It wouldn’t truly be Thanksgiving without a side of frustration to go along with your turkey, as the Dallas Cowboys rallied on Thanksgiving Day to take down the New York Giants 28-20 after a sluggish start.
In my opinion, this win is more special than the 40-3 win over the Minnesota Vikings last Sunday.
Let me explain.
We’ve seen the Cowboys dominate teams and put up 40 points or more on a consistent basis since Dak Prescott has been quarterback. In fact, since Dak Prescott’s return, the Cowboys are 4-1 and are averaging 33.8 points per game (the highest in the NFL).
But what we haven’t seen a lot of, is the Cowboys clawing their way back from being behind and finding ways to win games. To me, finding ways to win is way more impressive than blowing the doors off a team.
As January approaches and the Cowboys start preparing for the playoffs, the Cowboys are going to need to find ways to win against good teams, just as they found a way to win on Thanksgiving. You aren’t going to dominate every opponent down the stretch, but you do need to find ways to re-group, make adjustments, and attack the game differently when things aren’t going your way.
At halftime, it looked like another holiday where we can’t even stomach Thanksgiving leftovers because the Cowboys were crumbling under the pressure, but they didn’t. The most impressive part of the Cowboys’ victory was that they didn’t blink. They didn’t let the score overwhelm them, the interceptions, or the lack of momentum. The Cowboys created their own momentum, put the first half behind them, and got the job done. That was something the Cowboys couldn’t do just a little over a week and a half ago against a depleted Green Bay Packers team.
What matters is finding ways to win games when adversity arises, and that’s exactly what the Cowboys have done. The Cowboys displayed on Thanksgiving the recurring theme that has echoed throughout the Cowboys locker room since training camp – resilience.
If we are to believe that the Cowboys are changing into a true contender and a team that can overcome any obstacle thrown their way, then sign me up. I’m buying what the Cowboys are selling, and after Thursday’s game — you should too.
With the Cowboys win on Thursday, Dallas may now control their own destiny. The Cowboys will receive a mini-bye week with 10 days of rest before their next game, and a loss from the Philadelphia Eagles could put the Cowboys front and center for chasing the division title, or perhaps the #1 seed in the NFC.
