FRISCO, Texas – The Cowboys certainly opened the door the past two weeks for the Eagles to catch them in the NFC East standings.
However, Philadelphia hasn't seemed ready to walk through it, and remain one game behind the Cowboys with four weeks to play.
Still, veteran tight end Jason Witten admitted he appreciated the Dolphins beating Philly on Sunday to drop the Eagles to 5-7, but he knows where the focus needs to be.
"The biggest thing we've got to understand is that we have to play at the level we expect to be at," Witten said. "We have to fix ourselves and not worry about anything that's going on outside of us. I really believe that. It's nice that Miami won that game, there's no doubt about that, but we have to worry about us.
And just like Witten has full confidence that the Cowboys can turn this around and get back on track during December, he expects the Eagles to likely do the same, making it even more important that his team rights the ship.
"It's good to see that (Miami) won," Witten said. But (the Eagles) are a good football team and will be in the hunt down the stretch. We've got to play them in a few weeks."
Dak Prescott said he's heard the Cowboys are "fortunate" and "lucky" to still be in first place. But at this point, the quarterback said words – whether it's inside or outside the locker room – don't mean much.
"Talk is cheap," Prescott said. "It's about us going out there and executing at practice and doing it on Sunday … or Thursday."
Prescott also said that fiery speeches from the coaches and players "have a place" at certain times, but there shouldn't be a need for added motivation.
"If you need to be fired up at 6-6, this isn't the locker room for you," Prescott said.
The Cowboys have four games to play, starting Thursday in Chicago, which also enters the game at 6-6. After that, only the Rams (7-5) have a winning record among the Cowboys' remaining opponents. The Eagles will host the Cowboys on Dec. 22, followed by the struggling Redskins, who did win on the road at Carolina on Sunday.
"It's about us right now," Prescott said. "We really can't worry about anything else. It's about the guys in this locker room, and we know we have the men in here to get it done."
