Will the Dallas Cowboys winning momentum continue to the playoffs?

Riding a three-game winning streak and getting back their best player, can the Dallas Cowboys continue to ride momentum into the postseason?

The Dallas Cowboys managed to escape with a win on Sunday night against the Oakland Raiders in what was a game that nobody will be forgetting anytime soon. I mean how many people can say they’ve ever seen a game where a critical first down was determined with the use of a folded index card?

As good as it was to escape Oakland with a win in a game that they could not afford to lose, there were positives and negatives to take away from this game. The biggest positive is, of course, winning a game they had to win and finding a way to win no matter how the game is unfolding. However there were plenty of negatives that remind us of the flaws the Cowboys possess.

First with quarterback Dak Prescott, who finished the game with zero touchdown passes and two interceptions. Early on Prescott looked uneasy throwing the ball and thanks to a couple dropped balls by the Raiders secondary, he did not finish with more than two interceptions. But what makes Prescott a standout quarterback is his mental toughness and competitiveness, both of which have been on display throughout the suspension of Ezekiel Elliott.

Wide receiver Dez Bryant, once again, was virtually nonexistent until he connected with Prescott on a deep ball in the fourth quarter. Even with the deep ball reception, Bryant finished with only two catches for 59 yards with 40 yards coming on one play. Bryant continues to be inconsistent and will need to do more if this team wants to have any legitimate postseason success; if they make it that is.

There was also a monumental failure by the Cowboys offense to put the ball in the end zone late in the fourth quarter when they had two attempts from inside the two yard line. The Cowboys inability to score a touchdown when they needed it the most could have cost them the game if it was not for the late game heroics of safety Jeff Heath.

And finally the Cowboys defense on the Raiders final drive almost put the nail in their coffin. The Raiders managed to go 88 yards in a little more than a minute. Quarterback Derek Carr was seeing little resistance from the Cowboys defense and was helped out by a blatant 55-yard pass interference call.

If not for the fumble turned touchback forced by Heath, the Raiders would have had the ball around the one yard line and would have been in excellent position to finish the game finalizing a length of the field drive in the final two minutes. Sound familiar?

As I stated earlier, it is very encouraging that the Cowboys continue to find ways to win games. They will need to continue to do just that moving forward and hopefully into the postseason. But some of the flaws the Cowboys possess are ones they have had for years and ones that have been the cause of postseason exits before.

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But with the wins continuing to accumulate when they need them the most and with Ezekiel Elliott now returning from suspension, can the Dallas Cowboys continue to ride momentum and maneuver themselves into the postseason?