Just a few weeks after being all but written off, the Dallas Cowboys suddenly have their road to the playoffs laid out in front of them.
The tables have officially turned in the NFC East, and Jason Garrett’s job is most likely secure.
As of Thanksgiving Day, the Dallas Cowboys have taken over first place in the division following a 31-23 win over the Washington Redskins. Thursday’s victory made three consecutive wins for the Cowboys, they are now in control of their own destiny.
Since Dallas (6-5) has proven to once again be a playoff contender, that essentially means Garrett is doing just enough as the Cowboys head coach to not have to worry about Jerry Jones kicking him to the curb. At this point, it seems like Garrett would have to do something seriously wrong to make Jones even consider that, and now this has definitely bought him a lot more time.
In other big news for the Cowboys, it appears that their highly-scrutinized trade for wide receiver Amari Cooper a few weeks back has actually paid off.
Many football analysts thought Dallas was crazy for actually giving the Oakland Raiders a first round pick in exchange for Cooper. But yet, Cooper continued to reward their faith by hauling in 180 receiving yards and two touchdowns against Washington on Thanksgiving.
At the rate Cooper and the Cowboys are rolling, they could be cruising right to an NFC East title and another playoff appearance. The fact that they are even in this position at all is pretty amazing, because it wasn’t too long ago that the Cowboys were just 3-4, looking like they were headed to another disappointing season with a plethora of questions about their future.
Now, at last, they are hitting their stride.
Dallas plays the red hot New Orleans Saints next week, which will be an extremely tough game to win. But following that, they have four very winnable games against the Eagles, Colts, Buccaneers and Giants to close out their schedule.
Despite their early season woes, the Cowboys might actually pull this thing off.