The nonbelievers will shrug, even though the Cowboys pummeled the Eagles on Sunday night.
The critics will laugh about the possibility of Dak Prescott being the MVP, even though he’s been the best quarterback in the league the past two months.
Some might leave the room or the group chat if Mike McCarthy’s name is mentioned for Coach of the Year.
Well, I’m here to say McCarthy certainly deserves consideration, and Prescott is a top two candidate for MVP and … well, I’m not sure if he’s first because of what Tyreek Hill has done in Miami. (I really wanted to drop the “top two and not two” line here, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.)
As for the Cowboys being legit Super Bowl contenders, I’m not ready to go that far. But it was impressive how they cruised to a 33–13 victory against the Eagles, who find themselves on a two-game losing streak.
The Cowboys might have the MVP and Coach of the Year, and still, many will refuse to call them Super Bowl favorites. Not even with rookie kicker Brandon Aubrey drilling 59-yarders with ease. Or with wide receiver CeeDee Lamb playing at an All-Pro level. Or with Micah Parsons guiding one of the best defenses in the league—one that forced the Eagles into three turnovers.
We’ve seen this movie before, the one with the Cowboys flaming out in the postseason, despite a successful regular season. But it’s O.K. to at least say Prescott and McCarthy deserve some hardware for what they’ve done in 2023.
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Philadelphia appeared sluggish Sunday night and had many issues on both sides of the ball. They also lost control of the No. 1 seed to the 49ers. But the Eagles (10–3) remain first in the NFC East because they hold the tiebreaker over the Cowboys (10–3), but more on that in a bit.
As a reminder, I’m the same football pundit who claimed way back in Week 1 that this might be the Cowboys’ year because of how they dismantled the Giants, 40–0. But I left the Cowboys’ bandwagon after they got crushed by the 49ers in Week 5 and nearly returned before their late collapse in Philadelphia in Week 9. Also, without hesitation, this appears to be the 49ers’ year, so I’m not trying to make myself look better for a bad Week 1 take.
But there’s no denying that the Cowboys could beat every other team not named the 49ers in the NFC postseason. Prescott was sensational Sunday night, like he’s been most of the season, and had a handful of beautiful throws, including lengthy completions to Brandin Cooks and Jake Ferguson.
Dallas took a step forward into turning the doubters into believers by recording a signature win against Philadelphia to extend its home winning streak to 15 consecutive games. The Cowboys can take more steps forward by beating the Bills, Dolphins and Lions in the next three weeks. This gantlet would resemble what the Eagles just did by playing the Cowboys (twice), Chiefs, Bills and 49ers in five consecutive weeks.
The Eagles don’t appear to be the same team after that grueling stretch and still have to go to Seattle next week. But Philadelphia could recharge with games against the Giants (twice) and Cardinals to close out the regular season.
Many laughed at the Eagles for losing their perfect record to the struggling Jets back in Week 6. But it was one they could afford to lose because the Jets reside in the AFC and the setback didn’t hurt the Eagles’ conference record.
The Eagles will hold the tiebreaker over the Cowboys if they win out because they will have had a superior record in common games. Dallas might be taken more seriously if they end the season with the No. 1 seed or at least the NFC East. But that doesn’t appear likely because of the Cowboys’ tough remaining schedule.
If the Cowboys somehow win out, which would be very impressive, given how beat up the Eagles are after their series of tough games, that still might not end the shrugs because of Dallas's playoff reputation during the Prescott era—and, really, since the late 1990s.
The Cowboys had the No. 1 seed in Prescott’s rookie season in 2016 and have won the NFC East three times with him as the starting quarterback. In those three postseasons, the Cowboys only won one game—a wild-card win against the Seahawks during the 2018 season. Overall, the Cowboys have had four postseason appearances with Prescott and haven’t advanced past the divisional round.
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It’s understandable as to why many won’t buy the Cowboys as serious Super Bowl contenders, regardless of what they do in the final month of the regular season. But let’s not let past postseason failures take away from what Prescott has done in his first season with McCarthy as the play caller. MVP and Coach of the Year are about the 2023 regular season, not what the Cowboys will do come the postseason.
Prescott’s numbers are as good as Brock Purdy’s with the 49ers. Prescott leads the league in touchdown throws with 28, and Purdy has a league-high passer rating of 116.1. If we’re focusing on the word “valuable,” we might even agree that Prescott is more important to his team than Purdy is to the stacked 49ers. Still, those that begrudgingly agree could favor Hill, especially if he reaches 2,000 receiving yards to set the single-season record.
If Prescott continues to play well and the Cowboys win the NFC East, and Hill still wins the MVP, then perhaps it’s not a quarterback award—maybe it’s an “anyone but Dak” award.
As for McCarthy, we can safely say that he’s been better than Kellen Moore as a play caller, and not just this year (the Chargers’ offense has been bad under Moore this season). This Cowboys offense might be better than Moore’s pass-heavy approach from 2019 to 2022.
And sure, McCarthy’s reputation of poor game management might return in the playoffs. But we can at least say that McCarthy made the Cowboys’ offense better this season, something not many saw coming in training camp.
The Cowboys have plenty to prove, but it’s O.K. to say they might have the MVP and Coach of the Year.
