Dallas Cowboys

Cowboys Jason Garrett can use Vikings win as a motivational tool

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

How Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Gar0rett can use his team’s close win over the Minnesota Vikings as motivation moving forward.

A win is a win, right? No matter how you get it. That was likely the prevailing sentiment following the Dallas Cowboys hard-fought 17 to15 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night. The contest was primarily a defensive battle with a total of 13 points being scored in the first three quarters.

It was a type of game that the now 11-1 Cowboys weren’t necessarily accustom to. But they found a way to win anyway. And that could be a great motivator moving forward.

The Cowboys 11-game winning streak has primarily been lead by the team’s offensive unit. Leading the charge have been two rookies behind the league’s most dominate offensive line. But both quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott were held in check most of the Week 13 game by the Vikings’ defense.

Prescott ended the night completing just 12 of his limited 18 passes for 139 yards and one score. Elliott rushed for just 86 yards, his lowest rushing total since Week Two. Zeke also had a touchdown on the ground.

Despite their struggles, Dallas was still able to pull out a “W”. And according to one former NFL executive, Thursday’s tough win is a positive thing that the Cowboys coaching staff can use as a motivation tool going into the postseason.

“Jason Garrett has the greatest thing going for him,” Michael Lombardi told Colin Cowherd on the FS1 show Speak For Yourself on Friday. “He can sit there and put those numbers up in front of his team and say ‘Guys, we played crappy. We’ve got to get better. We won, but we need to get better.’ And that’s a great motivating tool the help your team get better.”

Lombardi concluded by saying: “That win for Jason Garrett on the plane ride home was a way to tell his team: ‘Look guys, we’re good. We gave them our C game and we won. And that’s a playoff team, caliber-type talent team. And we won the game. We’re good.”

This latest Cowboys’ win was made more impressive due to the fact they won it on the road against a tough Vikings defense in a playoff-type environment. Although there are plenty of mistakes and issues that both the media and fans alike can dissect that were poor about Dallas’ latest effort, there’s hope in the fact the Cowboys still garnered the victory despite the odds.