Week 6 saw the final two undefeated teams in the NFL fall in upset fashion as the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles took L’s Sunday afternoon. Of course, this opened a door for the Detroit Lions to enter a first-place tie atop the NFC, which they accomplished by beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road.
But no other team in the conference received a bigger gift from the Niners and Eagles than the Dallas Cowboys.
After being stomped out by San Francisco, 42-10, last week and falling two games behind the Niners and Philly, Dallas has the opportunity to keep pace in the conference and their division with a win this week. The Cowboys are in Los Angeles for Week 6, playing the Chargers on Monday Night Football in a game they cannot afford to lose. A win would bring Dallas within one game of Philadelphia in the NFC East, with a date in the City of Brotherly Love just three weeks away.
Monday night’s matchup with the Chargers has plenty of ramifications for the Cowboys. First and foremost, to prove that the 49ers humbling them last week was nothing but a perfect storm. Sure, the Niners played like (and still are) the better team, but not 32 points better. While the Chargers are nowhere near the caliber on defense as San Fran, they do have who many would consider a top-five quarterback in Justin Herbert.
In a head-to-head comparison of overall ability, Dak Prescott can’t match up with Herbert. However, football is a team sport, and Dallas has the chance to bounce back from a horrible loss and prove they are still among the best in the NFC. Beating the Chargers would show that not all hope is lost and keep them in the race among the top four teams in the conference.
Two of the top three teams in the conference losing on the same day is like a blessing from above for Big D. A two-game deficit nearly halfway through the season can be difficult to make up in the NFL, where you play only 17. Plus, a win for the Cowboys over the Chargers means they’d have rebounded after that devastation in the Bay Area, and they’d go into the bye week on a high note.
If there is any hope for Dallas to show the league that they aren’t the same old overhyped Cowboys, a decisive victory over the Chargers is needed.
