DALLAS — The penultimate week of the season was a good one for the Dallas Cowboys. First, they beat the Tennessee Titans on Thursday by two touchdowns on the road after a short week of preparation. Then, as they were relaxing on the first day of the new year, they watched as the division-leading Philadelphia Eagles lost at home to ensure the upcoming season finale will have purpose.
A Week 18 Cowboys win coupled with an Eagles loss would mean that Dallas is NFC East champions for a second consecutive year with a shot at the NFC’s No. 1 seed. That hope will be coming on Sunday, but before turning their attention to their last regular season game, here’s what we learned about the Cowboys in Week 17:
Dak Prescott’s interception luck stinks
The Cowboys awaited weeks for their starting quarterback's return to health from an early season injury, and while the offense has been humming with Prescott back under center, his interceptions have become an issue. And while Prescott isn’t blameless, he continues to be a victim of dropped passes falling squarely into defenders’ hands for turnovers.
No one would suggest that Prescott has been perfect, he did have a bad throw on his second interception against the Titans for example, but the first giveaway was another INT that was not the quarterback’s fault.
Tight end Peyton Hendershot had the ball in his hands, but failed to bring it in for the catch. Instead, the bobble landed with Titans safety Kevin Byard for the turnover.
Prescott has thrown 14 interceptions this season, but the unofficial count of passes that have gone off his receivers’ hands leading to a turnover stands at seven. That’s some horrible interception luck that needs to change if the Cowboys are going to make a deep playoff run.
Running back group is deep
Dallas was without Pro Bowl running back Tony Pollard in the win, and the ground game struggled to find room against one of the top rushing defenses in the league. Starting RB Ezekiel Elliott did score a touchdown, but he found it tough to find success.
Without Pollard, the Cowboys turned to rookie undrafted free agent RB Malik Davis to spell Elliott. Despite having nine fewer carries, Davis led the team in rushing with 39 yards on 10 attempts. Davis showed an impressive burst on his 23-yard run and also had an 18-yard reception.
While Elliott could only muster 1.9 yards per carry, Davis averaged close to four yards per carry in the win. Davis didn’t make anyone forget about Pollard’s presence, but the rookie showed that he is more than capable of making an impact when called upon.
That’s a deep group of runners in Dallas’ backfield.
T.Y. Hilton makes impact
The Cowboys had been looking for a veteran wide receiver to make plays, and they finally found one in Hilton. After Hilton came through with a huge catch against the Eagles, the WR proved his worth against the Titans.
Hilton had four catches for 50 yards on five targets, but three of those receptions resulted in a first down.
With Prescott and the offense needing a reliable WR to move the chains and bring some speed to the position, Hilton is already showing that he’s capable of being a big piece in the passing game. The Hilton era is just two games in and he’s already an important part of the offense.
Pass rush bounces back
The Cowboys had just one sack in their last three games leading up to the matchup against the Titans. Against a mobile quarterback in Josh Dobbs, and with their best pass rusher Micah Parsons playing with a club cast on one of his hands, the Cowboys’ defense managed to pick up two sacks.
One of the sacks included a fumble that led to a turnover. Veteran edge rusher Dante Fowler recorded the sack and forced fumble as the Titans were driving deep into Dallas territory, which Parsons recovered to save points.
Safety Donovan Wilson produced the other sack, adding to his career high with five on the season.
The Cowboys were able to pressure Dobbs throughout the evening, but he got the ball out quickly or escaped the pocket on most attempts. It wasn’t a vintage performance from earlier in the season when the Cowboys were leading the league in sacks, but the defense was able to put more heat on the quarterback in Week 17 than they had in several games. That’s a good sign for Dallas with the playoffs on the horizon.
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