Without a doubt, the two biggest winners from last week's game will square off this Sunday in Buffalo. The Cowboys are coming off a huge win over the Eagles to pull even in the NFC East standings while the Bills upset the Chiefs in a wild ending that has been discussed throughout the week.
Here are the 10 big storylines for the week, with five for the Bills and five for the Cowboys.
Bills
- Lost in the craziness that occurred in Kansas City where Chiefs receiver Kadarius Toney lined up offside on a play that negated a potential game-winning touchdown, is the fact that Buffalo actually won the game and upset the defending Super Bowl champs on the road. The Bills nearly knocked off the Eagles on the road the previous week before the losing in overtime. So clearly, despite Buffalo's 7-6 record, the Bills are playing at a high level, especially against some of the NFL's top teams.
- Quarterback Josh Allen is among the leaders in several categories, but it's not always a good thing. While he's seventh in the NFL in passing yards with 3,774 and third in rushing among QBs with 374, Allen is also tied for the league-lead with 14 interceptions, including one in nine straight games.
- This was supposed to be the Brother vs. Brother matchup between Stefon and Trevon Diggs. But an ACL injury to the Cowboys cornerback has prevented their first-ever NFL battle for now. The Bills receiver is coming off his lowest receiving total of the season. Despite the Bills' win over the Chiefs, Diggs had just 24 receiving yards on four catches. He was targeted 11 times, the eighth game this year in which he's had at least 11 targets.
- The Bills haven't been as dominant at home as the Cowboys, who are the only team in the NFL with an undefeated mark in their own stadium, but the Bills are 5-1 in Buffalo, with only a last-second loss to Denver. The Bills were technically the home team for a loss to the Jaguars in London earlier this season.
- Injuries are catching up to most teams at this point in the season. For the Bills, safety Micah Hyde has been listed as "week to week" by head coach Sean McDermott after exiting the game Sunday in Kansas City with a stinger in his neck. Hyde has been bothered by neck injuries earlier this season. Tight end Dalton Kincaid is battling a shoulder injury and defensive end A.J. Epenesa left last week's game with a rib injury.
Cowboys
- The Cowboys are arguably the hottest team in the NFL after dismantling the Eagles by 20 points at home Sunday night, 33-13. That gives the Cowboys five straight victories and seven out of eight since an embarrassing loss at San Francisco. The Cowboys are 10-3, and technically in first place of the NFC East right now, although they'll still have work to do to claim the top spot in the division and/or conference. The Cowboys would still need the 49ers and Eagles to lose a game to overtake them in the overall standings.
- Regardless if the Cowboys get the No. 1 seed in the NFC, it appears Dak Prescott is now the leading candidate to win NFL MVP – at least with four games to play. This can change on a week-to-week basis but after winning five straight games, Dak has his team playing better than we've seen in several years.
- Can we go ahead and give NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors to Brandon Aubrey … again? Aubrey has now made 30 straight field goals, shattering the NFL record for most made kicks to start a career. Aubrey became the first kicker in league history to make two field goals of 59 yards or more in the same game with his stellar performance against the Eagles. He also added two more field goals, outscoring the Eagles by himself (15-13).
- Sunday night's win over the Eagles had plenty of storylines from Dak to Aubrey to just beating the Eagles and tying them in the division. But don't overlook Micah Parsons, who was added to the injury report with an illness but still played and recorded the Cowboys' only sack of the game. Parsons now has 12.5 sacks for the season, becoming just the second player in NFL history to have at least 12 in each of their first three seasons. Only Hall of Famer Reggie White has also accomplished that feat.
- The Cowboys have some injury concerns as well, including defensive tackle Jonathan Hankins, who has a high-ankle sprain. While Cowboys chief operating officer Stephen Jones said this week he didn't think Hankins' injury is severe, he could miss a couple of games. That should likely give more playing time for rookie Mazi Smith.
