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In what looked like a road game, the Cowboys walked away with a thrilling 20-17 overtime victory. That puts them at 4-1 to start the season—the first time they've reached that feat since 2008.
That's not a typo. The same Cowboys team that was supposed to have a historically awful defense is 4-1 and doesn't show any signs of letting up. Newy Scruggs of NBC Sports tweeted what this record means for the team's playoff hopes:
Watching them in action, a few things stick out: They're resilient, they can actually play defense and DeMarco Murray has taken his rightful place as the NFL's best running back. Things have sure changed in Jerry's World since the San Francisco 49ers blew them out in Week 1.
Week 1 was everything we expected out of the 2014 Cowboys. It started when Murray coughed the football up on the team's opening drive. After that we all watched in horror as Tony Romo tossed three miserable interceptions.
Right away it felt like the Cowboys had no chance to beat the 49ers regardless of what they did.
They were the laughing stock of the league. A putrid performance on the field and a stadium filled with red jerseys made it tough to believe in this team.
SB Nation's Luke Zimmermann showed the world what it actually looked like:
Clearly, the guys in that locker room didn't let one week ruin the rest of their season.
Since that opening week loss, we've seen a turnaround of grandiose proportions, and head coach Jason Garrett deserves a lot of credit for that. They have regrouped and beaten the Tennessee Titans, St. Louis Rams, New Orleans Saints and Texans.
You can argue that they haven't really played anybody if you want to. That doesn't change the fact that they're winning games and doing it with a balanced offensive attack and a concentrated dose of quality defense.
Outside of the Rams, no team has scored more than 17 points on them during their four-game winning streak. Don't me wrong, they aren't the Seattle Seahawks, but Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli has done a remarkable job calling plays for a unit that surrendered 27 points and 415.3 yards per game in 2013.
How have they done it?
It's easy to forget that DeMarcus Ware is up in Denver and Sean Lee is out for the year. Even with two valuable pieces gone, Marinelli has turned this defense into a functional one thanks to a whole bunch of scraps and leftovers. Leftovers led by former Oakland Raiders first-round pick Rolando McClain.
Discounting this week's game, Pro Football Focus' (subscription required) metrics have McClain ranked as the No. 1 inside linebacker in the NFL. The same McClain who spent three troubled seasons with the Raiders before briefly retiring is now one of the best inside linebackers in football.
As scrappy as their defense has been, their redesigned offense has been the biggest factor for their success. For the first time in years, it's not all about Romo and his golden arm. The ground game led by Murray has absolutely changed this offense.
Murray has been unstoppable. There's really no other way to describe it.
In all five games this year, he's gone over 100 yards rushing and has reached paydirt five separate times. As great as Murray's been, the Cowboys' destructive offensive line deserves a lot of credit too. Football Outsiders' advanced rankings show just how successful they've been in various situations.
Watching this balanced offensive approach makes Dallas feel less volatile. It doesn't have to rely on Romo to sling the ball downfield 40 times a game, and that's a good thing.
Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, Jim Harbaugh's situation with the San Francisco 49ers, heck even Russell Wilson's Seattle Seahawks have been headline mongers. The 4-1 Dallas Cowboys? Not so much.
Outside of their one week stint on Sunday Night Football, no one is talking about this team. After all of the negative media attention they've received over the years, maybe that's a good thing.
Unless noted otherwise, all game scores and information come courtesy of ESPN.com.
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
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