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Although partially eclipsed by a handful of poor calls down the stretch, the Dallas Cowboys escaped with a win over a strong Detroit Lions team and preserved a sterling home record for another week in Week 17. It wasn't a pretty win and, for some, it was a meaningless one thanks to the referee's blunder that negated a potential game-winning touchdown in the final seconds.
The Cowboys are consistently one of the most penalized teams in football, and they have lost plenty of close games that were defined by controversial calls over the last few years. The fact that they came out on top in one of them in Week 17 doesn't dull the shine of a perfect home schedule much at all. The Cowboys won a dogfight with one of the best teams in the NFC, and they were one goal-line Hunter Luepke fumble in Miami away from going 3-1 against the Eagles, Bills, Dolphins, and Lions over the last four weeks.
Cowboys' win over Lions means deep playoff run
Dallas' gritty if polarizing victory over Detroit says a lot about this year's team, and none of it has anything to do with the officials. This was a game the Cowboys would have lost a year ago, and it wouldn't have come down to a call on the goal line. The Cowboys were not the best team on the field in Week 17, but they won anyway. That hasn't happened in Dallas much over the last few seasons, but it has happened plenty of times for the NFC's top contenders. How many times have the Eagles escaped with a victory in a game they almost threw away over the last two seasons? That's what contenders do. This year, for several reasons, the Cowboys are contenders.
It starts with the quarterback and his top target. Dak Prescott showed against Detroit that he's playing at a high enough level to keep the team afloat when the rest of the offense is struggling. While Tony Pollard and Dallas' offensive line floundered in the running game, Prescott put together one of his best games of the season. Coupled with CeeDee Lamb's ongoing evolution into a top-5 receiver in the NFL, the Cowboys have a one-two punch on offense that is powerful enough to keep them competitive week in and week out, even when the rest of the team isn't up to the challenge. No QB/WR duo in football has completed more passes than Prescott has to Lamb, and MVP candidate Tyreek Hill is the only pass-catcher with more yards than the Cowboys' top receiving threat. Prescott and Lamb haven't been good enough to lift the Cowboys out of the swamp in seasons past, but this year there may be no better tandem in the league.
Another indicator of the Cowboys' capability to contend that showed up in the Lions game is the coaching staff's ability to adjust. Things have not gone smoothly at all times for the Cowboys this season. Unlike the 49ers, who have only really stumbled in the face of injuries or a historic performance by the league MVP in Baltimore, the Cowboys have had to retool and reshape on both sides of the ball. Mike McCarthy's offense was inefficient and ineffective in the red zone early on this season. Fast forward to Week 18, and the Cowboys are third in the league in scoring. Dallas' run defense took a pounding in Buffalo and gave up 31 points to an offense that only advanced the ball 94 yards through the air. Two weeks later, Dan Quinn's interior defenders held the Lions' elite rushing attack to a respectable 125 yards. Even some of the best Cowboys teams in recent years have lived and died by their strengths and weaknesses. This season, they don't appear to be set in stone.
Will things be “different” for the Cowboys in the postseason this year? If “different” means winning a Super Bowl, the sheer odds of winning a championship in the NFL say probably not. If “different” means that this year they're a team that can remain competitive in games when they aren't at their best, lean on an elite quarterback and wide receiver duo, and make adjustments as the season wears on, then yes. This year is absolutely different for the Cowboys.
