Dalton trying to push Cowboys into playoffs
ARLINGTON, TEXAS » The Dallas Cowboys won a game thanks to a watermelon kick and are now 2-0 after smashing said fruit as a motivational tactic the night before each victory.
If that doesn’t say it all about the pandemic-altered 2020 season, then how about the woeful NFC East offering the guarantee that a team will go from 2-7 to the playoffs for the first time in NFL history, according to Sportradar?
Dallas (6-9) is one of those three teams, with the winner between the Cowboys and New York Giants (5-10) from early Sunday getting in if Washington loses at Philadelphia in prime time. Washington (6-9) simply needs to win to advance.
Andy Dalton, 4-4 since replacing Dak Prescott after the star quarterback’s season-ending ankle injury, has directed a threegame winning streak after beating the Eagles 37-17, and the former Cincinnati starter has the Cowboys playing for a lot more than 2021 momentum.
That was the goal a few weeks ago, when firstyear coach Mike McCarthy noted that a four-game winning streak to finish his rough Green Bay debut in 2006 was a springboard to a trip to the NFC championship game the next year.
Now, the Cowboys could be two playoff wins from their first run that far in the postseason in 25 years — with a little help, of course.
“We look totally different today than we did two months ago,” McCarthy said. “That’s a real credit to our football players.”
McCarthy’s first victory with Dallas, 40-39 over Atlanta in Week 2, came on Greg Zuerlein’s field goal on the final play after the Cowboys recovered their kicker’s spinning onside attempt, executed without a tee.
The biggest win before beating Philadelphia was 31-28 at Minnesota a day after McCarthy impersonated the comedian Gallagher by taking a sledgehammer to some watermelons during a team meeting in the hotel.
This time, McCarthy let the game’s captains — receiver Amari Cooper, defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford and cornerback Chidobe Awuzie — do the smashing, with a piñata effect. There was candy inside.
“With us being crazy football players and everything like that, guys really like smashing things,” Cooper said. “I think that’s what football is all about, you know, just hitting guys. So, it kind of got everybody hyped for the game.”