Chris Jones-Imagn Images Do you think the Cowboys can geet a third win in a row on Monday night? The Dallas Cowboys are on a winning streak. Yes, it’s a small two-game winning streak, with one of those wins coming over the lowly New York Giants, but there is no denying they are playing better football. One reason is the return of guys like Micah Parsons, Brandin Cooks and DaRon Bland to the starting lineup from injuries. They also might be getting DeMarcus Lawrence back soon. On offense, they have finally come to the conclusion we all knew during training camp – Rico Dowdle is the best running back they have so feed him. Additionally, Cooper Rush has gotten sharper a few games in to his stint playing for Dak Prescott. So just how much should we trust this team now? That’s kind of the question we are asking today. One, how confident are you the team is heading in the right direction now? And two, will they beat the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football? Vote in the poll then hit the comments and let us know your thoughts. Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Dallas Cowboys fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. Please take our survey

Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images Monday night is going to be a test for the Dallas Cowboys. The Dallas Cowboys have a good chance of extending their win streak to three in a row after back-to-back victories against division rivals, but the Cincinnati Bengals aren’t a team to take lightly despite their 4-8 losing record. This is a team who could give the Cowboys all they can handle and more if they aren’t careful. Normally playing at home would give the Cowboys a slight advantage, but considering they’ve had only one victory so far this season at AT&T Stadium that may no longer be the case. They are also riding a two-game winning streak, so that should boost their confidence entering this Week 14 matchup as well. But again, Cincinnati shouldn’t be taken lightly. If the Cowboys want to extend their winning streak to three in a row they will need to win some key matchups this week against the Bengals. Today, we’re going to share with you three big matchups. RB Rico Dowdle vs. Bengals’ run defense Rico Dowdle is coming off the best game of his career where he rushed for 112 yards and one touchdown last week against the Giants and will be squaring off against another team that has struggled to stop the run in this Week 14 matchup with the Bengals. Cincinnati is giving up 128.2 rushing yards per game and allowing 4.34 yards per carry. If the Cowboys continue to commit to the running game and Dowdle continues to produce like he has the last couple of weeks, No. 23 could end up with his second consecutive 100-yard game. LT Tyler Guyton vs. DE Trey Hendrickson Whether it’s Tyler Guyton, Asim Richards, or Chuma Edoga starting at left tackle for the Cowboys this week, Cincinnati’s DE Trey Hendrickson is a nightmare matchup for them. Hendrickson is currently leading the league in quarterback sacks (11.5) and will look to add to that total against the carousel of blindside protectors Dallas has rolled out so far this year. Whoever ends up starting for the Cowboys will more than likely need some more help to contain the current sack leader, otherwise he could wreck the game by himself. Cowboys’ secondary vs. WR Ja’Marr Chase The Cowboys secondary has been decimated by injuries here recently and will be going up against the league’s leading receiver in both receiving yards (1,142) and touchdowns (13), Ja’Marr Chase. This definitely looks like a matchup that heavily favors the Bengals. Even if Dallas’ secondary was 100% healthy, Chase is the type of receiver who can sway the outcome of the game all by himself. To be undermanned against such a dynamic weapon will be something Mike Zimmer will have to accommodate for if Dallas wants to win.

Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images The latest news around the Dallas Cowboys. Dak Prescott shares his hope for Mike McCarthy’s Cowboys future – Jori Epstein, Yahoo! Sports The Dallas Cowboys quarterback stood on a pedestal for Mike McCarthy and voiced his desire to see the coach return in 2025. Five guaranteed games remain on Mike McCarthy’s contract. Dak Prescott hopes the Dallas Cowboys keep his head coach for more. The Cowboys quarterback can’t meaningfully impact his team’s performance as he recovers from season-ending surgery to repair his hamstring tear. That bothers him. “Your coach seems like he’s playing on his last contract and [I’m] almost feeling helpless like I can’t help him in this situation, especially a guy you believe in so much and you believe in being your head coach,” Prescott told Yahoo Sports during a Tuesday afternoon Zoom call. “Control what I can control, help and support Mike to every extent that I can.” In nine seasons with the Cowboys, Prescott has played for two head coaches. He leans on his experience watching Jason Garrett coach the final year of his deal in 2019 to manage this season. Prescott said he was glad to hear team owner and general manager Jerry Jones say last week that it’s “not crazy” to consider McCarthy returning for a sixth season and beyond. “I believe in him wholeheartedly,” Prescott said, speaking in partnership with DICK’S Sporting Goods. “I don’t want to necessarily get into the nuts and the screws of it all obviously, but I think he definitely deserves a chance — another contract and a chance to coach this team amongst more influence. ‘On his terms’ may be a good way to say it. “But I wholeheartedly believe in him.” Mazi Smith, Luke Schoonmaker turning the corner for the Cowboys – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com Maybe there’s hope for the Cowboys’ 2023 draft class to exceed our current expectations. “[Mazi is] getting better and better and better at it, and he has the criteria,” said owner and general manager Jerry Jones to 105.3 The Fan. “He is an outstanding athlete for his size. Rare, rare athlete. All of that is there. He’s established what he can do with his strength. Arguably, he’s as strong as anyone we’ve had around here since Larry Allen. “That’s strong. Just pure strength. It’s Sampson-type strength. It sounds like an exaggeration, but it’s not. He’s becoming and learning how to be a pro.” Smith has strung together multiple games now wherein he’s put his stamp on the outcome of a contest, both as a run-stopper and as a pass rusher, e.g., his shared sack with Micah Parsons against Drew Lock on Thanksgiving, and the fact the Giants averaged five more yards per run when he was not on the field. And as for Schoonmaker, having started the last two outings due to Jake Ferguson suffering a concussion in Week 11, his ability as a blocker is being put on full display but so is his ability to be a pass catcher; and his uptick in production actually stretches back to the matchup against the Houston Texans. Schoonmaker has delivered a combined 144 receiving yards to go along with a receiving touchdown on 14 catches, averaging a 73 percent catch rate over that span while averaging 11.4 yards per catch. For contrast, he had only 56 total yards and zero touchdowns in the previous nine games. “I just really wanna compliment Luke for all of the extra time he’s put in,” said head coach Mike McCarthy. “He’s some mistakes early, but there’s not a day when he’s not in here early — seven o’clock with his position coaches — and there’s not a day when he’s not staying afterwards. It’s refreshing when you see guys put in the extra time and get rewarded on gameday with their production. Cowboys get encouraging injury updates on Jake Ferguson, Trevon Diggs – Randy Gurzi, Dallas Cowboys on SI.com Trevon Diggs and Jake Ferguson being available Monday night would be huge for Dallas’ chances to win. Injuries have been a problem for the Dallas Cowboys throughout the season but they’re slowly getting healthier. While they won’t have Dak Prescott back this year, they’ve seen Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland return to full health. The defense took a step forward with those two at 100 percent, and the offense benefited from the return of Brandin Cooks in Week 13. Now, both sides of the ball might get another boost against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 14. Head coach Mike McCarthy said they’re hopeful the 10 days between games will lead to tight end Jake Ferguson returning after he missed the past two games with a concussion. He added that cornerback Trevon Diggs is progressing as he battles a groin injury. Diggs hasn’t played since Week 11, when the Cowboys lost to the Houston Texans 34-10. When he finally steps on the field, it will be the first time Dallas has had him and Bland together this season. Make no msitake, getting Ferguson back will be a huge boost for the offense, but there’s been a silver-lining with Ferguson sidelined. 2023 second-round pick Luke Schoonmaker has improved drastically, shedding his bust label in the process. What Cowboys must do to keep their slim playoff hopes alive – Jon Machota, The Athetic The Cowboys have a slim chance to make the postseason, but if they do these five things, the impossible may just happen. 2. More big plays The defense needs to continue getting big plays from its stars. That was the case against the Giants as Parsons looked like his old self rushing the passer and LB DeMarvion Overshown had maybe the play of the season for Dallas when he tipped a screen pass to himself and returned it for a pick six. That was also the case in Dallas’ win the week before at Washington. The Cowboys might not snap their losing streak without KaVontae Turpin’s 99-yard kickoff return

