Three consecutive wins have kept the Dallas Cowboys' season alive after a 3-5-1 start. Still out of playoff position at 6-5-1, Dak Prescott knows they must continue to stack Ws ahead of Thursday’s visit to Detroit.
"It's about us, really, just controlling what we can control, winning the games in front of us and, right now, I don't think we're in a position where we truly have to count wins and losses from other teams," Prescott said, via the team’s official website. "We just win and handle our business, and we'll put ourselves in a great spot."
The three-game streak, with wins over the Raiders, Eagles and Chiefs, is the first in-season three-win sequence for Dallas since Weeks 10-14, 2023 (five games).
Trade deadline acquisitions, coupled with several defenders returning healthy, have buoyed a Dallas D that had been ripped apart early this season. With Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens moving the ball at will, the Cowboys are suddenly in a position to be major players in the playoff race.
In their final five weeks, Dallas faces just two clubs with winning records, starting with Thursday’s game against the Lions -- Vikings, Chargers, Commanders, Giants to follow. A road win over a Detroit team also looking to scrap its way into the postseason would say a lot about the Cowboys' chances of streaking into the playoffs.
"[We have] a lot of confidence, but with a great understanding of what's behind us," Prescott explained. "What's important is this game and the way that we prepare for it. What's been done is done. All we can take from those last games are the experience and the confidence, and that's what we're going to roll into this one with.
"It's another good team, a playoff team, and understanding where they are in their season -- trying to control everything that's in front of them. So plan for it to be a hard-fought, four-quarter game."
Not only did the winning streak get the Cowboys back into playoff contention, but with the Eagles' floundering, a division that felt over three weeks ago is suddenly open. Dallas sits 1.5 games back with five to play.