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).
The #Cowboys are 4-1 since Dak Prescott returned in Week 7, averaging an NFL-best 33.8 PPG in that time.
Most PPG Since Week 7
Cowboys 33.8
Bengals 31.8
Chiefs 30.3
Dolphins 30.3— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) November 25, 2022
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.
Every team that is in The hunt for a Championship will face adversity and it pops up in all kinds of ways! I just seen on the news where a picture has mysteriously appeared with Jerry in it ! …… well I’m sure that everyone who follows these articles know what I’m talking about! It sure is strange that as it looks like our team is getting ready to make a strong run to close the regular season and start the playoffs and looking like we are gaining some steam that this picture that has been out there in space for years all of a sudden has been discovered!!! I know we all have made mistakes on both sides white and black but we need to put this race schism thing to bed and start respecting each other as human beings! We should learn from the past and not let the past divide us in the future!! I think that Jerry gets to attached to his players and hurts the team in the long run but for someone to try to make the case that he is A racist is just trying to start division!!
The most important thing is they got the win. That said, the first half was shaky to say the least. Those two INTs by DP were obviously not good, and if they were playing a playoff type team, they may not have wiggled off that first half hook. The Giants were beat up with injuries and even then, if they make that fourth-down play, things could have been different. The running game again played very well, as did the O-line opening up nice holes.
I don’t particularly see the correlation between the “Dak Prescott return”, as the reason for the offensive uptick. I think it’s more because the run game playing at a high level and producing great outputs, especially TP. When I look at those five games since his return, I don’t see any 300-400 yards games. In fact, he has average probably around 250 y/g, with 10 TDs and 5 INTs. Which is not bad, but nothing outstanding, and why does he throw into double and triple coverage at times. That usually doesn’t work out well.
If the run game and defense continue at the same level and DP secures the ball better, they look to be real contenders. Next three “easier” games coming up will help them pad their record, which will help with division and playoff chances.
I prefer my team to NOT get flagged 13 times, most of the year excluding Jags! The Giants were down a significant # of starters, including most of their O line and secondary. There were a few positives to take away (resiliency, Zeke, stopping Shaquon, our TEs) but let’s not over react and claim this was a knock down, street brawl amongst evenly matched foes.