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images Brian Flores is a name to consider for 2025. The Cowboys have won two straight, which is enough to get Jerry Jones talking about potentially handing out a contract extension for embattled head coach Mike McCarthy. Still, the odds are extremely high that the team is looking for a new coach in about a month’s time. There are plenty of candidates that could be in the running, but just as there was a strong case to be made for the Cowboys betting on Dan Campbell the last time the Cowboys were hiring, there is a very compelling case to be made for hiring Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Defensive scheme vs the NFC The standard in Dallas is winning a Super Bowl, but you can’t do that without getting out of the NFC first. The Eagles, 49ers, and Lions currently stand out as the Cowboys’ top boogeymen when thinking about reaching the Super Bowl, and all three pose unique challenges offensively. Flores has quietly put up a great track record against them, most notably against 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. Flores’ career has seen really great results against a wide variety of coaches who use the Shanahan style offense, which is currently run by 10 of the 16 teams in the conference. Flores has been particularly great against Shanahan directly. As the Dolphins head coach, he beat San Francisco 43-17 in 2020, which saw the 49ers’ second-worst EPA/play of any game that year. Last season, as the Vikings defensive coordinator, Flores’ defense held the 49ers to their third-worst EPA/play of the year en route to a 22-17 victory. He did it again this year, with the Vikings winning 23-17 and (as of right now) holding them to their third-worst EPA/play of the year. Flores’ scheme is unlike any other in the league right now, which is what’s helped him have so much success. The longtime Patriots coach holds Bill Belichick as the philosophical foundation of his scheme, one that relies heavily on blitzing and tight man coverage. But Flores has tweaked his scheme with the Vikings, a result of brainstorming sessions with Pitt Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi during Flores’ season with the Steelers. Flores has incorporated several of Narduzzi’s time-tested concepts into his own scheme, particularly the use of hot blitzes from six-man fronts and a newfound reliance on quarters coverage, which has taken the league by storm as of late. That’s helped his scheme become an animal all of its own, and confuse just about every quarterback and coordinator along the way. The Cowboys could certainly use some of that on defense, especially if they have any hope of being able to contend with the high-powered offenses that stand in their way to a Super Bowl appearance. More than anything, arming a coach like Flores with a weapon like Micah Parsons may legitimately break the NFL. Outperforming expectations When Flores was first hired by the Dolphins in 2019, it was almost immediately reported that the team intended to tank that season in order to draft Tua Tagovailoa. Flores would later claim as much in his ongoing lawsuit against the NFL, and the moves Miami made – swapping Ryan Tannehill for Ryan Fitzpatrick, trading left tackle Laremy Tunsil, and setting an NFL record for most player transactions during the season – certainly backed up this theory. As such, the Dolphins started the year with extremely low expectations. Most betting lines had them winning between two and three games all year. Despite that, the team won five games, including their final two games of the year. Not just that, but Miami was 9-7 against the spread, a general indicator that they were punching well above their weight. The next season saw Flores’ Dolphins blossom into a genuine playoff contender, though they ultimately missed the postseason despite going 10-6. Even then, the Dolphins were 11-5 against the spread. A year later, they were 9-7-1 against the spread and finished the year with a 9-8 record despite Tagovailoa missing several games with an injury. Record against the spread isn’t perfect, but it does offer a fairly solid gauge of how often teams play better or worse than the betting markets expect. The fact that Flores was able to go 29-20-1 against the spread reflects a general ability to overperform expectations. His Dolphins teams also overperformed their season-long win total projections each year by at least a game. That ability to get the best out of his players – players like Xavien Howard, DeVante Parker, Mike Gesicki, Emmanuel Ogbah, Myles Gaskin, Jevon Holland, and Jakeem Grant all had career years under Flores and have struggled to replicate that success since – is a key ingredient necessary in the next head coach of the Cowboys, given the cautious manner in which this front office operates. Offensive scheme connections The biggest question around Flores becoming a head coach will center around his offensive coordinator hire. He had a different coordinator each season in Miami, and the offense never really rounded into form under his time there. That said, Flores has spent the past two seasons in Minnesota running the defense, working alongside head coach Kevin O’Connell, who calls offensive plays. O’Connell hails from the Sean McVay tree, working under him in Los Angeles before coming to Minnesota. As Flores’ name gains traction for various head coaching openings, so too is the belief that Flores has a list of coordinator candidates with ties to either O’Connell or McVay. A few names that could potentially be on that list include current Vikings quarterback coach and Dallas native Josh McCown, current Bears interim offensive coordinator and interim head coach Thomas Brown, Rams pass game specialist Nate Scheelhaase, and Rams pass game coordinator Nick Caley. In particular, Caley worked with Flores in New England before and has fielded several offers in the past for coordinator roles, but turned them down. Flores may not exclusively look to hire from the McVay tree but his

Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports Dak Prescott has advocated for Mike McCarthy to return in 2025. There are five weeks left in this NFL season. Time really does fly. At the moment it is still possible that the Dallas Cowboys are playing beyond that, but there is obviously a lot that would go into them reaching the playoffs at this point in time. Consensus is that when the regular season finishes, so will they. Whenever this season does come to a close for the Cowboys they are going to be faced with an important decision relative to the franchise: Who is going to be the head coach? We have talked ad nauseam for almost a full year now about Mike McCarthy and his future, and it is important to note that the reason this is the case is because the Cowboys specifically chose to charge into this season with him in the final year of his contract, knowing full well the elephant in the room that it would create. Lessons about last offseason’s entirety can be learned without having to fully re-litigate it, but for what it is worth there is one person who has voiced an opinion on the future head coach and it is the one who is currently signed with the team on the biggest contract in NFL history. Dak Prescott wants Mike McCarthy back, believes he deserves a chance ‘on his terms’ We can say right now that you would be hard pressed to find anyone associated with the Dallas Cowboys who would say that they want someone other than Mike McCarthy to be the head coach in 2025. Advocating for him can be a nice thing, but it does fall into the literalness of “what else do you expect them to say?” type of thing. Now that we have established this, it is certainly worth noting that Dak Prescott sat down with Yahoo Sports and publicly endorsed Mike McCarthy as the head coach of the Cowboys. “Your coach seems like he’s playing on his last contract and [I’m] almost feeling helpless like I can’t help him in this situation, especially a guy you believe in so much and you believe in being your head coach,” Prescott told Yahoo Sports during a Tuesday afternoon Zoom call. “Control what I can control, help and support Mike to every extent that I can.” … “I believe in him wholeheartedly,” Prescott said, speaking in partnership with DICK’S Sporting Goods. “I don’t want to necessarily get into the nuts and the screws of it all obviously, but I think he definitely deserves a chance — another contract and a chance to coach this team amongst more influence. ‘On his terms’ may be a good way to say it. “But I wholeheartedly believe in him.” The subject of Dak Prescott can be a divisive one, but something that should be included in any kind of thought with this whole subject is that he has shown a remarkable ability over his career to be very aware of his status as the quarterback for America’s Team. He is extremely cautious with what he says because he knows the attention that it generates. This is why it was so strange, to reference one example, when he publicly leaned into fans throwing debris at officials following the playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers (the first one). My point here is that he does not get caught saying something that he does not feel comfortable reaching the public sphere. Given this context, it is certainly notable that Prescott not only advocated for McCarthy, but that he specifically went as far as saying that Mike deserves a chance to coach the team “on his terms.” If you want to see the inflection which which Dak said it, and the pause for how he gathered his thoughts right before, you can go to the 1:05 mark of this clip. Prescott is specifically asked what he wants fans to know about his belief in McCarthy for further context. The Cowboys are 5-7 in final year of Mike McCarthy’s contract. Also: Dak wants Mike to return. https://t.co/UJgJAahO75 pic.twitter.com/8az1yztMYz — Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) December 3, 2024 Again, we do not need to re-hash the offseason, but it is not exactly a secret that it was a disaster for the Cowboys. It is not hyperbole to say that it set the head coach, Mike McCarthy clearly, up rather poorly. To reiterate again here, strapping him to the rocket and forcing him to blast off in a contract year was the ultimate ingredient to yield chaos and while the team has some good vibes going with a two-game winning streak right now (tied for their longest of the year) that is exactly what happened. Predictably. It is hard to imagine there is any accomplishable thing that McCarthy’s Cowboys could do across the rest of this season that would automatically warrant an extension. You can argue that if he wasn’t worth one following three consecutive 12-5 seasons, admittedly with an all-time bad playoff loss on top of it all, back in January that this season has only pushed him in the other direction. But perhaps there is some sense of guilt (lol) among the front office to the point where they feel like they have the right guy in place and just need to actually, oh I don’t know, do their jobs themselves so that he can be set up better. It seems Dak Prescott may somewhat agree.

