FRISCO — Perhaps the secret lies in facing NFC East opponents (not named the Philadelphia Eagles). Nonetheless, the Dallas Cowboys have gone from a surefire tank operation to a 5-7 team on the fringes of playoff contention.
Those postseason dreams may not be very realistic though the Cowboys have seemingly hit their stride at the right time. Again, there is some perspective to put in practice here. But what cannot be denied is that Dallas went over a month without winning a game before winning a pair of games in the span of five days.
They will look to carry over the momentum found over the Thanksgiving holiday into a Monday night matchup in Week 14 with the Cincinnati Bengals. Both teams had high expectations coming into the season, hence the "Simpsons" alt-cast festivities that were planned for this specific game.
However, each team enters this contest well below the .500 mark. Somehow, the 4-8 Bengals (19) sit four spots above the Cowboys (23) in ESPN's weekly power rankings.
Normally, the diagnosis issued could focus on the games the mainstream sources like to play, tugging at the emotions of Cowboys faithful. But here, Dallas' move from up 24 to 23 this week shows there really just is not much of a direction for the Cowboys to go in their final five games. ... and that the two-game win streak's impact has been minimal in this regard.
As to "where to go''? The more they win, the further they are removed from a top-10 first-round pick in the NFL Draft. And this team at this time under head coach Mike McCarthy simply does many have the artillery at present to compete with the elite.
Monday's game will provide more clarity as to which direction this teams leans more toward. For now, it seems Micah Parsons and the rest of the Cowboys will keep trying to prove they still have the makings of the team worthy of a more respectful ranking.
