(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)
Given how beat up the Eagles are, what's your take on the big win in Philadelphia? Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely happy with the victory, but I'm wondering if the Cowboys just took advantage of a weaker opponent, or if they have truly turned a corner after such a dominating performance.
Mickey: First, do not ever minimize a win. Second, be careful overly emphasizing a win or overly emphasizing a loss. The Cowboys are what they are, they are 3-4, no better after the win, no worse after a loss. This NFL is about consistency, so be careful with those weekly Power Rankings. This is a week-to-week league. Just look at this past week. Did not the Falcons beat the erstwhile undefeated 49ers. Did not the Bucs wipe the floor with the Panthers. Did not the struggling Seahawks knock the erstwhile undefeated Chiefs off their high horse. Or the Giants need OT to beat the struggling Texans. Let's not come in here with that "weaker opponent" stuff. Credit goes to doing what they needed to do, no more, no less. Check with me again at Thanksgiving.
Tommy: I think it's a little bit of both. First, you never take for granted wins in the NFL, regardless of if the opponent is banged up. You've still got to go out and show you can win against teams like that, which the Cowboys didn't do earlier this season when facing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
That said, it can still be true that you have some pause with certain elements of how you performed because the opposing team was injured. For example, had Saquon Barkley not been dealing with a back injury and gotten more work, I feel like he could've had a much larger impact on the game and found some big plays. So, there were some things that would've been different in this game had Philadelphia been fully healthy, and that's fair to say.
But at the end of the day, that's an "if." The reality is the Cowboys got a much needed win, and that can spark momentum, even if things weren't really pretty in getting it. Dallas isn't naive to the fact that they've got things to clean up, and with four of their next five games at home, now have a real opportunity to stack victories and continue improving to really find a rhythm and then say they've turned a corner.
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