Post By Matt Meyer | @Bluto51 on X
Turkey tastes better after a win. So does everything else. It’s science.
The Dallas Cowboys celebrated Thanksgiving by pulling away from the Washington Commanders in the 4th quarter on Thursday to win 45-10. Dallas improves to 8-3 and stays within striking distance of Philadelphia in the NFC East, even as the Eagles refuse to lose.
Coming out of the bye at 4-2, I said that the Cowboys needed to be 8-3 after the Thanksgiving Day game against the Commanders. Dallas accomplished that and has put themselves in a fantastic position to earn a playoff berth, while still setting their sights on the NFC East. Beating the Eagles for the division will be tough as Philly continues to win despite being in the middle of a gauntlet of quality teams. Dallas’ gauntlet starts on Thursday.
As for last Thursday, Washington hung around in this game, with the Cowboys leading 20-10 going into the fourth quarter. I didn’t ever feel the outcome was in doubt, but a play here or there and it could’ve been. Dallas’ defense stopped the Commanders on 4th down three different times in the second half. Cowboys hit a FG to make the score 23-10, and on the ensuing drive, Dallas sacked Sam Howell twice, the second of which came on 4th down and gave the Cowboys the ball at the Washington 24. Three plays later, CeeDee Lamb caught a 15 yard TD pass from Dak Prescott, and after Lamb caught a 2 point conversion, Dallas led 31-10. On the next drive, the Cowboys stopped the Commanders on 4th down again, and 5 plays after that, KaVontae Turpin hauled in a 34 yard TD, and the game was decided. Icing on the cake was DaRon Bland’s 5th INT return for a TD this season, a new NFL record. Amazing accomplishment for a 5th round pick that wasn’t one of the Cowboys’ top two corners at the beginning of the season.
It’s interesting to watch this offense’s identity change over the course of the season. Mike McCarthy talked in the offseason about ball control and with the implementation of the West Coast offense, it looked as though Prescott was not going to be asked to throw the ball down the field as much this year. As the weeks have gone by, Prescott has fired downfield more and more, and the Cowboys have enjoyed a lot of success. The big difference is Prescott is taking better care of the football this season. A year ago, Prescott threw 15 interceptions in 394 attempts, missing 5 games due to injury. This season, Prescott has thrown only 6 interceptions in 370 attempts, and 3 of those came on one ugly night in San Francisco. I’ve even read suggestions of Prescott being in the MVP discussion. I can’t go there yet, but as long as he takes care of the football, Dallas can win games.
However, playtime is over for the Cowboys. A stretch of 5 straight games against playoff contenders begins Thursday as the Seattle Seahawks come to Arlington for a 7:15 Kickoff on Prime Video. Seahawks have lost 3 of their last 4 to drop to 6-5 and with games against the 49ers and Eagles looming, Thursday’s game in Arlington is a fantastic opportunity for them to get back on track against a good team before playing the best two teams in football over the next two weeks. QB Geno Smith isn’t playing quite as well as he did a season ago. 2nd year RB Kenneth Walker missed last Thursday’s game against San Francisco with an oblique injury and didn’t practice on Monday, which would be a normal Thursday on this week’s timetable. D.K. Metcalf and Tulsa native Tyler Lockett form perhaps the most underrated WR duo in the league. Future Hall of Fame LB Bobby Wagner has returned to Seattle after a one year odyssey with the Rams, and CB Coby Bryant played last week for the first time since week 2. Seattle ranks in the bottom dozen of the major team defensive categories and in the middle of the pack in the major team offensive categories as well as turnover margin.
Don’t let the numbers fool you however. This is a capable team that can beat people when they’re at their best. The Seahawks should come into this game with more desperation than the Cowboys, based on being two games behind Dallas in the Wild Card race and staring the Niners and Eagles in the face over the next two weeks. Here’s hoping that the Cowboys haven’t gained too high of an opinion of themselves based on blowout wins over subpar competition. This game could provide a window as to how mature this team is when everyone is telling them how good they are. Dallas wins, but closer than most would think.
Cowboys 23 Seahawks 20