Cowboys at Eagles: The good, the bad, and the ugly from Week 18

The highs and lows in Week 18 for the Dallas Cowboys.

The Dallas Cowboys completed the sweep of the NFC East division with the 51-26 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 18. While it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the Cowboys, it was a win that should boost their confidence now that the countdown for the playoffs has begun.

For the most part, Mike McCarthy and Company accomplished what they wanted to by playing the majority of their starters Saturday night. They needed to get the bad taste out of their mouths from the disappointing loss to the Cardinals a week ago and they did just that against their division rival. Make no mistake though, there was plenty of good, bad, and ugly to go around.

THE GOOD – Cedrick Wilson

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Dak Prescott definitely deserves credit for his career best five touchdown passes in Week 18 against the Philadelphia Eagles, but how could you not be impressed with Cedrick Wilson’s performance Saturday night? Five catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns from the Cowboys new WR3 is an encouraging sign No. 1 is more than capable of stepping in for the injured Michael Gallup. He may not be the deep threat Gallup was, but his versatility to do damage in the passing game at all three levels of the field could be the Cowboys secret weapon in the playoffs. Don’t be surprised if that’s exactly what happens.

THE BAD – Defense. Defense. Defense.

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Minus Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs, and Anthony Brown, the Cowboys starting defense played the majority of the game Saturday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. Sadly, it’s probably not the way they envisioned things going. Against what was pretty much the Eagles second-team offense, the Cowboys defense didn’t play very well at all. They were able to keep them out of the end zone for the most part, but struggled shutting down Philadelphia’s rushing attack and gave up way too many long drives. Hopefully their poor performance doesn’t end up being a hit to their confidence in the playoffs.

THE UGLY – Greg Zuerlein PATs

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It happened again. The disturbing trend of Cowboys kicker Greg Zuerlein missing a kick continued. Specifically, an extra point. Zuerlein has now missed six extra points on the season (42 for 48). He has also missed six field goals on the year. The Cowboys have covered over some of this with a prolific offense, but in the playoffs every single point is essential. Zuerlein could become a liability in the push for a Super Bowl.