Dallas Cowboys (6-6)
at
Chicago Bears (6-6)
Chicago Bears 31, Dallas Cowboys 24
Chicago surely is not a fun place for road teams to play, but that is especially true in December for warm weather teams. And while Dallas is hardly like Hawaii during the wintertime, it also is a far cry from the brutal cold that the Windy City is known for. It helps the Bears win football games sometimes, especially when the team is good.
And right now, the Bears are looking very good.
Dallas actually outgained the Bears in yards, 408 to 382. They also did not commit any turnovers, while the Bears had two. And the two teams were mostly even on first downs.
But the Bears hung onto the football for just a bit longer. And Mitchell Trubitsky had an awesome day, completing 23 of 31 passes for 244 yards, with three touchdowns, and one interception. He also had a spectacular run for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, which more or less iced the win for Chicago. J.P. Holtz had three catches for 56 yards. And David Montgomery ran for 86 yards on 20 carries.
In a losing cause for Dallas, Dak Prescott completed 27 of 49 passes for 334 yards and one touchdown. Michael Gallup reeled in six passes for 109 yards. And on the ground, Ezekiel Elliott picked up 81 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. They started off in a very promising manner, too, hanging onto the ball for nearly nine minutes to start the game, ina drive that resulted in a touchdown and an early 7-0 lead. Still, it was not enough. The Bears had 24 unanswered points, until the Cowboys finally got on the scoreboard again in the fourth quarter. Dallas actually scored 17 points in the fourth to kind of make a game of it and give themselves somewhat of a chance, although it was a classic case of too little, too late.
With the win, the Bears improve to 7-6 on the year, but have tough games remaining. They will travel to Lambeau to face the division leading Packers, before playing their last home game when they host the Chiefs. Then, their final regular season game is at Minnesota, to face the Vikings. Most likely, Chicago will need to win all three games in order to barely qualify for the playoffs, and they would likely need some help, at that.
As for Dallas, they fall to 6-7, with their third straight loss. It is an untimely losing streak, as even one more win would put them in very favorable position to capture the NFC East. They are still alone in first place in the division for now, although the Eagles have a chance to tie them with a win at the Giants on Monday Night Football. The two teams will face one another in Philly in a couple of weeks, although the Cowboys next play the Rams in Dallas. They will finish their season out with a home game against Washington. The meeting at Philadelphia may very well be for the division title, although the NFC East certainly looks like the worst division in the entire league right now. Every single team in the division has a losing record, and this might be one of those rare instances where we see a division winner (coming from the NFC East) hosting a playoff game despite a losing record.
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