What a wild ride it was for the Cowboys this past season, enduring so many ups and downs and twists and turns along the way. For the most part, it was an enjoyable journey for this Cowboys team that found a way to rally from a 3-5 start to win eight of nine games, including a postseason victory over Seattle.
But the season ended painfully in Los Angeles, leaving Cowboys Nation hungry for more.
Before we turn the page completely on this season, let's go back and recall some of the best moments, players, games and individual plays that made the season so memorable. Let's also start focusing on the offseason plans and try to see how the Cowboys can take the next step in 2019.
The staff writers of DallasCowboys.com have put together a 10-part series – Under Review – which continues today with the best game of the 2018 season.
Nick Eatman: Any one of the two Eagles games are huge. The one in Philly started the winning streak when it appeared all hope was lost. But the win at home was the biggest win for me. That was the game after New Orleans when it would've been easy to have a letdown. Instead the defense was amazing to start the game and carried the offense. Then the scripts flipped and Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper got hot and eventually won the game in overtime. Let's not forget a record-setting 62-yard field goal by Brett Maher. Add it all up and it was a complete victory, a complete sweep of the Eagles and a win that put the Cowboys in position to win the NFC East.
David Helman: People tend to associate great games with high point totals and last-second scores, but I'm not sure I've seen a more amazing performance than what the Dallas defense put together on Nov. 29 against the Saints. This was the NFC favorite. The team with the Hall of Fame quarterback, and the team that was a blown pass interference call away from the Super Bowl. The Cowboys didn't just beat them, they held them to an offensive output never before seen during the Sean Payton/Drew Brees era. The Saints finished with 176 yards and 10 points. Brees threw for just 127 yards – 111 if you account for the two times the Hot Boyz put him on the ground. Alvin Kamara, who has been so deadly since he arrived in New Orleans, was essentially a non-factor. It didn't matter that the Dallas offense was inconsistent. The Cowboys scored enough points to win – which was only 13, as it turns out. For the nail biter to end with an interception from Jourdan Lewis, who had been so seldom seen in the first half of the season, was icing on the cake. I'm not exaggerating when I say it was one of the greatest defensive performances I've ever seen, and it made for a hell of a game.
Bryan Broaddus: As great as the victory against the Saints was, I thought the game against the Falcons was just as sweet. To the Cowboys' credit they came out focused and ready to play. Defensively they were able to hold Matt Ryan and Julio Jones in check while the offense was able to have some success. It took a final drive from Prescott and company to win the game, and after what they went through the previous year against the Falcons, there was no better measure of revenge as when Brett Maher's kick sailed between those uprights. You could see the weight of the world lifted off Prescott's shoulders that afternoon.
