Satisfaction Guaranteed? Cowboys Survive WFT, Take Seat Atop NFC East
LANDOVER, Md. - The NFC East will not likely be won as the result of a "war of words.'' It won't be won by the team that just says it's superior; it'll be won by the team that is superior.
Dallas 27, Washington 20 says the Cowboys are that team.
Just as Dallas coach Mike McCarthy's so-called "guarantee'' of a Sunday win at Washington suggested it would. ... though it took the full 60 minutes to truly prove it.
"We will win this football game,'' is what McCarthy actually said, and in context, it's not all that bold. But it lured WFT coach Ron Rivera into firing back, saying of McCarthy's boast, "I think that's a big mistake.''
But it's not a mistake if it is true. The Cowboys' record of 9-4 is better than WFT's 6-7. The Cowboys' roster is better, especially with the WFT torn up by injuries. And on this Sunday? The Cowboys' performance was at a league-best level as Dallas built a 24-0 edge midway into the third quarter on the strength of the defensive playmaking of Randy Gregory (with his first career interception leading to Dak Prescott's TD pass to Amari Cooper, and later a game-saving strip-sack) and Micah Parsons (with two sacks, one with a strip that allowed a 37-yard Dorance Armstrong scoop-and-score.)
By that time, it seemed the Cowboys were sitting comfortably ... and warmly, thanks to them having their own "hot-seat benches'' shipped in to FedEx Field. No, that wasn't a cocky move, as flashy as the branded "Dragon Seats'' benches are; it was, rather, a nod to how some of the usual equipment in this building is as erratic as WFT QB Taylor Heinicke, a player who is more "exciting'' than "good,'' as Dallas established here.
But to the credit of Rivera's bunch, the WFT did storm back, taking advantage of some Prescott-keyed errors that turned a blowout into a one-score game late in the final quarter.
Said McCarthy after the game: “Obviously I know we have work to do. … I think this is ... what division games are usually like.”
Was that pregame jibber-jabber "not important''? In the end, it probably wasn't. The Cowboys didn't need their coach to tell them they're the best team in the NFC East.
They already knew that. Dallas is better than Washington. But today, just barely.
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