PROMISES TO BE CONTETIOUS
McCarthy’s guarantee of a victory spices up classic division rivalry
THINGS are getting fun again in the NFC East. It seems that, after a period of time in which all four teams in the division have been mired in mediocrity, we’ve returned to the rough-and-tumble NFC East of yesteryear when tangible acrimony existed between Dallas, Washington, Philadelphia and the Giants.
This past week sure has felt like that in advance of Sunday’s Dallas-Washington showdown at FedEx Field with first place in the balance.
The Cowboys are atop the division at 8-4, while Washington enters the game at 6-6 needing a victory to have any chance of winning the NFC East.
The teams face each other again Dec. 26 in Dallas, and if this week is any indication — with Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy and Washington coach Ron Rivera getting into a little war of words — it should be a spicy few weeks in the NFC East.
A Washington win at home on Sunday will make for a stressful final month in Dallas.
The pregame chatter was started by McCarthy, who told reporters early in the week: “We’re going to win this game. I’m confident in that. We know what people think of us. We love that. We’re comfortable with who we are, where we are, but
I’m excited about what’s in front of us.’’
Rivera was not amused by McCarthy’s bravado, saying McCarthy’s tactics were a clear attempt to “get in our head.’’
“He’s now made it about him and what he said,’’ Rivera told Washington reporters. “It’s not about his players anymore. I think that’s a big mistake. That’s why, to me, you don’t say those things. At the end of the day we [coaches] don’t line up and play.
“So, as far as I’m concerned, I just try to stay out of that [trash talk] portion of it. We’ll just show up, we’ll play football, we’ll play hard and see how things go. The biggest thing that I look at ... is what happens on Sundays. All this other stuff is interesting [until] you play the game. That’s the thing that matters.”
Washington enters the game having won four consecutive games and it’s a team feeling confident about itself and its journeyman quarterback, Taylor Heinicke.
Washington, which currently is the sixth seed in the NFC playoff race, hasn’t won five in a row since it won the final seven games in 2012. Before then, it hadn’t done it since 2005.
The Washington hot streak hasn’t left the Cowboys wavering with their confidence. When Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott was asked if he wanted to back up his coach’s words, he said, “S--t yeah. What [McCarthy said] doesn’t put us in a bad spot. Obviously, if you’re preparing for this game, you’re a Dallas Cowboy; if you’re a fan, you expect to go in and win each and every game, so I don’t think he’s said anything different than [what are] everyone in this building’s thoughts. He just voiced it. Now we’ve got to make sure we’re accountable of our words. And I think that’s all that is, is a coach setting the tone for the week.”
The Cowboys may have both of their top running backs, Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard, on the field Sunday after Elliott had been dealing with a right knee injury and Pollard sustained a partially torn plantar fascia on his 58-yard TD run last week.
Elliott has gone six consecutive games without rushing for more than 51 yards.
During Thursday’s team meeting, McCarthy showed his players a video on the history of the rivalry between the two franchises, with Dallas owning a 7347-2 advantage in the series. Dallas lost both games last season, but played both without Prescott, who has a 7-1 career record against Washington.
“We’re clearly planning on going to Washington to win the game,’’ McCarthy said, doubling down on his guarantee.
“The only guarantee in this world is death and taxes,” Washington defensive tackle Jonathan Allen said.
“We’ll show up on Sunday and see what happens,’’ Rivera said.
Holiday acrimony in the NFC East. Delicious.