News: BTB: Hot Topic: Can Cowboys Go Unbeaten Over Final Five Games?

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With five regular season games left to play, which ones might be a real challenge for Dallas?

The wins just keep stacking up for the Dallas Cowboys. Eleven games into the season, and they are still on the longest winning streak in the history of the franchise. Their 10-1 record has them in the lead for the top seed in the playoffs. With five games left in the regular season, it seems a foregone conclusion that Dallas is in the playoffs, and now that they have swept Washington, the New York Giants are the only remaining obstacle to winning the NFC East. The question now is whether they can hold onto the top spot. It is looking like the only real challenger for home field advantage through the playoffs is the Seattle Seahawks, who are a game and a half back pending the outcome of their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And with AT&T Stadium finally seeming like it is an advantage for the Cowboys, they would really prefer to have a shot to make their playoff run in Arlington.

The five games left are at the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday, at the Giants in a Sunday night rematch of the only blot on the Cowboys’ record, home against the Detroit Lions, home again in the final Monday Night game against the Buccaneers, and the season finale in Philadelphia against the Eagles. All of those teams are at .500 or above, and all currently still have at least a shot at the playoffs themselves.

Dallas has proven that it has one of the top offensive units in the league, currently third in points scored per game and fourth in yards, despite the somewhat reduced output in yards in the Thanksgiving Day win. (Washington is, somewhat ironically, first in yards this year, but only eighth in points per game, which is as good a summary of what happened to them against the Cowboys as any). The worry for Dallas is the defense, which was gashed late in the last game. But that may not be as big a concern going forward.

You will not face a passing attack these final five games like WAS. https://t.co/LxoFurln2E

— Bryan Broaddus (@BryanBroaddus) November 26, 2016​

There is a lot to that, since the highest scoring team left for Dallas is Philadelphia, which averages 24.1 points a game, and is trending a bit downwards since their hot start to the season. That is only good for 14th in the league. They are also the only remaining opponent with a really effective running game. Their 118.3 yards a game ties them for sixth overall in the league. Tampa Bay is sixteenth, and the other three opponents are grouped closely together - as the last three teams in the league. This means the Cowboys are facing a lot of one-dimensional attacks, which their whole plan is predicated on forcing the other team into anyway. It looks like the Cowboys are facing some winnable games, with the Eagles perhaps the most likely to have a real chance. And the Eagles are dead last in the division. They may be completely out of the playoff picture by that last game, which might affect the effort they put on the field.

Flipping it over to defense, the task facing the Cowboys looks a bit more daunting. They are still tenth in points allowed, but face some really good defenses down the stretch. Minnesota still boasts the second best scoring defense in the league, Philly comes in just two spots down the list, and the Giants are only one behind the Cowboys. Detroit at 16 and Tampa Bay at 24 are less concerning. Still, the Dallas offense seems to be up to any challenge it faces the rest of the way, if the defense can continue with the bend-don’t-break approach. And with five teams that look less likely to be able to hold onto the ball than Washington was, that may still carry them to several more wins.

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Follow me @TomRyleBTB​

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