Dallas Cowboys turned in best performance of season to keep playoff hopes alive
The Dallas Cowboys entered week 11's matchup with the Minnesota Vikings with a 2-7 record; today, Dallas has more than a realisitic opportunity to host a playoff game. That summarizes how weird 2020 has been — and how bad the NFC East division is. For over a month, the Cowboys struggled to get anything going […]
The Dallas Cowboys entered week 11's matchup with the Minnesota Vikings with a 2-7 record; today, Dallas has more than a realisitic opportunity to host a playoff game.
That summarizes how weird 2020 has been — and how bad the NFC East division is.
For over a month, the Cowboys struggled to get anything going offensively without Dak Prescott behind center. The offensive line has been banged up, the quarterback play has largely been atrocious, and the team has not really had anybody step up in any capacity on that side of the ball.
On Sunday, many of those things changed in a big way.
Andy Dalton looked to be in control of the offense, the run game got going, and CeeDee Lamb flashed superstar potential against the Vikings defense.
Dalton completed nearly 70 percent of his passes while throwing for 202 yards and three touchdowns. He did throw an interception, but the former Bengals quarterback turned in the best quarterback performance for the Cowboys since Prescott went down. Granted, that isn't exactly saying a whole lot.
Elsewhere, both Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard each accounted for a touchdown and played very well against Mike Zimmer's squad. Elliott caught one of Dalton's three touchdown tosses and rushed for over 100 yards for the first time this season.
Pollard, meanwhile, carried the ball five times for a total of 60 yards — the majority of which came on the Memphis product's fourth quarter touchdown run. The second-year back showcased his game-breaking ability on the carry.
It was the best rushing performance of the season for the Cowboys. A lot of that can be pointed to the fact that the All-Pro Zack Martin stepped in at right tackle in favor of the undrafted rookie Terence Steele.
CeeDee Lamb is emerging as a superstar for the Dallas Cowboys.
Zack Martin is probably the best player on the Dallas Cowboys, especially with Dak Prescott sidelined, but CeeDee Lamb is climbing up that list each week. The 2020 first-round pick is finding ways to produce despite the musical chairs at the quarterback position.
Through ten games, Lamb has caught 68 passes for 629 yards and four touchdowns, putting him on pace to reach 1,000 yards receiving while playing alongside the duo of Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup. It is unfortunate that we didn't get to see a full 16 games of Lamb catching passes from Prescott.
Not only is Lamb producing — and making the Cowboys look even smarter than they did in April when they drafted him — he also has a knack of creating big plays.
Lamb is averaging over 13 yards per reception on the season and is always a play away from being on SportsCenter. The rookie, perhaps, made the catch of the season this past Sunday against the Vikings.
The Oklahoma Sooners product turned what appeared to be a missed opportunity in the red zone into one of the more impressive touchdown receptions that you will see. One of Lamb's best qualities coming out of college was his body control, and that was put on a full display in the above play.
It gets clearer every week: CeeDee Lamb is destined for stardom.
Cowboys have opportunity to lead NFC East by the end of the week.
The biggest takeaway from Sunday's win is that the Dallas Cowboys are squarely in the hunt to host a game in the postseason. Now, that is more because of the state of the division right now, but still. Dallas has a path to taking the NFC East crown for the third time in five years.
This is bad news for the fans that are hoping for a high draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. With the Cowboys set at quarterback, the franchise would seemingly have an opportunity to flip a top-five selection for a haul from a quarterback-needy organization. As many as four signal-callers are receiving top-10 pick hype right now. The Cowboys would likely receive multiple first-round picks in exchange for a premium draft selection.
All of that said, the Dallas Cowboys have a clear route to host a playoff game in 2020. While "tanking" is arguably a better long-term answer for this franchise, everybody in the building appears set on doing what it takes to win the division. Because of how bad the Philadelphia Eagles, in particular, are, the door is more than cracked open for the Cowboys to do just that.
Sunday saw CeeDee Lamb make an insane catch and the team turn in its best overall performance of the season, but the main takeaway is that the Dallas Cowboys could very well be in the NFL Playoffs this season.
In fact, the Cowboys would be leading the NFC East on Friday with a win over the Washington Football Team on Thanksgiving Day.
Featured image via Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
