DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys – fresh off a 29-23 OT win over rival Philadelphia for their fifth straight victory – have remarkably taken a firm grasp on the NFC East. Dallas now holds all the cards in their division and can clinch their third division title in five years as soon as this upcoming weekend.
This is a far cry from where this team was just over a month ago. Before the winning streak, the Cowboys were sitting at 3-5 and staring up at Washington who were 6-3 and looking like the team who would run away with it all. Fast forward to the present and Dallas is a single win or a loss by both Philadelphia and Washington away from punching their ticket to the postseason.
Head coach Jason Garrett deserves a ton of credit for keeping this team together when the season was getting ready to unravel. The firing of then offensive line coach Paul Alexander and the addition of Amari Cooper over the bye week has really saved this season and, more than likely, Garrett’s job.
Cooper, who completely took over the game against the Eagles, has been everything and more that this team could have hoped for when they sent a first round draft pick to the Oakland Raiders for the former fourth overall pick in 2015.
In their battle with the hated Eagles, Amari had his best game in a Cowboys uniform. In the fourth quarter and overtime Cooper accounted for three touchdowns when a heated, mistake-filled defensive battle suddenly turned into a shootout.
So far, in their short time together this season, when targeting Cooper, Dak Prescott has a passer rating 137.5. That's MVP quality. This offense has really taken off in some aspects thanks to bringing in a true number one receiver.
With that said, the offense is still struggling in the red zone but at this point they have given fans something to get excited about with the duo of Cooper coupled with the continued outstanding play of Ezekiel Elliott.
Cooper is the most apparent reason to point to for the Cowboys' electric turnaround but don't forget about the defense. Dallas' defense is still the strength of this team and continues to be the best unit the Cowboys field.
Because Dallas' defense has become such a weapon, and now with an offense now capable of the big plays, there is a growing thought that the Cowboys can make noise some in the postseason, not just merely qualify. There's no reason to distrust the defense and the offense seems like they are on the right track if they can minimize the mistakes.
A part of what has made the Cowboys such a success story on defense is the Dallas pass rushers all along the line are starting to catch up with DeMarcus Lawrence. Tank has 8.5 sacks with Tyrone Crawford second with 5.5 and Randy Gregory with five.
Gregory has really come on strong as of late. He has been on the receiving end of some iffy penalty calls but has started looking like a monster nonetheless. Of his five sacks this season, four have come in the last five games. The combination of Crawford/Gregory seeing results for their efforts is starting to pay dividends with so much attention going to Lawrence.
Thanks to the arrival of Cooper and a stifling defense, fans can perhaps sit back and stress a little less this coming week. Dallas has a 99% chance to win their division already and they will have an opportunity to clinch the NFC East in the same way they did in 2014, by defeating the Indianapolis Colts.
Do you think the Cowboys will finish off their division title win this upcoming weekend or will they have to battle down to the wire? Share your thoughts with Patrick on Twitter @DraftCowboys.