by: Griffin McVeigh 20 hours ago griffin_mcveigh
The Dallas Cowboys got a must-win game in Las Vegas on Monday Night Football, looking good doing so. Both sides of the ball played well, with Dak Prescott showing out and the new-look defense putting together plays. This led ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt to ask Troy Aikman if it’s “reasonable” to believe Dallas could make a push to the playoffs.
“Reasonable might be a stretch right now,” Aikman said. “… The real tests are ahead of them, as we know. They could certainly get on a run. They’ve got to get to 10 wins, is what you got to look at. They don’t have any margin for error, this was a game they, obviously, had to win. They’ve got to win next week against Philadelphia.”
Aikman is not kidding about the tests. He mentioned the Philadelphia game, which takes place at AT&T Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Then, it’s back-to-back Thursday games with Kansas City on Thanksgiving and Detroit in primetime. Weirdly enough, the last two are not currently in playoff positions but are certainly expected to get there.
If there is any chance of Aikman’s answer turning into a “yes,” he believes it will be because of the defense. Improvements were made during the trade deadline and a few players are back from long-term injuries. Aikman sees a path to Dallas competing over the next three games in the defense plays well.