The Dallas Cowboys are entering the final stretch of the regular season tied for first place in the NFC East after a 33-13 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
The win continued the team’s dominance at home, improving to 7-0 in Arlington this season.
“It’s definitely an important victory,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said as he met with the media postgame. “These division games are so difficult and always have been, regardless of the year. … We needed to get this game, and more importantly, I just wanted to see us take a step as a football team because it’s about winning. It’ll always be about winning, but you have to improve down the stretch here. You want to be playing your best football in December, and I think we got off to a great start tonight.”
Dallas has taken its game to a new level at home this year, averaging around 40 points and two forced turnovers per contest. However, three of the team’s final four games of the year are on the road, while just one home game remains. The Cowboys are 3-3 on the road this season, with a much lower scoring output and a generally smaller margin of victory.
Yet, McCarthy is relishing the late-season challenge.
“We look at this as a gauntlet, and I think it’s a great schedule in my view because it gives us a chance to play playoff football,” he explained. “Every team we play is going to be battling for the playoffs. Iron sharpens iron. I think from a training [standpoint], the callusing type of games that we need to be in, I think this lines up really good for us because we’ve got to go on the road and win.”
While the offense and the defense are getting most of the attention, the kicking game may be the Cowboys’ most reliable weapon.
Rookie kicker Brandon Aubrey, 28, the former Major League Soccer and USFL player from Plano who signed with the Cowboys during the offseason, is on a historic run to begin his NFL career.
The rookie has converted all 30 of his field goal attempts this season, including 60 and 59-yard attempts on Sunday that cleared the uprights with room to spare, to extend the league record to start a career.
“That’s something, in a dome, I should be able to do, and they give me the freedom to go and just smash it as hard as I can, which is nice,” Aubrey said after the game.
He also said he feels comfortable kicking the ball from as far as 68 yards, which could come in handy as the Cowboys try to rack up points on the road and fight off the Eagles for the NFC East title over the season’s final four weeks.
“You give your kicker these opportunities in games early in the season, it sets up for a big kick in a big game here,” McCarthy added, “and I think those kicks will definitely pay dividends in the playoffs and getting to where we want to get to.”
The Cowboys (10-3) continue their season on the road against the Buffalo Bills (7-6) at 3:25 p.m. CT on Sunday.
