With their win against Detroit and the Eagles’ loss to Arizona, the Cowboys are back in the driver’s seat and have the checkered flag in sight. As current holders of the No. 2 seed, they need just one more win to secure the NFC East crown and homefield advantage through at least two rounds of the postseason.
All they have to do is beat one of the worst teams in football in Week 18 and they will have put themselves in prime position to make a deep postseason run this winter. Entering the final game of an otherwise dream situation, the biggest obstacle that stands in their way could be their own overthinking.
The Cowboys have to fight the urge to overcomplicate things in their regular season finale against Washington. Popular opinion around the league sees the upcoming showdown against Washington as a gimmie, of sorts. Washington is the second-worst team in the NFC while the Cowboys are the second best. Washington has nothing to gain with a win while the Cowboys have everything to gain. Washington is bad and the Cowboys are good.
This line of thinking can be dangerous for a team like Dallas. The Cowboys need one more win this season and history has shown this is a team who can’t afford to count their chickens before they hatch.
They must manage injuries, rest, risk and overall game-planning. It won’t be easy to keep the intensity dialed up with the playoffs inevitably on their minds. Resting players, deepening rotations and dialing up conversative/basic gameplans will all be temptations they must avoid.
But is a more cautious approach the smarter approach? Washington is essentially playing for a draft pick, but more than likely that will be in the hands of a new regime, so laying down is not an option for them. Do the Cowboys need “all hands on deck” to dispatch their final opponent?