Dallas Cowboys: Hold up, NFC East race not over

Because the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins are on a downward spiral, the Dallas Cowboys are the favorites to win their division. But the show isn’t over until the fat lady sings.

The Dallas Cowboys are riding high and confident after winning two games in a row on the road. A few weeks ago the Cowboys were sitting at 3-5 and hopelessly watching their playoffs slip away.

The Cowboys were picked to lose on the road to the evil Philadelphia Eagles and the inconsistent Atlanta Falcons. Not only did the Cowboys win both wins in convincing fashion, it made them the favorites to win the mediocre, inconsistent NFC East crown.

But before we crown the Cowboys the NFC East champs, this division race is far from over, regardless of the other teams’ records.

When you look at Dallas’ divisional foes (Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles, and the haplsess New York Giants), all three of those teams have a realistically and mathematically chance of winning the NFC East.

Yes, you read that sentence right. The hapless Giants could still win the division with its dismal 3-3-7 record. So can the evil 4-6 Eagles and the same goes for those 6-4, miserable Redskins. Now before you chew me out and call me crazy, let me explain in the simplest terms why I feel this way.

Quite simply, the reason this division is still up for grabs is because there isn’t a dominant team in the division who will run away with the title. That goes for our beloved “Boys” called “America’s Team.

Dallas deserves all the credit its due for winning clutch games against the Eagles and Falcons, but those were must win games that they had to win in order to win the division and for the coaching staff to keep their jobs. Period.

The fact that both the Eagles and Falcons are slumping contributed to Dallas winning just as much as the sense of urgency they carried with them.

Let’s be clear and realistic about Dallas’ last two victories. These wins were not blow outs or complete domination of the opposing teams. Dallas fed the ball to Ezekiel Elliott, Dak Prescott played mistake-free ball, and the defense played spectacular enough to make key plays down the stretch to seal the win.

That’s why it’s not a done deal for Dallas to win the NFC East because of the season-ending injury to Redskins quarterback Alex Smith. Because Smith’s backup-Mr. Upset Colt McCoy–beat Dallas in Jerry’s World back in 2014 when he served as the backup quarterback.

Oh yeah Dallas was favored to win that game, too. And Dallas is favored by seven to beat the Skins today in a Thanksgiving showdown.

The game against the Skins is a dangerous one because of the history between these rivalries. How many times have the Skins beat Dallas when the Skins were the overwhelming underdogs? The answer is several times.

Skins head coach Jay Gruden is a better offensive minded coach than Jason Garrett and Scott Linehan combined. So Dallas will be up for a hard fought game. Don’t be surprised to see this game go into overtime (the Skins always play Dallas tough).

If Dallas beats the Skins, then they’re lead the division with two divisional games against the Eagles and a season-ending game with the Giants. Once again Dallas could lose both of those games because the Eagles have a good offense and the Giants have more than a capable offense, too.

Say what you want about the Giants and their hapless record, but if they surprisingly win their next two games against the Eagles and Skins, that’ll be four consecutive wins. The Giants will be 5-7, motivated, and confident that they can beat the Chicago Bears, Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts, and Dallas.