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images Joe Burrow is going to be a tall test for the Cowboys defense. The Dallas Cowboys are now on a two-game winning streak after defeating two division rivals in the Washington Commanders and the New York Giants. The Cowboys were finally able to stack a few wins together after five straight losses largely due to improvements on the defensive side of the ball. The defense has done a great job keeping the team in it these past few games, holding the opposing offenses to 10 points or less each in the first three quarters of play. There is room for improvement in the fourth quarter to shut these games out, of course, but they’ve done enough to support this Cooper Rush-led offense. One of the major reasons for this improvement is a healthy Micah Parsons. Having a player like Parsons on the field is a surefire way to improve the defense. Looking at his individual stats, he contributed two sacks against the Commanders and 1.5 against the Giants. Now that teams are needing to focus on Parsons again, opportunities are opening for the players around him as well. As a whole, the defense logged four sacks against Washington and six against New York. For reference, the last time the Cowboys were able to get six sacks in a game was the season opener against the Cleveland Browns. A lot of different players are stepping up along with Parsons. Players like DeMarvion Overshown, Eric Kendricks, Osa Odighizuwa, Carl Lawson, Josh Butler, Mazi Smith and Donovan Wilson have each had their turn contributing to the sack count the past two games. It’s not just sacks either. The Cowboys defense is finally generating turnovers at a higher rate. Just a few weeks ago, the Dallas Cowboys were at the bottom of the league when it came to turnover ratio. During that five-game losing streak, the Cowboys had 14 turnovers with only four takeaways. These past two games, however, they were able to protect the ball with only one turnover while generating five takeaways. While the Cowboys defense has been improving this season, they will have to face one of the toughest challenges on Monday Night Football when they welcome the Cincinnati Bengals to AT&T Stadium. Now at 4-8, the Bengals’ record may be deceiving. Seven of their losses were lost by one score or less. If the wind had blown just a little bit in a different direction, this Bengals team could be looking at a much better record. In these losses, the Cincinnati offense has been doing their part to win football games with their defense coming up a bit short. In fact, the Bengals have the number one passing offense in the NFL when it comes to total passing yards and passing yards per game. They are also top five in total points scored and points per game. Those stats look a little daunting when considering that the Cowboys defense ranks 29th in total points allowed and points allowed per game. This game might be the biggest test yet for the Cowboys’ defense, but they may have a few things working in their favor. After this mini bye week, there is a longshot possibility that DeMarcus Lawrence may return to the defensive line this week, bolstering the pass rush alongside Parsons. Trevon Diggs is another name that has a chance to play on Monday and if so, it would be the very first time in over a year that Diggs and DaRon Bland will be on the field together, something every fan has been anxiously anticipating for weeks. There is no doubt the defense will have their work cut out for them against Joe Burrow’s high-flying offense that will look much different than the Drew Lock-led offense they faced on Thanksgiving. But if the defense is able to hold up their end of the deal, the Cowboys’ offense might have a shot at getting ahead against the Bengals’ defense. The Cowboys could have a real chance at earning their second home win of the season and third win in a row.