Things looked pretty doom and gloom for the Dallas Cowboys after their Week 1 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
Not only did they muster up just three points in a gutting 19-3 loss to Tampa Bay, but they also lost star quarterback Dak Prescott for the foreseeable future with a thumb injury.
The Cowboys have managed to stay afloat in the NFC East thanks to some competent play from backup quarterback Cooper Rush and their dominant defensive unit.
The Cowboys are now betting favorites to make a run to the playoffs this year following their 23-16 win over the New York Giants on Monday Night Football.
Dallas Cowboys Odds to Make the Playoffs
Per DraftKings, the Cowboys are now -140 favorites to make the postseason, with the odds set at +115 that they don’t make it past the regular season.
Nevertheless, the Cowboys are pretty sizable underdogs to beat out the Philadelphia Eagles to win the NFC East.
Even with Rush proving to be a serviceable backup, the Cowboys know that their best chance to reach their goals this season is to get Prescott back ASAP. Prescott sounded like it was a possibility (albeit not likely) that he returns for the division matchup with the Washington Commanders in Week 4.
“He said it feels great,” Lisa Salters reported during MNF. “He was gonna go talk to the doctor right after and hopefully get the green light to start gripping and throwing the football again.
“When I asked him when he’s thinking he might be back, he said ‘a couple of weeks, and I’m counting this as one of them.'”
It’s still much more likely that Prescott and the Cowboys are targeting Week 5 against the Los Angeles Rams as the earliest that the QB could return from injury. That would give Rush one more week to try to keep the Cowboys in position to make a playoff run this year.
Either way, owner Jerry Jones has to be pleased with he direction of his football team given how disastrous week 1 was.
