Dallas Cowboys: 5 Reasons they can win Super Bowl 53
By Randy Gurzi
5. The defense is borderline elite
What carried the Cowboys for the majority of the 2018 NFL Season was their defense. They finished the season sixth in total points surrendered and seventh in yardage. Never was their talent on display better than their Week 13 Thursday Night Football win over the New Orleans Saints.
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The Saints entered the game with a record of 10-1 and Dallas had just moved to 6-6 with a win over the Washington Redskins the week prior. Most expected that to be a loss but they somehow held the high-scoring Saints to just 10 points and they ended up winning despite their own struggles on offense.
While they never put up another performance of that level, the defense showed that night how dominant they can be. With stars like DeMarcus Lawrence, Jaylon Smith, and Leighton Vander Esch, they can match up against any offense in the NFL.
In Weeks 16 and 17, they also had a couple of turnovers, which has been the one thing keeping them from being elite. As good as they have been about slowing offenses down, they haven’t come up with a lot of big takeaways. Against Tampa Bay in Week 16, they did that and even had a fumble recovery for a touchdown by Jaylon Smith. Against the Giants in Week 17, Chidobe Awuzie picked off an Eli Manning pass in the end zone to erase points.
Should they enter the playoffs and still find ways to take the ball away, this defense could carry them far in the playoffs.