Dallas Cowboys can’t afford to look past anyone anymore

The Dallas Cowboys showed up in a way against the Minnesota Vikings, which was in direct contrast to how they played against Green Bay. The defense was aggressive, getting after whoever was at quarterback, crashing down in run support, and playing solid coverage.

The offense clicked, led by Tony Pollard in both the running and receiving game. Dak made good decisions and found receivers, and while it wasn’t perfect, Brett Maher was and it was way more than enough to wipe the Vikings off the field. Believe it or not, there was still some “meat on the bone” and they won 40-3.

It felt as though the Cowboys took the bye week to prepare for their annual Thanksgiving gauntlet, and looked past the Packers. It appeared they may have focused on the Vikings, and probably the Giants, based on playoff seeding implications, the Packers game was less than stellar and not what fans wanted to see.

The Dallas Cowboys cannot afford to look past anyone along their collision course with the Eagles.

As I covered earlier this season, the Dallas Cowboys are in the driver’s seat to make the playoff. But if they want to win the East, and potentially be the number one seed, they simply can not have another showing like the Packers game.

The Giants have stayed steady with the Cowboys, but they have not looked like a three-loss team, and the Dallas Cowboys have already beaten them once. Rivalry games are always hard to play in as the teams know each other better and both have a hate that drives them to play their best games.

After the Giants, the Cowboys play a fairly easy-looking schedule on paper. The Colts are a 4-6-1 team but they have beaten the Chiefs and pushed the Eagles to a last-second play. Then they face a beaten-up and understaffed Texans team who would love nothing more than to beat their in-state opponent. Then a Jaguars team that has been disappointing before they face the Eagles. That Eagles game could decide the NFC East lead.

If the Dallas Cowboys win all of those games they have a huge test against the Titans who can and will run the ball at a very questionable Cowboys’ run defense. Then, of course, the Cowboys will end the season against the Commanders, who will be looking to beat the Cowboys if it means forcing them to be a Wild Card team.

Simply put the Cowboys can not look past anyone if they want to win the East and be the number one seed.

With injuries slowly mounting, we may see the Cowboys sit some players through the easier stretch before the last three games. Micah Parsons has been nursing some things, and they will need his pass rushing at the end of the season.

First up is the Giants on Thanksgiving, then a stretch they can win as long as they don’t look past anyone.