At 6-6 on the season, there's no doubt it's time to do exactly what Dak Prescott said: stop talking, and start winning. Let's dig into the cold hard facts on the Cowboys and Bears that make this one interesting.
Randall Cobb has had two 100-yard games this year – both against NFC North opponents.Perhaps his familiarity against the division foes all these years give Cobb an advantage. The former Packers standout torched both the Vikings (106 yards) and Lions (115) in consecutive weeks, scoring a touchdown in both games. This week, he takes on the Bears. In 14 career regular-season meetings, Cobb has been victorious all but once.
Ezekiel Elliott needs 10 yards to surpass 1000 yards on the season, and to do it in back-to-back seasons (third season overall). But on average, Chicago holds their opponent under 100 rushing yards per game, as the 8th best rush defense in the league.
The Cowboys lead the NFL in 400-yard games this season with nine. The Bears have only allowed 400 yards once – yielding 424 against the Saints.Something has to give, and the statistics suggest it will be the Cowboys that will have a hard time getting to that mark on the road. The three times Dallas failed to get to 400 yards occurred on the road against a Top 10 defense (Patriots, Jets, Saints). Here the Cowboys go to Chicago and the Bears rank seventh in total defense.
Cordarrelle Patterson is one of the most dynamic returners in NFL history. He leads the NFL in kickoff return yards with 711. He's also not afraid to take the ball out of the end zone, scoring on a 102-yard return in October against the Saints. It was his seventh career kickoff return for a touchdown, the third-most in NFL history behind Joshua Cribbs and Leon Washington (8).
The Cowboys haven't lost a Thursday night game in over 40 years. While the team plays in the annual Thanksgiving Day game at 3:30 every year, the Cowboys haven't had as many Thursday games during the season. Here lately, the Cowboys have played on Thursdays following Thanksgiving and this game will make the fourth straight year and the fifth time in six years. But overall, the Cowboys are 5-1 on Thursday nights, winning five straight. The Cowboys' only loss was a 1978 Thursday game against the Vikings. Since then, they've defeated the Packers (2007), Bears (2014), Vikings (2016), Redskins (2017) and Saints (2018).
Dak Prescott has recorded a league-high five games with at least 350 passing yardsand two touchdowns in 2019, and Chicago is one of five teams not to allow 300 passing yards in a single game this year.
The coldest regular-season game in Cowboys' history occurred in Chicago back in 2013. The Cowboys' Dec. 9 meeting with the Bears kicked off at 8 degrees. The only game the Cowboys have ever played with colder temperatures was the "Ice Bowl" in Green Bay during the 1967 playoffs. But it doesn't appear as if the team will have to deal with such elements this time around. Forecasters predict the temps to be in the 20s-30s around kickoff.
Jason Witten needs just two touchdowns to tie Dez Bryant (73) for most in team history. He needs 134 yards to become the 19thplayer in NFL history to reach 13,000 yards.
The Cowboys are 0-4 against Top 10 defenses this season. For the third straight week, the Cowboys are set to face on another great defensive team in the Bears, who rank seventh in total defense. Currently, the Patriots, Bills, Jets and Saints all rank in the NFL's Top 10 in yards allowed.
This is the first time the Cowboys have led the league in total net yards-per-game (432.8) through 13 weeks since 1995. With one more 500-yard game, The 2019 Cowboys will tie the 1978 and 1966 teams for the most single-season 500-yard games in team history.
