Machota: The Cowboys’ real season starts now - ‘Our goals are onto bigger things’

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PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 08: Dallas Cowboys Wide Receiver Cedrick Wilson (1) reacts to scoring a touchdown along with Dallas Cowboys Tight End Blake Jarwin (89) during the first half of the National Football League game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles on January 8, 2021, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA. (Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

By Jon Machota 7h ago

It was difficult to believe that the Cowboys were telling the truth all week. There’s no way they would actually have their starters on the field in the second half Saturday night in Philadelphia, right?

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones doubled-down on the 105.3 The Fan pregame show, surprisingly saying he expected to see franchise quarterback Dak Prescott still playing in the fourth quarter.

Against an Eagles team that was resting most of their starters in a somewhat meaningless regular-season finale, Prescott was indeed still on Lincoln Financial Field as the game entered the fourth quarter.

Two plays into the final 15-minute period, Prescott connected with third-string running back Corey Clement on an 8-yard touchdown. It was Prescott’s fifth touchdown pass of the night, allowing him to break Tony Romo’s single-season franchise record with his 37th touchdown pass. Prescott’s night was done. Backup QB Cooper Rush handled the final three possessions.

As they should have, considering the players on the field, the Cowboys left with a decisive 51-26 victory.

Like Romo, who threw 36 touchdown passes in 2007, Prescott did so in 16 games. He played Saturday night like he has all season against NFC East opponents, completing 21-of-27 passes for 295 yards, no interceptions and a 151.8 passer rating. The Cowboys improved to 6-0 on the season against arguably the NFL’s worst division. Dallas outscored its NFC East rivals 240-107 in those six games.

“Hell of a year for a guy that was in a slump,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy joked of Prescott. “It was a joke! … I think he’s special. He’s a special man. What’s exciting is we have a lot of growth in front of us. He’s still a young quarterback that has a lot of excellent football in front of him.”

The win improved Dallas’ record to 12-5. Depending on how the rest of the league finishes Sunday, the Cowboys could climb all the way up to the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs. It’s much more likely, however, that they end up with the fourth seed, hosting the No. 5 seed next weekend at AT&T Stadium.

“It was a very productive year,” McCarthy said. “We feel good about what we accomplished. But our goals are onto bigger things.”

The Cowboys played their available starters for the majority of the night to get the outcome they received. Instead of resting all of their key players and preventing any chance of injury entering the playoffs, they believed building momentum was more important.

Some will suggest that’s because of their disappointing performance last week, losing at home to the Arizona Cardinals, 25-22.

But running back Ezekiel Elliott, who has been dealing with a knee injury, told ESPN’s Lisa Salters before the game that his rookie season was a factor in him wanting to play. In 2016, the Cowboys finished 13-3, earning the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. This year’s win total is the most since that season. Elliott didn’t play in the regular-season finale at Philadelphia that year. The Cowboys had a first-round bye the next week. Dallas came out flat against Green Bay in the divisional round, falling behind 21-3 before ultimately losing, 34-31.

McCarthy, who coached that Green Bay team, saw things the same way.

“We wanted to be pretty balanced in terms of run and pass, and I think we established that,” McCarthy said. “We wanted to get our rhythm and timing going into the playoffs. We felt where we were as a team, in terms of first year in the playoffs, that it was important for us to continue to play. Statistically, rhythm, pace of operation, everything we were looking to accomplish tonight, we were able to get that done.”

Former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett went in a similar direction at the end of the 2018 season. The Cowboys had already locked up the NFC East and their playoff spot, but chose to build momentum by playing most of their starters, including Prescott, in their season finale at the New York Giants. Dallas rallied for that Week 17 win in the final minutes and responded with a wild-card win over the visiting Seattle Seahawks the following week. The Cowboys ended up losing in the divisional round to the Los Angeles Rams.

On Saturday, the Cowboys fell behind 7-0 early as the Eagles, led by backup quarterback Gardner Minshew, went 11 plays and 75 yards on the game’s opening drive. Dallas did have several first-team defensive players on the field, but they were without key starters like LB/DE Micah Parsons, CB Trevon Diggs, S Jayron Kearse and CB Anthony Brown.

Prescott and the Cowboys offense answered by scoring four touchdowns and a field goal on their five first-half possessions, good enough for a 30-17 halftime lead.
Cedrick Wilson was on the receiving end of Prescott’s first two touchdown passes, a good sign considering how much Wilson will be counted on as the team’s No. 3 wide receiver with Michael Gallup out for the rest of the year. Wilson caught five of his six targets for a game-high 119 yards. Amari Cooper caught five of his seven targets for 79 yards. CeeDee Lamb caught both of his targets for 45 yards. Tight end Dalton Schultz caught all three of his targets for 21 yards and two touchdowns.

Elliott also had one of his best games of the season, rushing 18 times for 87 yards, allowing him to go over the 1,000-yard mark for the fourth time in his career.

“That’s what we wanted to do to carry momentum, get in a rhythm,” Prescott said. “But none of that matters any more. You get into this tournament and it’s one game at a time, and it’s must-win. That’s the focus.”

The two biggest concerns for Dallas were that the Philadelphia run game had much more success than it should have while playing mostly reserves. The Eagles managed 94 yards and a touchdown on only 16 carries in the first half.

The other issue was that kicker Greg Zuerlein missed his sixth extra point of the season. Combine that with his six field goal misses this season and the Cowboys have to be concerned about their kicking situation entering the playoffs.

“You always tend to focus on what you didn’t do well because that’s what you’re supposed to do,” Zuerlein said. “You’re supposed to, every time you’re out there, you’re supposed to make the kick. I focus on the miss. I have to do better. Luckily, we have an extra day here to get some more reps for myself, personally, going into the next game. It’s not exactly what you want, but it gives you things you need to tighten up.”

The Cowboys finished the regular season with an NFL record 22 players scoring at least one touchdown. They also set a franchise record for most points scored in a season with 530. Dallas finished with a plus-14 turnover differential, something it hasn’t done since 1981. The Cowboys’ 34 defensive takeaways is the most the franchise has had since 1987.


They now shift their focus to playing a much better team than the one they faced Saturday night. As much as the Cowboys hope to build momentum off their most recent performance, that didn’t happen in previous blowout victories. A 43-3 win over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 10 was followed by a 19-9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. A 56-14 win over Washington in Week 16 was followed by last week’s loss to the Cardinals, who Dallas could be hosting next weekend.

“You guys have been playing football a long time, it’s hard to get to this spot,” McCarthy told the team in the post-game locker room, captured in a video posted on the team’s website. “Hell of a job. But as we know, it just starts right now.

“We’ve been talking about this since April. We’re here. We’re right where we need to be. We earned it. We are what our record is. More importantly, what the (expletive) we established as a football team.

“Our starting line starts when we (expletive) touch down (in Dallas). It’s going to get real. And we’re ready.”

Producing at this time of year is why Jones ultimately picked McCarthy to succeed Garrett. The division titles and hopes of getting hot at the right time were no longer enough. The expectations are higher for this group. The roster is relatively healthy and more talented, particularly on defense, than the Dallas teams of the past decade. Jones wanted an experienced postseason coach like McCarthy to maximize the potential of a talented roster.

The opportunity is here.

“You won’t get many teams like this,” Prescott said. “So we have to make sure we don’t take a moment for granted, whether it’s the meetings, whether it’s practice, to make sure we are putting ourselves in the best position and controlling what we can to handle (next) weekend.”
 
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