FRISCO, Texas -- AT&T Stadium, the home venue of the Dallas Cowboys, doesn't get the same public recognition for being a raucous environment with plenty of on-field success. The Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium and the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field are two that regularly come up in those discussions.
However, neither of those teams has the NFL's longest active home winning streak. That belongs to the Cowboys, who have won 11 straight games dating back to last season. Dallas' 11 consecutive home victories are the franchise's longest streak since it also won 11 in a row spanning from 1991-92, the latter season being the first of its three Super Bowl championship years in the 1990s. Only the franchise's stretch of 18 consecutive home wins from 1979-81 under Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Tom Landry is a longer such streak than the one Mike McCarthy's Cowboys are currently on.
"We love playing at home," McCarthy said Monday. "We have played very well at home, and I think it's important to come off [the 28-23 loss at the Eagles] game. This was a heavyweight fight. We got some guys that we'll be smart with, go lighter Wednesday. ... We have another division game. It's important for us to get back in the win column and keep the home field advantage going."
Dallas has won its three home games -- against the New York Jets in Week 2 (30-10), the New England Patriots in Week 4 (38-3) and the Los Angeles Rams in Week 8 (43-20) -- by combined margin of 111-33, making it the first team since the 2007 Pittsburgh Steelers to win each of its first three home games by 20 or more points.
Cowboys by location this season
| HOME | ROAD | |
|---|---|---|
W-L | 3-0* | 2-3 |
PPG | 37.0* | 21.8 |
PPG allowed | 11.0* | 21.8 |
Point differential | +78* | -6 |
Total YPG | 382.0 | 325.2 |
Total YPG allowed | 249.3* | 311.2 |
Turnover margin | +7* | -2 |
Third-down percentage | 51.1%* | 44.1%* |
Time of possession | 37:37* | 28:42 |
*Top five in NFL
AT&T Stadium, most famous for its massive jumbotron, can hold up to 105,000 people, including standing room-only tickets, and has had a little more than 93,000 fans in attendance at the Cowboys' three home games this season. Dallas is averaging 93,618 fans per home game this season, the most in the NFL. It will play host to the 2-7 New York Giants on Sunday.
"Well, I think you start with the crowd, the stadium, the environment," McCarthy said Wednesday. There's a routine to it, and I think we've actually adjusted our routine some in the last year and a half, and I think it's probably worked as a good flow, That's the oldest formula that's out there: win all your home games and you split on the road then we're probably getting to the playoffs."
Cowboys two-time first-team All-Pro linebacker Micah Parsons agreed with McCarthy in that the streak starts with the largest crowd in the entire NFL.
"One it starts with having the best fans in the world," Parsons said Thursday when asked about what motivates him entering this week with their fourth home game of the year. "Cowboy nation shows up every time. So shout out to them for the extra motivation right there."
Some sports, like baseball, are famously known to be superstitious when it comes to successful streaks like the run of winning Dallas has been on at home dating back to last season. However, Cowboys players fully admit to being aware of the streak, something they wear with pride.
"100%," tight end Jake Ferguson said Wednesday when asked if the team takes pride in the streak. "People are trying to come into our stadium and get a win. It's not just winning and losing. It's our fans there. Our fans packing the house. Not only are we trying to win for ourselves, but we're also winning for Dallas. I don't want to say there's a little bit more confidence, that sounds off, but when you have that many people cheering you on and going against the other team, it's that much harder to hear when they're on offense. That's energy," Ferguson said. "That energy drives us to play a little better maybe. It definitely is a little bit nicer playing at home."
McCarthy, who is in his 30th year as an NFL coach and his 17th as an NFL head coach, made two key changes to his team's home game preparation routine last season that have helped contribute to the 11-game home winning streak: allowing players to sleep at home instead of a team hotel, and making sure all of their team meetings are done by Saturday afternoon. Many NFL teams have their entire team sleep at a hotel and bus into the stadium for home games in order to ensure every player is accounted for the night before a game. McCarthy has opted to provide Cowboys players the option to be at their own place or stay at a team hotel, a freedom that is clearly having positive results.
