The Dallas Cowboys have no interest in laying down their weapons. Despite suffering two more season-ending injuries to defensive starters in the last week, the group came out and proved why Mike Zimmer was hired during the offseason. With a complicated system, it was predicted by those in the know that it was going to take some time for the players to realize its potential, but glimpses continue to peak through a miserable, lost 2024 season.
The Dallas defense harassed and bullied little Bryce Young throughout the Week 15 contest, sacking the diminutive QB six times and forcing him into four turnovers. With Rio Dowdle turning in another career performance, there was no need to lean on an inaccurate Cooper Rush. Dallas cruised to a 30-14 victory for their third win in their last four games.
Unfortunately though, that heartbreaking loss last week against the Cincinnati Bengals put them on disaster’s edge and with Washington escaping New Orleans with a last-second 20-19 win, Dallas inches closer to elimination from the 2024 playoff chase.
The victory improved Dallas to 6-8 on the season, and 5-2 on the road, but the disaster that has been the team at AT&T Stadium this year along with a ridiculously long major injury list will eventually be too much to overcome.
The Cowboys’ negative magic number was two, where a loss plus a victory by the Commanders eliminated them from the playoff hunt they somehow had clawed themselves back in to with back-to-back wins over Washington and New York to close November. Now that is reduced to just one.