The Cowboys are 6-0 on the road, clinched their first winning season since 2009 in Thursday night’s win, and are looking for their first NFC East title and first playoff appearance in five years.
The last time we saw a team go undefeated on the road, the New York Giants were on an unimaginable Super Bowl run. Just ask the Cowboys, who lost to those Giants in 2007 as Tony Romo was picked off by R.W. McQuarters in the game’s final play in the NFC Divisional Championship.
But that was then and this is now and this time around it’s the Cowboys taking the “road warrior” mentality, improving to 6-0 on the road after defeating the struggling Chicago Bears 41-28 Thursday night. The sixth road win for Dallas marks just the third time that Dallas has won six on the road in the last 19 years. Dallas went 6-2 on the road in 1995 on their way to win Super Bowl XXX and then in 2007, finishing 7-1.
More importantly for the Cowboys, they finally get over the 8-8 hump for the first time after three consecutive 8-8 finishes under head coach Jason Garrett. Before Thursday night, the Cowboys were 0-5 with chances to earn win No. 9.
(How ‘bout them Cowboys?!)
Yet this is a Dallas team whose main goal wasn’t just to get over the 8-8 mark, but on a mission to make a Super Bowl run this year. Dallas could put themselves in prime position to win the NFC East title if they can defeat Philly next week.
“Other than the fact we still have all our goals in front us,” Romo answered about clearing the eight-win mark. “I think that that’s more for you guys to do your 8-8 stuff.”
The trio of Romo, the NFL’s leading rusher DeMarco Murray and wide receiver Dez Bryant have looked like a newer, Nike-branded version of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin this season, keeping the offense consistent throughout the season and coming through when needed, something that Dallas has to do in December fi this team is going to make a legitimate run.
Despite a bad back, Romo went 21-for-26 in the air for 205 yards with three touchdowns, two to receiver Cole Beasley while Murray ran for 179 with a score and Bryant caught six balls for 82 yards and the Cowboys went 7-for-14 on third down and converted a pair of a pair of fourth downs in the second quarter as well.
“Like a lot of great backs through the years in this league, oftentimes these guys get better the more touches they get,” Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said about Murray after Thursday night.
The best part to see from Dallas Thursday night was Romo’s rebound from a terrible Thanksgiving Day game last week as Dallas lost 33-10 to the Eagles. Romo has been terrible in December in his career, 14-19 overall in the month, but even seeing him throw for just 205 yards he was still able to move the offense downfield and still made plays, even with a bad back, to throw three touchdowns against the Bears with no interceptions. Dallas is 8-0 this season when he throws multiple touchdown passes and 1-3 when he’s shut out from the end zone.
Keep in mind, the win was big, but far from perfect. The Cowboys took a 38-7 lead going into the fourth quarter and allowed Chicago to come back with 10 as Jay Cutler and Matt Forte both rushed for a pair of touchdowns in the fourth-quarter rally effort.
Now the Cowboys can make their Super Bowl statement loud and clear if they can defeat the Eagles on the road next week, pushing their road record to 7-0 and their overall record to 10-4 with that NFC East title in their grasp.
When these two teams met on Thanksgiving afternoon, the Eagles dashed to a 23-7 first half lead and forced the Cowboys to play from behind throughout the game. The Eagles forced three Dallas turnovers and held Murray to a season-low 73 yards while only allowing Dallas into the red zone twice all game. Dallas has the momentum on the road against the Eagles, winning four of their past five games at Lincoln Financial.
“We’ve got to protect the ball, I think that’s huge. And I think we’ve got to capitalize and score,” Murray said about what Dallas must do at Philly.
“The good news is I have all my notes and things from a week ago that are going to still be in use,” Romo added.
While Dallas got over the 8-8 hump, now they need to get over the playoff hump.
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