The Washington Commanders were close to a win on Monday night before the Chicago Bears spoiled that on a last-second field goal from former maligned kicker Jake Moody. With the Commanders now 3-3, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has laid out a bold playoff prediction.
Dallas is certainly not out of the playoff hunt, much like the rest of the 31 teams in the NFL. Some are worse off than others, like the 0-6 New York Jets, but everyone is still technically alive.
For the Cowboys, they are 2-3-1, and one game behind the 3-3 Commanders, and two behind the first-place 4-2 Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East. The division is still wide open, and it appears Jones likes the chances of his team.
While speaking to reporters, Jones stated that he believes that there is a lot of parity between the Cowboys and the Commanders. Also, teams getting injuries can limit teams, much like Dallas has been.
"It just reminded me that we are still in it … I see so much parity and then you factor in these teams get compromised with injury … but we should have some good go of it over the next weeks ahead with our injury situation and return of injury and if we can get some wins, with Dak playing the way he is playing, the way some of the guys have played … I’m encouraged. The last thing I'm thinking about is in any way being out of the (playoff) hunt,” Jones said.
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Jones is correct, Dak Prescott is on pace for an MVP-caliber season with 1,617 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, and three interceptions thus far. Also, the Cowboys are still alive in the playoff race right now. However, the team has a big issue they need to manage.
The big issue for the Cowboys is the defense as a whole. The team is giving up a league-worst 411.7 yards per game. This is coupled with an NFL-worst 269.5 passing yards per game.
Dallas needs the defense to turn things around; otherwise, they may not be able to stop opposing teams from running up the score. The silver lining is Prescott and the offense continues to hum, even with CeeDee Lamb out.
Lamb is expected to return, as are KaVontae Turpin and Tyler Booker. On the defensive side of things, DeMarvion Overshown has a November return timeline slated as well.
If the Cowboys can keep their record above .500 while they wait for the injury returns of some big stars, Jones’ words might be far more believable.
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