FRISCO, Texas — The 2023 NFC East race has played out like the NFL’s version of “The Tortoise and the Hare.” The Philadelphia Eagles raced out to a 10-1 start to the season while the Dallas Cowboys lagged behind with an 8-3 at the conclusion of Week 12.
Over the last five weeks, the tables have turned. The Eagles have dropped four of their last five games including a 35-31 home defeat versus the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17 while the Cowboys have won three of their last five, including a nail-biting, controversial 20-19 victory over the NFC North champion Detroit Lions. These series of events puts the Cowboys in position to win the NFC East and clinch the NFC’s No. 2 overall seed in Week 18 at the 4-12 Washington Commanders, a team Dallas defeated 45-10 on Thanksgiving.
“Yeah, puts us in a great position … what an excellent opportunity,” Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said Thursday. “Just getting to have everything in our control, obviously. Talked about running our own race just doing that and staying committed to that and not looking around or waiting or fingers crossed on things to happen, and I think we did that right. We didn’t finish those last four games over that stretch the way we wanted to. I guess we finished it, finished it the right way, but it didn’t lay out the way that we wanted it to. Ultimately in the end, we’ve got one game right here to go win this division, have a two seed, and that makes it a playoff game. Another game that this team needs that would just help us. Obviously sets us up in the position for the playoffs, but also for us to have that playoff mindset as we’ve had for the last couple of weeks or so heading into the actual playoff.”
How critical is it that Dallas can close out the season with a road victory at the Commanders on Sunday? Well, it may not be an exaggeration to say their hopes for Super Bowl contention hang in the balance. Should they win, they will be guaranteed home games through the first two rounds of the NFC playoffs.
That’s a must win for them because at home the Cowboys lead the NFL in scoring offense (37.4 points per game), turnover margin (+10), third-down conversion rate (53.2%), point differential (+172) and time of possession (34:28).
On the flip side, their production on the road has been a stark contrast. Dallas’ +166 overall point differential this season is the third highest for a team that…
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