“Every season I’ve been a part of, there’s a path, and the path is always under construction.”
That’s what Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters at The Star on Monday when asked about the difficult stretch of games the team is in, facing five dangerous teams in a row, all of whom are battling for a playoff berth.
Dallas has navigated the first two-fifths of that treacherous piece of road with skill, starting with a hard-fought win over Seattle and then getting the engine firing on all cylinders with a 20-point blowout of Philadelphia to claim a share of the NFC East lead.
But this next chunk of path isn’t just under construction, it’s also going to traverse unfamiliar territory in unfriendly weather.
Unfriendly, yes. But at least not downright nasty.
When the Cowboys visit Orchard Park this Sunday, there shouldn’t be any snow on the ground, and temperatures are expected to reach a high of 47 degrees.
The game will be a punishing affair nonetheless, with the home team literally fighting for their postseason lives. At 7-6, the Bills have not lived up to expectations this season. They are currently on the outside of the playoff picture looking in, holding the 11th seed in the AFC. But if they can win out, they’re in.
So the postseason basically starts now for Buffalo.
McCarthy has his Cowboys- who are almost assuredly in the dance but have not yet clinched- in a similar mindset.
“It’s always important in December. There’s confidence that comes in these games, and I’m looking forward to the competition of it,” he explained.
Dallas answered a lot of questions about strength of schedule and quality of opponents in Week 14, dismissing the two-loss Eagles by a wide margin. But the high-powered Bills, Dolphins, and Lions are lying in wait around the next three bends.
Call it an ideal three-week test-run for the gauntlet that is the NFL postseason.
“To play in these kind of games, I think, is great preparation for playoff football, because these are going to be juggernauts,” McCarthy shared. “I think this is what you need as part of that opportunity to win and grow.”
The next area of growth for the 2023 Cowboys is beating a top-tier opponent in their building. All three Dallas losses this year have come on the road. And the three away games they won? Those came against squads that are today a combined 11-28.
Beating a team like Buffalo- at their house, in December- would be an important step toward what’s likely to be required in January.
“Your team has to be able to be built to go win anywhere,” McCarthy noted, “and that’s the reality of this league.”
The Cowboys certainly hope what they did Sunday night in front of their own crowd is a show they can take on the road the next two weeks. The offense ran 74 plays and held the ball for over 36 minutes, racking up nearly 400 yards and putting up points on seven of their nine drives. The defense held Jalen Hurts & Co. out of the end zone all night and notched three takeaways (four if you count a turnover on downs), all on their own side of midfield. Special teams contributed, too, with rookie kicker Brandon Aubrey booting four field goals, all from 45 yards or beyond.
“Complementary football is how you win,” McCarthy raved. “[With] complementary football, you win anywhere. You can win in a parking lot, on the road, at home. That’s the vision. That’s why I talk about it. That’s why it’s so important.”
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The Cowboys certainly did it at home on Sunday night with their fifth consecutive victory, leading to a confidence level in the facility that the coach says is palpable.
“It’s definitely high, and it should be. Is it the highest of the year? Probably so,” he said, even while admitting that the buzz would be quickly tempered by the next task on the team’s to-do list.
“I think we all had great moments with our family and friends. But it was midnight, 1 o’clock in the morning. The reality is, you wake up in Buffalo [preparation]. Buffalo’s an uncommon opponent. There’s a lot of new faces on tape, even for me personally- players that I’ve never competed against.”
So while this weekend’s road trip will take the Cowboys to an out-of-the-way destination where they’ll experience some inhospitable weather and an even colder reception from the locals, their coach isn’t yet looking ahead to the next stop in their travels.
“We need to beat Buffalo,” McCarthy stated plainly. “And then we’re standing here with 11 wins, and then we’ll look around, and I think it’ll be a little more clear what needs to be done.”
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