"Great environment," Dak Prescott said Thursday. "Great scheduling by Coach, sleeping in our own beds. And that's for real. Yeah, and then showing up to the stadium, feeling the energy, everybody really using that. And then just, it's a standard that, honestly, Coach set when he came in. You win every game at home and you go and try to win more than half on the road and that usually puts you in a great position to win the division and have a great seed. So, that's, No. 1 the formula, and then No. 2, guys come in ready to go. That locker room is always jumping, excited. It's fun. Fun place to play obviously when you put the fans in it and they're getting going and we can get up on offense. The crowd gets going for the defense, allows them to go hunt these quarterbacks, it's a great thing."
Prescott, a 30-year-old, eight-year NFL veteran, genuinely believes the players having the ability to sleep in their own beds makes a significant difference in how everyone is feeling on game day. The other component of McCarthy's philosophic shift that has helped power the streak is getting all of the Cowboys' final preparation meetings done Friday and early Saturday, allowing his players the ability to leave the team facility by lunchtime the day before the game.
"You're sleeping in your bed. It's as simple as that. Hotel beds are solid, but they're not Sleep Number," Prescott joked because he has an endorsement deal with the adjustable bed/mattress company. "Seriously, it is big, honestly. The schedule from when we break this thing on Saturday, we break it early for the most part, and you're not coming back late at night to do a meeting. We leave this thing by lunch on Saturday with the game plan, and you get to go home, maybe look over some film hungry to go and you get to the stadium and it's go time. It's great playing at home. We're going to keep that streak going. That's the standard, protect home field. Nobody comes in here and takes that from us. It's about us this week."
There are many reasons why it's easy for Prescott and others to say it's about what the Cowboys do Sunday against the 2-7 Giants because as long as Dallas doesn't catch the turnover bug, it is going to win. It defeated the G-Men, 40-0, in Week 1 on "Sunday Night Football" -- the largest shutout win in Cowboys history. The G-Men are averaging an NFL-worst 11.2 points per game this season, its fewest through its first nine games of a season season since 1976, when the team started 0-9. Prescott has won his last 11 starts against the Cowboys' NFC East rival, which is tied for the longest quarterback winning streak versus the Giants since at least 1950 with Cowboys Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach.
Dak Prescott's last 11 starts vs. Giants
| Production vs. Giants during 11-start win streak | |
|---|---|
W-L | 11-0 |
Team PPG | 31.5 |
Comp Pct | 66.5% |
Pass YPG | 263.5 |
TD-INT | 22-5 |
Passer Rating | 107.1 |
"You have to understand that they have the same tape [from the first outing] to try and make corrections," Prescott said. "That was Game No. 1. They've changed some things since then. They want to play in different ways. ... For us, it's about us continuing to grow and for us to get better."
The biggest change for the Giants since losing against the Cowboys in Week 1 is at quarterback. Daniel Jones, who the team signed to a four-year, $160 million contract this past offseason, is out for the season with a torn ACL, and backup Tyrod Taylor is on injured reserve with a rib injury. That means undrafted rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito will make his first-career start down in Texas on Sunday. He has completed 17 of 27 career passes for 174 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions to go along with 29 rushing yards in two games played.
"Never overlook an opponent," Parsons said. "We see where that got us this year (losing 28-16 at the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3). We're staying grounded coming off of a rough loss. This game has a lot more importance to it, and it's a divisional game. [DeVito's] an active quarterback. He can throw it a little bit, makes some good passes. Good use of his legs. He's very similar to Daniel Jones and other mobile quarterbacks that we face."
Whether or not Jones was going to play Sunday, priority No. 1 for the Dallas defense is shutting down Giants two-time Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley, whose 388 rushing yards since Week 6 lead the NFL. The next closest player to his total, Miami Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert, has nearly 100 yards fewer (291).
"Saquon is the heartbeat of that team," Parsons said. "We all know that he is the one that kind of carries the load for that team. We have to try our best to force the rookie to take over the game, try and take Saquon out of it. We know he's an elite weapon and continues to cause trouble for the league, so we have our hands full this week."
Given Dallas is currently 17-point favorites, which makes it the biggest favorite of the 2023 season, it is focused on itself and doing its best to have blinders on entering a game that should be walk in the park.
"I think the biggest thing is in this type of game is just really keeping your eye on the ball," McCarthy said. "We need to get win number six. We need to improve from last week. