The Dallas Cowboys picked up their fifth win of the season against the Detroit Lions last weekend and now will face another NFC North opponent, the Chicago Bears, in Week 8 at home. With franchise quarterback Dak Prescott returning to action from a thumb injury that forced him to miss the previous five weeks, the Cowboys handed the Lions a 24-6 loss. The defense once again came to the rescue wreaking havoc on the Lions offense as they forced five takeaways and accrued five sacks.
The Bears will enter this matchup with a 3-4 record on the season coming off of an impressive win against the New England Patriots in Week 7. After starting the season with two wins in their first three games, the Bears found themselves on a bit of a tailspin, losing three games in a row before righting the ship against New England. The Bears offense features a formidable running game and an opportunistic defense.
Oh my, already with wins against the Lions and Cincinnati Bengals, the Cowboys have a chance to complete the “Wizard of Oz” gauntlet with a victory against the Bears. Each week we open up the Advanced Stat Notebook to analyze how each team ranks in EPA, DVOA, ANY/A and Toxic Differential. These four key metrics have a high correlation to win probability.