No NFL team wants to be staring at a must-win in Week 7, but that’s where the Dallas Cowboys found themselves on Monday night. At 2-4 and chasing a New York Giants team that had already moved to 4-2-1, Dallas needed a response against the Philadelphia Eagles.
It got one. After falling behind 21-20 late in the third quarter, the Cowboys ripped off 18 straight points and rolled to a 38-21 win. That pushed Dallas to 3-4 and kept Brian Schottenheimer’s team in step with the NFC East race.
What comes next looks favorable on paper. The Cowboys’ remaining 10 opponents own a combined winning percentage of .441, which ranks fourth-lowest in the league. Only the Jacksonville Jaguars (.408), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (.426), and Houston Texans (.434) have easier slates by that measure.
The next five weeks are the stretch that really matters, though. Dallas gets the Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee Titans, and then the Eagles again. Anything short of 4-1 in that run would have to be viewed as a letdown.
Week 8 brings Arizona to Dallas, and the setup carries a strange echo. Last season, the Cowboys met the Cardinals on Monday night in Week 9 with Dallas sitting at 3-4-1 and Arizona at 2-5.
The result was ugly for the Cowboys, a 27-17 loss that kept them from getting back to .500. This time, the expectation is different.
Arizona’s early-season wins over the Chargers and Rams once looked far more impressive than they do now, especially with Los Angeles sitting at 0-6 and 3-4, respectively. Dallas still can’t afford to sleepwalk through the matchup, but the Cowboys should be able to handle it.
The Week 9 trip to Indianapolis is the only road game in this five-game run, and the Colts’ recent moves suggest a team that has already started looking ahead. Indianapolis traded Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks and DeForest Buckner to the 49ers, and if Jonathan Taylor is moved too, there would be even less reason for Dallas to stumble.
The Colts did hang around in a 16-10 loss to the undefeated Minnesota Vikings, but they also handed the Titans their first win the week before. Even with that, the Cowboys should still be in position for a comfortable victory.
Week 10 is the toughest test by far, with San Francisco coming to town. The 49ers opened the season 6-0 before last Sunday’s 29-20 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, a game that saw them build a 14-3 lead before getting outscored 26-6 the rest of the way. Even with that defeat, San Francisco still looks like one of the league’s most complete teams.
The numbers back that up. The 49ers rank seventh in total offense at 371.4 yards per game and third in scoring at 28.1.
Defensively, they’re allowing the fourth-fewest total yards at 299.3 per game and the sixth-fewest points at 19.9. Dallas can hang around if it plays its best football on both sides, but the inconsistency has been a problem, and that makes this a tough one to call in the Cowboys’ favor.
It also comes right after the trade deadline, so a major move from Jerry Jones could change the picture. Even so, the pick here is San Francisco in a close game.
Week 11 should swing back in Dallas’ direction. The Titans’ offense has been one of the league’s weakest units, ranking 32nd in yardage at 248.6 and 31st in scoring at 15.4.
With Jeffery Simmons having been traded to the Chicago Bears, there’s even less resistance waiting for Dak Prescott and the Cowboys’ offense. There really shouldn’t be much suspense in this one.
Then comes Thanksgiving and another date with Philadelphia. Dallas already beat a battered Eagles team on Monday night, though it took a second-half surge to do it.
Jalen Hurts being out changes Philadelphia’s offense, and Saquon Barkley not being 100 percent helped Dallas too. Still, the Eagles’ defense has been a problem regardless, allowing 371.3 total yards and 25.0 points per game.
Even if the Eagles can put some points on the board again, Prescott and the Cowboys offense should have enough to control the game.
That would leave Dallas at 7-5 after this five-game stretch, right in the mix in the NFC East and possibly in the wild-card conversation too. For now, though, the Cowboys have to go prove it.
In Other News...
Joey Porter Jr. Is Giving Cowboys Fans A Reason To Gloat
The Cowboys added Joey Porter Jr. in a deal that already looks like one of the more interesting moves of the season, sending a 2028 second-round pick to Pittsburgh for the cornerback. Through three games in Dallas, Porter has fit right into a defense that values length, discipline and coverage ability, and his early play has given the secondary a steadier feel.
Porter has also backed up the hype with production, allowing the lowest completion percentage among corners with at least 75 coverage snaps in 2026. Meanwhile, the Steelers are said to be feeling the sting of the move and are shopping for cornerback help at the trade deadline, which only adds to the sense that Dallas may have landed the better end of this one. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Face A Familiar Cardinals Problem At The Worst Time
The Cardinals have turned into one of those opponents the Cowboys never seem to get a clean handle on, and this weeks matchup arrives with Dallas trying to build momentum and climb in the NFC East. CeeDee Lamb pointed to Arizonas consistent energy and competitiveness in these games, which has been part of the problem for a Cowboys team that has not found much comfort in this series, especially when the game is on their own turf.
Dallas is trying to start a winning streak at the right time, but the history here is hard to ignore. The Cowboys have had their issues with Arizona for years, and the longer that pattern hangs around, the more it adds pressure to a game that already carries weight in the division race. [Read more 🡒]
Jerry Jones Faces A Cowboys Trade Deadline Problem He Can't Ignore
Jerry Jones has made it clear the Cowboys are at least willing to listen as the trade deadline approaches, but the front office is running into a familiar NFL obstacle: not enough draft capital to make a meaningful move without paying a steep price. Dallas has already spent heavily in previous transactions, and Jones has sounded skeptical about landing a real difference-maker if it means surrendering picks the club would rather keep in reserve.
That leaves the Cowboys in a tricky spot, because the most workable path may be the kind of deal teams almost never pull off in-season. A player-for-player swap would fit the roster math better than a pick-heavy trade, but it would also force Dallas to consider moving a key piece from its own lineup. George Pickens, currently on the franchise tag, is one of the names that naturally comes into that discussion, which is exactly why the deadline feels more complicated than a simple buyer-or-seller decision. [Read more 🡒]