Frisco, Texas – There's an old saying: “If you can't beat them, join them.”
Well, welcome to the NFC East. There, his three opponents in the Cowboys, Philadelphia, Washington, and New York Giants, should be tired of the Cowboys.
The Cowboys are once again the defending NFC East champions. They went 5-1 in the division last season, and their only loss was a five-point loss to the Eagles, 28-23, in a game the Cowboys should have won. Of those five wins, the Cowboys beat the Eagles 33-13 for the second time, beat Washington both 45-10 and 38-10, and beat the Giants both 40-0 and 49. They won against 19.
Add all this up and the Cowboys' total score against their NFC East brethren is a whopping 228-80. Only the first game against the Eagles was contested. others? There are no contests.
This is the second time in the last three years that the Cowboys have won the East Division. The only other time they finished second, their 4-2 record matched the Eagles' 4-2 record, with losses to the Eagles and the Commanders that year. When the Cowboys won the East in 2021, they were dominant, going 6-and-0.
That means the Cowboys are 15-3 against the East in all playoff games over the past three seasons. They tell you they're fed up.
On top of that, the Cowboys have won the East Division five times in the last 10 seasons, going 4-2 in 2014 and 3-3 in 2016 (though they lost to the Giants in two of those games, and the Ducks -Prescott only had 20 wins and 19 losses). After making his career debut and debut in the season opener, he went on to go 10-7 (10-7) and 5-1 in 2018.
Do whatever you want. It's time to do something about it.
Of course, this could be pure coincidence. Or maybe not. Maybe there is some hidden motive behind it. And remember. Back then, the Cowboys could never trust the former Redskins, now the Commanders, as far as spitting. That's because when Forrest and Abrams had an old, dilapidated practice facility, the end of the practice area bordered the Days Inn, and Tex Schramm used the second floor of the motel as a spy zone for fear of espionage through the windows. Because I was lending it for a purpose. During Redskins week. I just didn't trust George Allen.
Hey, just last week the Commanders (née Redskins) hired Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn as their 12th head coach since owner Jerry Jones bought the Cowboys in 1989. Don't you think that is strange? (The Cowboys are playing in a league game) 8). And they pulled that stunt once, hiring Cowboys offensive coordinator Norv Turner as head coach to replace Richie Petitborn in 1994 after the Cowboys won back-to-back Super Bowls. It was an unprecedented exchange between these two staunch adversaries. .
So what about the Eagles, who won the East Division three times during the Cowboys' 10-year reign? The NFC's defending champions were definitely hurting their butts after getting off to a 10-1 start against the Cowboys in 2023 after taking an elbow from first base, but the former Cowboys backup quarterback, They hired quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore for four years. The Chargers' offensive coordinator last season spent seven of Dak's eight seasons with him in some capacity and is now Philadelphia's new offensive coordinator.
Do you ever hear this and think, “Hmm?” Do you doubt it?
I think so too. You should too.
Because the only common thread from this Cowboys dominance that has won four NFC East titles in the past eight seasons is quarterback Dak Prescott, right? Heck, Dak has dominated every team in the East. Since his rookie year in 2016, he is 32-8 in district play, 11-2 against Washington and 12-2 against the Giants. The Eagles are up next with a 9-4 record, while the Cowboys have won five of the last seven meetings.
Since 2014, the Cowboys are 16-5 against Washington. And since 2017, the Cowboys have played the Giants, winning 12 of the past 13 games. And that only loss came in the 23-19 final game of the 2020 season, when Andy Dalton was sacked six times in a 6-10 start and Dak missed five games of the season.
And know what you're thinking by now. Despite winning so much of the NFC East, the Cowboys have had nothing to show for the past decade, going just 3-6 in the playoffs and never advancing beyond the second round.
But still, this is what's going to happen now. And is there an opposing coach who knows more about Duck than Kellen Moore? Lo and behold, he brought him up to the NFL along with Jason Garrett. Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy also coached him. But Kellen, he knows everything there is to know about Duck's strengths and perceived weaknesses.
Also DQ. As a defense specialist, he had a close and personal relationship with Dak. He has attended meetings. He has his two eyes. He also understands the strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps he would have given himself an idea of how to attack Dak and the Cowboys offense if needed.
Not only that, but by osmosis, Quinn also knows McCarthy's play-calling tendencies. Again, McCarthy should have similar insight into Quinn's defensive scheme and how he likes to attack. It's probably the same for Mike, Moore's play-calling style and how he likes to run the offense.
But going forward, this isn't a surprising revelation for me, but the key to this Cowboys offense is Dak. Even Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said this Tuesday in Mobile, Alabama, professing that he believes Dak will be the Cowboys' quarterback for years to come.
“Dak did nothing to change my mind about our future commitments,'' Jerry said, adding, “I would go anywhere Duck would take me.'' Ta.
That's true. Because if you're paying attention to how the team is going to beat the Cowboys, they're going to take Dak away. No one feared the Cowboys' running game, especially in the six games the Cowboys lost. Their defense could take a step back and control a team that is averaging just 4.1 yards per carry in the run game and just 14 rushing touchdowns, which could rank as a three-way tie for 15th in the NFL.
Dak then had 39 sacks, the second most in his eight-year career, surpassed only by his 56 sacks in 2018. And of those six losses, Dak was sacked 22 times, more than half of the total. This is also something to behold. In the nine games the Cowboys played against teams with winning records, Dak was sacked 31 times.
I hope I don't get too analytical because there's just too much going on. Just pure facts.
There's another factor here, and perhaps the reason Green Bay won the toss on the road and elected to receive in a playoff game in front of 93,000 fans. The team was hoping the Cowboys defense would play from behind and the offense would catch up. The Cowboys were trailing 0-3 at the end of the first quarter. At halftime they were leading 1-4. At the end of the third quarter, they were leading 1-5. They only lost six games.
This time, he will play his former coach in four of the six games in the NFC East. Quinn is the head coach and likely the defensive coordinator in Washington, and Moore was the offensive coordinator in Philadelphia, so both are familiar with the Cowboys' offense and quarterback.
It seems to be getting more complicated every day.
