all of this is that the playoffs have seemed like a given for this team over the course of this winning streak, as nothing has phased Dak Prescott nor Ezekiel Elliott.
With just the most basic of achievements hit for 2016, the Cowboys will look to lock up the NFC East in their next game at the Giants. With a Sunday Night Football win, the division will be there’s again.
Also with a revenge win over the Giants, the Cowboys could look ahead to clinching a first-round bye and home field advantage for the playoffs.
With the Chiefs already defeating the Falcons today, a Panthers win against the Seahawks on Sunday Night Football will give Dallas a chance to play for this bye on the road next week.
With the Cowboys next game also coming on Sunday Night Football, they’ll know before kickoff how the NFC division leaders fared once again – with two of the three losing creating the same scenario.
For a much more complete breakdown of what the Cowboys will be playing for the rest of the regular season, check out all of the scenarios on Inside The Star ✭ right here:
//insidethestar.com/cowboys-headlines/dallas-cowboys-playoff-berth-division-and-first-round-bye-clinching-scenarios/
Sit back, enjoy the rest of this week’s games, and know that playoff football is back in Dallas.
How sweet it is. ✭
When Tony Romo was injured, I thought 2016 would become much like what 2015 was. A slow painful season leading toward elimination from playoff contention at some point in November or December. Since that week 1 performance against the Giants, the Cowboys have put together a stretch of games that haven’t all been pretty, but have all been wins. They are a special group of players and with the opportunity to clinch the NFC East in week 14, this team should no longer be doubted as a contender for the Super Bowl. Their have been a lot of firsts this season for the Dallas Cowboys and their rookie backfield, why not add first rookie quarterback to win a Super Bowl to that list.
Spot. On. Thanks as always, John.
Spot on as always, John. Appreciate the comment.
You’re Spot On.
Everyone thought Dak was a project with certain skills like strong arm, quick release and mobility. The book on him was bad pocket mechanics, which turned out to either be totally wrong, or Cowboys coaches got him out of those in 1 camp.
1st preseason game against the Rams, before Romo was hurt the next week, Prescott was already showing a whole-package that had him looking like a 4th-round steal. Then it turned out that he had poise and maturity to go with the physical tools.
Solving QB and RB in one draft cannot be underestimated. It shifts the balance of power in the league. Dak only gets better, and the Cowboys can load up on defense now.
Arctic blast across upper half of USA this week, reports to be gone by next Sunday. Normal December day around 40 is forecast for NYC. Dallas is lucky if so.
Pierre-Paul injured his groin in the Steelers game today and did not go back in the game. Figures to either be out next week, or well less than 100%. Good news, since historically the Cowboys have not been able to block him. Makes up for Claiborne being out.
The Giants defense did give the Steelers some problems in the 2nd half. They are the much-better 2016 unit that we also saw in Week 1. But I think the Cowboys will go in with the standard plan of beating them up with the ground game. I would actually get Morris maybe 10 1st half carries so that Elliott is entirely fresh for that second half.
Even if they do a good coverage job on the Cowboys receivers, Dallas has 2 items they probably cannot handle: Dak’s run threat that showed up big in MN, and also this might be the week to deliberately toss it to Elliott in the flat or on a screen, etc. The Giants will be preaching run-stop all week, and a few of those hits could be back-breakers.
The Giants kept using Beckham on short routes this week and it didn’t seem to make sense. If they show that again, my nickel DB might be Wilcox. Ka-Boom!
Thank you so much for your comments, Russ. I agree with mostly all of this. Unfortunately, I don’t expect to see Wilcox back this week. Except Jones to have to come down a bit more if the Giants want to use their quick passing game. As we know, they may be able to get their yards, but the Dallas defense won’t break entirely. As always, will be up to Elliott and Prescott again – this time with a bit of redemption in play. Can’t wait until Sunday!
Thank you so much for your comments, Russ. I agree with mostly all of this. Unfortunately, I don’t expect to see Wilcox back this week. Except Jones to have to come down a bit more if the Giants want to use their quick passing game. As we know, they may be able to get their yards, but the Dallas defense won’t break entirely. As always, will be up to Elliott and Prescott again – this time with a bit of redemption in play. Can’t wait until Sunday!
Just guessing Wilcox will be ready. 17 total days from when he got the thigh bruise to next Sunday.
I suppose using Beckham at times like a possession receiver is what they do, but it seems idiotic to me. More hits on him & less downs in which he’s pressuring the back line of the D. They probably look at Cruz to do that, but if I’m a DB I want Beckham in front of me, and I get a chance to ding him.
Eli threw 39 times & force fed it to Beckham about 16 of those today. Every time Beckham didn’t catch it, he complained about not getting a call. The refs totally ignored him, which was comical.
They didn’t target Cruz once. So I don’t know if that means they will emphasize spreading it around for next week, or if they are locked on at this point to featuring Beckham regardless. But Eli is not playing his A game this year and the offensive wheels are wobbling.
A big game from a Cowboys DL’er like Lawrence or Collins or Crawford, will go a long way towards the W.