Cowboys take on Titans
The Dallas Cowboys kept the pressure on the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East playoff race by taking care of the banged-up Tennessee Titans on Thursday night.
Dallas (12-4) was able to overcome three first-half turnovers by quarterback Dak Prescott before blanking the Titans (7-9) and quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who got his first NFL start, 27-13.
The Eagles (13-2) can still clinch the division with a win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, but with a loss, the pressure will be on in the final week of the regular season.
The good news: the Cowboys beat the Titans. The bad news: they looked bad.
The Cowboys say they want to build momentum heading into the playoffs, regardless of the quest to win the NFC East. Thursday did nothing to inspire confidence that they’ll start a long run to the playoffs anytime soon.
The only thing that kept this from being a disheartening loss: the Titans rested running back Derrick Henry and other key players; Dobbs started at quarterback and racked up more than 100 yards in penalties and with an eye on a Week 18 showdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars in a winner-take-all game.
A performance like this in the playoffs would likely end the Cowboys’ Super Bowl hopes.
It has been said countless times that not all interceptions are about Dak Prescott. Thursday was a perfect example. The first interception bounced off the hands of Peyton Hendershot; the second went right to the deep Kevin Byard as the Cowboys looked to score points late in the first half. Prescott finished the game with 29 completions on 41 passes for 282 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Dak Prescott now has a career-high 14 interceptions this season, tied with Derek Carr of the Las Vegas Raiders for the NFL’s not-so-shiny No. 1 spot. He had 13 in 2017, his second season as the Cowboys’ starter, when he started all 16 games. That’s the fifth game in which Prescott suffered multiple interceptions, tied with Buffalo’s Josh Allen. Imagine the total if Prescott hadn’t missed five games with a fractured right thumb.
Worrying trend: The Cowboys are allowing too many explosive pass plays. The Philadelphia Eagles had seven passes of at least 20 yards last week. The Titans, four. And it’s not like the Titans have an offense that can be called explosive, even with Ryan Tannehill. Three of the pass completions topped 30 yards. The four matched the third-most the Titans have had this season. They had seven in the season opener against the New York Giants and five against the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 17.
Why? The Eagles will beat the Saints to grab the division and home-field advantage, so the Cowboys will be seeded No. 5 and travel to play the winner of the NFC South. The Cowboys will be able to evaluate Grier as they wonder what to do with the backup job in 2023 with Cooper Rush set to be a free agent in March.
Under-the-radar stat: Running back Ezekiel Elliott now has nine consecutive games with a touchdown on the ground. That streak is second all-time in Cowboys history in a season. Emmitt Smith had 11 straight games in 1995.
