The Panthers may have been three-point favorites, but I don’t think anyone thought Carolina would be a field goal better than Dallas – that day, or any day this season, or in the last few years. Sure, the Cowboys have had a rough year, but it’s not at this level.

For me, this game was about whether the Cowboys would respond properly after suffering a demoralizing loss to the Bengals that all but eliminated any chance of making the playoffs.

So now you go to Carolina, where it’s the coldest game of the season, and you face a Panthers team that doesn’t really win, but plays hard and faces teams that are much better than the Cowboys to a closer score achieve.

The stars were set on the Panthers coming out, overcoming the slump, winning this game and beating a Dallas team that can’t catch a break due to injuries.

I heard a great analogy before the game that we’ll see a lot of over the next two weeks. That games like this are similar to college bowl games. Sometimes it just comes down to which team is happier to be there, or in this case, which team has more will to win.

But as with everything in sports, it still comes down to talent, and more specifically the number of playmakers a team has. The Cowboys have had much better players despite seemingly losing a key player every week – this time it’s Trevon Diggs for the season.

But they still had CeeDee Lamb, playing with a shoulder injury, who was still the best offensive player on the field.

The Cowboys still had Micah Parsons and Osa Odighizuwa on defense, with Parsons getting another multi-sack game. For me, however, Osa’s sack and forced fumble on the first play of the third quarter was the difference – and ended any false hope the Panthers had of winning this game after halftime.

Let’s face it, the Cowboys ended the first half in a very 2024-esque way – just one of those “Are you kidding me?” type ends where Cooper Rush fumbled the ball and had a chance to make it either 13-0 or with To take a 17-0 lead. Instead, not only do the Panthers get the ball, but a miss in coverage gives Carolina an 83-yard touchdown, surprisingly remaining in the game with a deficit of just 10-7.

And to get the ball early in the third quarter, the Panthers had a chance to capitalize, but Osa’s sack on the first play, which led to a fumble recovery, was the wake-up call Dallas needed. The Cowboys got the ball back, scored with a touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert, followed by another stop and another score, and it’s 24-7, where it should be.