PHILADELPHIA _ The Dallas Cowboys did a lot of good things in the football game on Sunday night. On offense. On defense. On special teams.
Editor's Note: Per the head coach, they do a lot of good things in most games, which makes the majority of Jason Garrett's platitudes empty, ineffective and worthy of mostly mockery.
And less than one week after the Cowboys played their worst game of the year to nearly conclude their season, they pull a Jason Garrett and play their best game to give hope to their loyal boss, and their emotionally neglected fans.
Editor's Note: "Hope" here is the chance to play a playoff game, not reach the Super Bowl. Let's not be too stupid here.
An impressive 27-20 win by the Cowboys against the Eagles on Sunday night in Philadelphia should be commended, and it is also not hope.
Don't buy it. Not yet. None of us should. Not until Week 16.
Editor's Note: They do this all the time. We can't buy it because they have to do it again. And again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
Editor's Note: And again.
In order for any of us not named Jerry Jones to buy the Dallas Cowboys, this team has to do what they did on Sunday night in Philly for the remainder of the season. No one on the Cowboys' blinked on Sunday night, and their eyes must remain open the rest of the way.
Editor's Note: The Cowboys have not won consecutive games since December of 2017.
The players have to play with the same calm desperation they did in Philly on a night where they were a 7.5 point underdogs.
Editor's Note: This author only bets on TCU women's soccer NCAA Tournament games.
The head coach has to continue to go for it on fourth down, call a few fake punts or field goals, and just coach like he's a Fired Coach Coaching. Watching him on the sidelines throughout the evening, Garrett wore his emotions from his toes to the tips of his red hair.
Editor's Note: Against the Eagles, the Cowboys went for a fourth and short in their own end in the first quarter, but the play was wiped out by a motion penalty. The intent to go for it was there.
Coach Process, from his team's own 31-yard line in the second quarter, called for a fake punt, which Jeff Heath converted on a 4th-and-2 on a three yard run.
The quarterback has to improve at the same rate he did on Sunday night.
Dak Prescott has become the most maligned quarterback in the league for his erratic play since the start of the 2017 season. NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth politely knocked Dak's flaws throughout the telecast on Sunday, even as the quarterback steadily improved and moved the offense.
Collinsworth praised newly acquired receiver Amari Cooper, who in two short weeks has quickly become Dak's favorite target. Dak threw at Cooper 10 times and completed six of those attempts for 75 yards.
Amari did not put up fantasy No. 1 type numbers, but he showed No. 1 type ability this offense badly lacked.
Editor's Note: Forget Amari, Dak's performance against the Eagles was one of the more impressive of his professional life. He was under pressure, and played like a man who feels pressure; early in the game, he played like a young man with zero confidence.
He was sacked four times, but as the game progressed so did he. He threw for just under 300 yards and accounted for two touchdowns.
It aided Dak just a bit that his running back buddy played like it was 2016.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott ran for more than 150 yards, and scored two touchdowns. He also just missed the NFL's Run of the Year when he stuck the landing on a high-hurdle run over a defender, but was tackled en route to the end zone by the ... grass.
Editor's Note: That run was awesome.
The defense, while it was a tad porous late, made plays to win a game. Rookie linebacker Leighton Vander Esch came up with an interception in the first quarter, and his third-down stop for a loss on the Eagles' second-to-last possession was just as big.
The Cowboys' fourth win of the year was their most impressive, and entertaining.
They are also 4-5 overall, but for us to have real hope they are going to need to do this again and again and again and again.
Editor's Note: And again.
