FRISCO, Texas – When the Cowboys begin their preparation to face Washington this Sunday, more than looking for the division title, they will be looking to reach the first position of the National Conference, heading to the postseason.
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Yes, the same Cowboys who started 6-1, before losing three of four games in November to set off alarms from locals and strangers, have won all three of their December games to propel their record to 10-4 and occupy now. the second best mark of the entire conference.
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All this without still having a ticket to the playoffs, although only a matter of time and before they beat their staunch rival in Washington for the second time in three days, as they already did, but this time in the country’s capital.
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“It’s tough to win on the road,” Zeke Elliott acknowledged. “Especially in hostile territory. We came out of this period 3-0, but we have three to go to finish the season before we have to be ready for the playoffs.”
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The Cowboys defeated the Giants on Sunday, which combined with the losses of the Buccaneers and Cardinals, resulted in them rising two notches in the NL overall rankings this week, although they still have three games pending, including Washington (6- 7), visit Philadelphia (6-7) and at home against Arizona (10-4), which seems to have chosen the worst moment of the season to lose the game, suffer transcendent injuries on offense and, above all, lose games.
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The Cowboys’ remaining three games seem more than competitive and “winnable.” Perhaps less complicated than the rivals the Green Bay Packers have yet to face, who started this week with the first seed of the conference.
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The Packers (11-3), who became the first team to reach the playoffs on Sunday, will host the Browns (7-7) and Vikings (7-7), who are still in direct competition for the postseason. , albeit as wild cards. They close in Detroit (2-11).
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The Cowboys also have the best record in the National Conference (8-1), followed by the Packers (8-2), Buccaneers (6-4), Arizona (6-4) and the Rams (6-3). Not bad, if you consider that it is the first tiebreaker criterion, in case you have the same record at the end of the season.
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“It’s a good place to be,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “If you look at our record at home (4-2) versus our record away (6-2), we recognize that we have the balance you want as the final half draws near. We still have a game to go in Philadelphia.”
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When the season began, few would have imagined that Dallas would be in its current position, much less considering that the team has not even reached its full potential. The first part of the campaign was sustained thanks to his offensive; the second half has been with defense.
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“I think you recognize where you are,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “But I think that nobody is satisfied with something like that and we just want to stay on course. We won, we are healthy and everyone knows that there is a lot of work to do, which is just good news.”
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True, the Cowboys have reason to be as optimistic as they were not long ago because they must also consider that McCarthy has managed to close the last month of the season in his professional career.
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McCarthy has a .683 winning percentage (41-19) in December, his best month in the regular season as head coach.
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“Everyone understands where we are going and what we want to do to get there,” he added. “But at the end of the day, we have to take care of what we have in front of us and this Sunday it is Washington that is coming to our house.”
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