
Coming out of their bye week, the Dallas Cowboys won convincingly against the Las Vegas Raiders. That win was a confidence booster, but no one was sold since it was "just the Raiders."
The real test came next, as they had to face the Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, and Detroit Lions over 12 days. That daunting schedule could have broken this team, but that's not what happened.
Dallas reeled off wins against the Eagles and Chiefs, the two teams that squared off in Super Bowl LIX. First, it was the Eagles, whom the Cowboys defeated with a fourth-quarter comeback. They then knocked off the Chiefs by making key plays in the final quarter to hold off Patrick Mahomes during his comeback attempt.
After those wins, head coach Brian Schottenheimer discussed their confidence to get the job done, knowing his team owns the final quarter.
"We'll play anybody, anywhere," Schottenheimer said, via the team's official website. "I think you can see that by what we've done the last couple of weeks.
"The moment's not too big for us, we just play. And then we know the fourth quarter's going to come, and when the fourth quarter comes, we know we're going to find a way to win. And I think you just keep doing that."
Schottenheimer added that they're not worried about who they play. In fact, he likes taking on the best teams, saying they know they can win against anyone by knocking off Super Bowl winners.
"I've heard everybody talk about, 'Oh hey, they've got to play the Eagles, and then they got to play the Chiefs, and then the Lions and the Vikings.' We're going to play it. We'll play anybody," Schottenheimer said.
"And the reason you play those games is because if we do have a chance and we do get into the playoffs, it proves to you that you're beating teams that have been in the Super Bowl. You beat teams that have won championships. And that gives all the guys in that room all the confidence in the world to go play anybody in the world."
Dallas looks to make it four in a row when they head to Detroit in Week 14. If they can pull that off, it will be hard for anyone to hurt their confidence.
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