Cowboys Country

‘Milk & Cheese’: Cowboys Look Like NFL Playoff Team in Crushing Panthers

The Cowboys and Panthers on Sunday put to the test the belief in the importance of three early wins.

Mike Fisher

ARLINGTON - A few days ago, a media member asked Dak Prescott about the possibility of the Dallas Cowboys’ good start to the season becoming a dangerous ego-inflator - about “eating the cheese,” as Bill Parcells used to caution his teams.

The always-polite quarterback gently scoffed, reminding the scribe that we were just entering Week 4 of the in-its-infancy NFL season.

But then, with a sort of friendly snarl, Dak added:

“When it’s bad, y’all make it way worse than it is. Right? So when it’s good, y’all hype it up to be something better than it is.”

He’s got us there. And after Sunday’s 36-28 AT&T Stadium win over the Carolina Panthers? Heck, why not have fun “hyping up” 3-1?

Offensive leader Dak is in charge of the “cheese.” Defensive leader Micah Parsons, though just a rookie, is in charge of the “milk.”

And like Ezekiel Elliott accurately predicted, “Everybody can eat!”

Here’s the entire smorgasbord: Cowboys history - 61 years of it - says at 3-1 they now own a 70-percent chance of winning the NFC East and making the NFL Playoffs.

Since 1960, the Cowboys have started a season 3-1 on 23 occasions. Only on seven of those times did they miss the playoffs. And when they flipped, it was generally driven by extenuating circumstances – mostly quarterback injuries and/or changes.

In 1961, Coach Tom Landry’s shuffling of QBs Eddie LeBaron and Don Meredith turned a 3-1 start into a 4-9-1 finish.

In 1984, Landry did the same with the wobbly usage of Danny White and Gary Hogeboom.

In 1986, White broke his wrist.

In 1987, there was a strike.

In 2008, Tony Romo missed three key games, replaced by Brad Johnson.

But the 2021 Cowboys QB situation? Knock on wood, especially after Prescott’s 2020 season-ending injury catastrophe, but this year’s Cowboys have nothing at the position except for consistent efficiency.

Here, Prescott completed 14 of 22 for 18 yards and four touchdowns and engineered an offense that totaled 432 yards.

Obviously, he’s getting help. On offense, Elliott and the “Everbody Can Eat” approach meant Elliott darting and plowing for 143 yards rushing and a score. It meant receiver Amari Cooper, sidelined for a first-quarter moment with a hamstring problem, returning to grab a TD reception, with Ced Wilson also catching one.

It meant TD production from both tight ends, Blake Jarwin and Dalton Schulz.

And on defense, Parsons - “Pure as Mother’s Milk,” as owner Jerry Jones says - was part of a gang that featured five sacks - including a Parsons sack, a Tarell Basham sack and two sacks from WD-40'ed Randy Gregory, plus two more interceptions - his fourth and fifth in four games - from NFC Defensive Player of the Month cornerback Trevon Diggs.

But again, look at the Cowboys’ 3-1 history and look at how it’s knotted with QB play.

Ten different times, a 3-1 start has propelled the Cowboys to at least the conference championship game, including four appearances in the Super Bowl.

The Roger Staubachs can do that for a franchise. The Troy Aikmans can, too. And now? Forget the mercurial views of the media and the public: History says maybe the Dak Prescotts can do it as well. 

The milk. The cheese. The smorgasbord. It's all on the table.

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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983 and the Dallas Cowboys since 1990, is the author of two best-selling books on the Cowboys.

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