Dallas Cowboys: Time to put up or shut up

SANTA CLARA, CA - OCTOBER 22: Dak Prescott
SANTA CLARA, CA - OCTOBER 22: Dak Prescott /
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At 3-3, the Dallas Cowboys face a tough period in their schedule. With little wiggle room, the time is to take over is now. Let’s discuss The Boys.

After whipping a 0-6 team, the Dallas Cowboys stand even at 3-3.

No, the Cowboys didn’t get a marque win over the San Francisco 49ers, but the power play sure felt special.

Why? I don’t know, maybe because we saw a safety successfully manage kicking duties for the injured Dan Bailey. How weird was it to see a dude wearing a number 38 jersey send the special teams unit down the field?

Weird stuff. Jeff Heath went 2 for 3 on his extra points, which isn’t bad considering the predicament.

But that wasn’t all, of course.

The Dallas Cowboys found their swagger, even if it meant beating up a winless team to pick up some steam. Regardless of how we feel about the current Cowboys, the one thing I think we can agree on is that this team isn’t a 2-3 or 3-3 team.

They are better than that, and scoring 40 points against a defeated team doesn’t change that. We saw what a power team should do to a powerless one, and the result, however good it feels now, doesn’t extend to next week.

But the momentum sure helps.

Let’s see now: The Boys face the Redskins in D.C. for a big division fight. After that, they face arguably one of the best teams in the NFL thus far, the Kansas City Chiefs. Then it’s on to Atlanta to face the Falcons. Finally, it’s back home to Dallas for another big fight against the winning Philly Eagles.

So, in other words, this fight ain’t getting any easier. The Cowboys’ brass has preached finishing the fight for years now. And I think this portion of the schedule is the part where we’ll find out where this 2017 team stands.

Let’s face it, Dak Prescott shooting for a 134.0 quarterback rating every week for the next month isn’t going to happen. Not against the teams he’s stacked against. And, Ezekiel Elliott can’t run for nearly 150 yards each Sunday either.

Heck, even the defense mustered up five sacks and three fumble recoveries. Throw in Heath’s role last Sunday to the fold and you feel like we witnessed a video game atmosphere.

Of course, in four weeks I may even ink an article about how these boys finished this stretch at 2-2, bringing their grand total record to 5-5. Are these Cowboys average?

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No, but sometimes you are what you record says you are. Right? Let’s hope the Dallas Cowboys build off this hot, California steam. The time to put up or shut up is now.