FRISCO, Texas _ The historic run the Cowboys find themselves on began against the team they face on Thanksgiving.
A win against Washington on Sept. 18 was the first notch in a franchise-record nine-game streak. That was back before the Chicago Cubs ended a 71-year NL championship drought, Donald Trump was the president-elect and the Cowboys forged the NFL's best record.
These are truly rare times.
"This is a rare team," owner Jerry Jones said in the wake of his team's victory over Baltimore.
Jason Garrett does little to acknowledge accomplishments during the season. The Cowboys' head coach believes doing so distracts from the focus required to keep moving forward. Garrett did talk to his team about how hard it is to win in the NFL after beating the Ravens, but that's a message he emphasizes every week.
"It means we have a great team that believes in ourselves," quarterback Dak Prescott said of being two months removed from the Cowboys' only loss. "We're not going to flinch, and we're not going to blink.
"We don't really focus on the score. Just take it one play at a time. We just keep moving forward and know things will break for us."
Opponents have been the ones to break over the last 72 days. Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott have formed a rookie firewall between the team and defeat.
Prescott has thrown from 227 and 319 yards in each of the nine games. He has a quarterback rating of 103.8 or higher in all but one of those games.
Seattle's Russell Wilson is the only player in league history to have more games (nine) with a quarterback rating to exceed 100. Prescott finished with a rating of 127.2 against Baltimore despite being 4 of 10 for 31 yards with a sack to open the game.
"It's really rare when young players can do that," tight end Jason Witten said.
There's that word again.
"That's not the first time we've seen that," Witten continued. "He continues to answer it every single week. You just can't say enough about how that's worked out, good preparation to see the coverages then to capitalize with some big throws."
Elliott has rushed from 83 and 157 yards during each game of the winning streak. He failed to average at least 4 yards a carry in only one game during this stretch.
These two rookies have been more than brilliant. They've been consistent.
But they aren't alone. Four different players have led the Cowboys in receiving during the nine games. None of them had done it in back to back games until Dez Bryant did so these last two weeks.
"We always talk about when your number is called you have to execute," Witten said. "You really don't know when that's going to be from within a drive to within a game to week in and week out.
"That's just the way this football team works together."
Players on both sides of the ball are stepping up. Three different players have led the team in tackles, and 10 have had at least one sack during the streak.
Touchdowns have been spread among 10 players as well.
"This is exactly how it's supposed to be," receiver Cole Beasley said. "Anybody can have a big day on any given day depending on what they (opponents) do and who they take away.
"That's why we run the offense the way we do. We run the ball to get them out of the two-high (safety) looks and get them down to single high and then we take advantage outside. When they keep it underneath, that's when me and Witten play a big part and the running backs.
"We've got a lot of guys we can get it to, and we'll throw it to any of them."
It's a democratic approach that has led to an autocratic streak. The next-longest streak in the league at the moment belongs to the New York Giants and Miami at five games.
"That's incredible, man," Beasley said of nine consecutive wins. "It's so awesome to be a part of, but it's not what we're here for."
What the Cowboys are here for, Garrett will tell you, is a rematch against Washington, the first victim in this burgeoning streak. Kickoff is 3:30 Thursday afternoon at AT&T Stadium.
"I'm excited," cornerback Brandon Carr said. "You look forward to it. Our division is tight. Our division is stacked right now.
"It's going to come fast."
