The NFL is the ultimate league of parity. This is part of why we all love it so much. Anything can happen, on any given Sunday as some like to say, and the margins for error are so thin compared to other sports and leagues.
We see this play out in terms of how NFL games often end. It always feels like things come down to the wire and wins and losses rest on how teams handle those final moments. Are they able to rise above and get the touchdown or field goal that they need, or can the defense lock in and get a stop?
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These margins are thin as noted. The points of drama described often result in games ending with one team winning by a single score. Being able to be positive in that category is a big deal across the totality of a given season.
The Cowboys must fare better in one-possession games
As far as the Dallas Cowboys are concerned there is certainly room for improvement on the one-possession front. Last year was a mixed bag in that regard.
There were seven games played by the Cowboys last season that were ultimately decided by a single score.
In total the Cowboys went 3-3-1 in one possession games last season, but it is important to note that some of these require a lot more context.
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Consider the Giants win was a back and forth affair. That is a true and classic one-possession game where the Cowboys were fortunate to hold the ball last and win on a Brandon Aubrey field goal. Another win they had though, the 24-21 victory over the Eagles, came after Philadelphia blew a 21-0 lead. That was fun and awesome, but those things are pretty unlikely and hard to count on. That should have been a loss and easily should have been one is the point.
You can also point to the win against the Commanders as one that Dallas had taken care of before garbage time, and similarly the Cowboys were never really in it against Minnesota. The losses to the Eagles and Panthers were the ones that it feels fair to play the “if” game about, and we can certainly toss the Packers tie into that mix as well.
Imagine if those broke the other way? Imagine if the Cowboys were able to right one possession there to change their entire fortunes. They’d have gone from 7-9-1 on the season as a whole to 10-7 and would have been right in the mix. Of course, if they’d lost the Eagles game that they won then things stabilize a bit.
Simply put, you can’t be .500 or worse in games of this magnitude. You have to find a way to win more than you don’t.
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That is a big challenge for this team in 2026.
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