Dallas Cowboys must keep their edge despite first round bye

The Dallas Cowboys must find a way to keep their edge despite their long lay off following a first round bye in the playoffs this weekend.

Despite not having to play a NFL game, the Dallas Cowboys are facing a difficult challenge this week.

That challenge is attempting to balance giving players rest and keeping the competitive juices flowing while getting in a couple of practices.

From the outside looking in, it definitely seems as if the Cowboys players and coaching staff are focused on the task at hand. The task at hand is using every day as an opportunity to prepare for the upcoming playoff game on January 15th.

After playing 16 NFL games this season, it goes without saying that every player on the team is pretty beaten up. Football is a collision sport. You are going to get bumps and bruises and your body is going to be sore.

I believe that head coach Jason Garrett has handled this week exactly the right way. He gave his players a couple of extra days to rest to start out the week and then transitioned into two competitive practices on Thursday and Friday.

The extra 48 hours of rest gave the players double the time that they normally have before getting practices in to prepare for a game. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but for world-class athletes an extra two days of rest can be huge.

The two practices held this week were highly competitive and productive according to several players on the team.

Something else to mention- none of the Cowboys players took off to Cabo for the bye week with any celebrity girlfriends. Nope, not this year.

If you watch the player press conferences, it is mind boggling how similar the players are sounding when being asked questions. The team is all on the same wavelength, they are focused on getting better and blocking out any outside noise.

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If the Cowboys keep the competitive fire burning that they have maintained throughout the regular season, while still striving to improve as a team, there is no reason to doubt the chances of winning two home playoff games and earning the right to play in Houston come February 5th.

But for now, all we can do is speculate and wait until we get our first taste of Cowboys playoff action next Sunday.