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Dallas Cowboys 2021 NFL schedule: 5 must-win games

By William Schneiderhan

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 04: Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys walks off the field at AT&T Stadium on October 04, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 04: Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys walks off the field at AT&T Stadium on October 04, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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LANDOVER, MARYLAND – OCTOBER 25: CeeDee Lamb #88 of the Dallas Cowboys runs the ball against Jimmy Moreland #20 of the Washington Football Team in the first half of the game at FedExField on October 25, 2020 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MARYLAND – OCTOBER 25: CeeDee Lamb #88 of the Dallas Cowboys runs the ball against Jimmy Moreland #20 of the Washington Football Team in the first half of the game at FedExField on October 25, 2020 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /

2. Washington Football Team

Lightly grazed over before, the Cowboys were slated to be the class of the NFC East last year. Instead, injuries ran through the division, inconsistencies plagued teams too, and that made for some mayhem.

Washington emerged as the division winners with a 7-9 record behind a tenacious group on defense and truly one of the greatest comeback stories in sport’s history with Alex Smith’s return.

Currently, the NFC East still looks to be in the palm of Ron Rivera’s hand. Although, McCarthy and Joe Judge will definitely be clawing at that hand to try and pry their way into the divisional picture as well.

In what will be another competitive year in perhaps the league’s most polarizing division, the Cowboys cannot afford to drop two games to Washington like last season.

Rivera’s group handled the Cowboys with relative ease in 2020. In October in Washington, Dallas lost 25-3. On Thanksgiving down in Jerry World, Smith and Antonio Gibson honored their opponents by embodying former Dallas’ greats Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith in a blowout win.

This will probably be a nationally broadcasted game due to how competitive both sides are projected to be in 2021. A lot of eyes will be drawn to this matchup, and it is one Dallas really cannot afford to leave the stadium without winning.

With how challenging the road schedule will be to navigate through (said again for the thousandth time), winning these home games will have some extra added emphasis on them. This is especially so when you are playing a divisional team that will likely be nipping at your heels as far as winning the division title goes.

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