News: Indianapolis vs. Dallas: Why Dallas Cowboys will win out and make a playoff run

[morasp]

Game of the Week: Colts vs. Cowboys

DEC 17, 9:29 pm
Peter Schrager previews the Cowboys matchup against the Colts and looks at Dallas' playoff chances.






Dallas is in first place in the NFC East, and if the Cowboys win their two remaining regular-season games they'll be punching their ticket to the playoffs. It's clear that this isn't the Dallas team from years past that doesn't deliver in December. The Cowboys are now 2-0 this month and have shown grit and mental toughness all season, going 7-0 on the road while every other team in the league has at least two losses away from their home turf.

Their bell cows aren't cows at all, rather bulls who are wrecking shop. Dez Bryant, Tony Romo, DeMarco Murray and Dallas' offensive line are playing at an elite level, and the Cowboys are likely to ride them into the playoffs.

It's unclear how well -- or if -- Murray will be able to play this weekend against the Colts following a minor surgery on his hand, and right tackle Doug Free and right guard Zack Martin also missed practice time this week, but the Cowboys are hoping that they'll all be able to play and that their beastly run game doesn't skip a beat.

The Colts are banged up too - especially on offense - with guards Hugh Thornton and Joe Reitz and receivers Reggie Wayne and T.Y. Hilton battling injuries. Given that the Colts have been unable to start fast in games this season, the Cowboys can make Chuck Pagano second-guess his decision not to rest starters if they can jump out early with a physical brand of football.

Bryant has snagged a league-best 13 touchdown receptions and is coming off one of his best performances of the season against Philadelphia. Romo's outstanding 69.3 percent completion percentage is second only to Drew Brees' 70 percent among all quarterbacks who've attempted over 150 passes, and his 110.4 passer rating is second only to Aaron Rodgers' 111.2.

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/...ys-will-win-out-and-make-a-playoff-run-121814

 

[Bungarian]

Dallas is in first place in the NFC East, and if the Cowboys win their two remaining regular-season games they'll be punching their ticket to the playoffs. It's clear that this isn't the Dallas team from years past that doesn't deliver in December. The Cowboys are now 2-0 this month and have shown grit and mental toughness all season, going 7-0 on the road while every other team in the league has at least two losses away from their home turf.

Their bell cows aren't cows at all, rather bulls who are wrecking shop. Dez Bryant, Tony Romo, DeMarco Murray and Dallas' offensive line are playing at an elite level, and the Cowboys are likely to ride them into the playoffs.


http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/...playoff-run-121814?cmpid=tsmfb:fscom:nflonfox

 

[Boyzmamacita]

Nice read.

 

[morasp]

It's nice to hear the media say some good things about the Cowboys.

 

[Red Dragon]

I'd believe this.........except that before the Cowboys vs. Eagles game on Thanksgiving, there were people predicting that the Cowboys would win on Thanksgiving - win out all of their games from that point on, in fact.

 

[mahoneybill]

I for one am very pleased that we are in a position to win the East, and improve upon a record I never expected coming into the season with our schedule ( pre season feel 7-9 at best).

With that in mind Go Cowboys.... handle the Colts, and march on to Washington for the rematch, and like Philly a tough fought, but convincing W....

 

[JD_KaPow]

It's clear that this isn't the Dallas team from years past that doesn't deliver in December. The Cowboys are now 2-0 this month and have shown grit and mental toughness all season

I'm so so tired of this narrative.

The 2012 Cowboys went 3-0 in December, prompting all sorts of talk about how "it's clear that this isn't the Dallas team from years past that doesn't deliver in December" blah blah blah. Then they lost their final two games. Last year's team won a huge game against the Commanders with an incredible final drive, showing their "grit and mental toughness". Then they lost to the Eagles.

I'm not saying they won't win out; I'm saying the narrative is stupid and false. The last few years, they were an 8-8 team and played like it, winning some and losing some. But every win was, "everything's different now!" and every loss was "same old Cowboys!" This year, they win a bit more, through some combination of being better, getting some breaks and having an easier schedule (none of us really knows what the ratios of those components are that have led us here). They have a good chance of beating the Colts because the Cowboys are pretty good and Colts aren't great. They also have a good chance of losing because the Colts are pretty good and the Cowboys aren't great. But they won't win or lose because of "grit" or "mental toughness" or "heart" or "choking" or any of those things. They'll win or lose because of scheme and matchups and execution and turnovers and random bounces of the ball.