NFC East foes give Dallas Cowboys early holiday gift

Two huge upsets prior to the Dallas Cowboys’ Tuesday game are gifts

On Sunday morning, the Dallas Cowboys sat at 3-8 only one game behind the Washington Football Team and the New York Giants for first place in the pathetic NFC East.

The Giants were waking up in a strange bed in Seattle, preparing to face one of the best teams in the NFC on the road in the Seahawks. While Washington was preparing for a late Monday afternoon matchup with the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers.

New York, a 10.5 point underdog was starting backup quarterback Colt McCoy, facing a Seahawks team that was undefeated at home. Prior to this game, the NFC East did not have one single, solitary win over a team with a winning record in 2020. At halftime, the Giants were scoreless and losing.

Over the course of the next ninety minutes, New York would score 17 points, allow just one score to Seattle and walk out of the Pacific Northwest with a shocking victory.

One day later, Washington, a seven-point underdog found themselves down 14 points to Pittsburgh on the road heading towards halftime. The Steelers have had a two-touchdown lead 80 times prior to this instance. Their record in those situations was a robust 78-1-1.

Naturally, the Washington Football Team outscored Pittsburgh 23-3 and tied for first place with New York. There might be only 24 days left in this year, but 2020 is obviously not done being 2020 just yet.

For the Dallas Cowboys, they should consider this pre-Christmas “miracle” as exactly that. A gift for which they have no intention of returning.

Tuesday night, the Cowboys head to Baltimore to face a struggling Ravens team in desperation mode, trying to make a final playoff push. If the Cowboys want to get into the gift-giving mood, one good way to do so would be to drop this game to the Ravens.

It’s time for everyone to face the fact that this season is a lost cause. The Thanksgiving Day beat down from Washington exposed the final facade of hope. This team has much more need of the help a high draft pick would provide than they are of a playoff game in which they would likely get beat down.

Couple that with the news that their best player, All-Pro guard Zack Martin hit the injured reserve this week and, once again, the offensive line will be a mess for the next three weeks. The writing is on the wall.

The Cowboys have four games left after this matchup. Only one (next week at Cincinnati) would be considered a toss-up. Losing to Baltimore would put Dallas into the fourth draft slot setting up next week’s matchup against the Bengals for a possible move up to third.

It’s unlikely they will catch either Jacksonville or the Jets to get any higher, especially considering they both found interesting ways to lose in Week 13. It’s far more likely that the Dallas Cowboys will have competition for a top-five draft slot.

Cincinnati is sitting on two wins. The Chargers and Eagles both have just three wins. Carolina, Atlanta, Houston, and Denver all have just four. That’s a lot of teams vying for three spots.

Luckily for the Cowboys, there are some opportunities for these teams to pick each other apart. The Chargers still have games against Atlanta and Denver. The Broncos face both Carolina and the Chargers meanwhile Houston faces Cincinnati in Week 16.

Of course, the Dallas Cowboys play both the Bengals and Eagles which means destiny is oddly in the hands of the Cowboys. If they wisely lose out, they would guarantee a top-three pick in next year’s draft. Winning any more than one more game would seriously jeopardize a shot at a big-time talent upgrade.

For the 25th consecutive year, there will be no gift under Cowboys’ fans’ Christmas tree of a possible sixth championship. An extremely high draft choice is definitely in play, however, and that starts tonight by taking a loss to Baltimore.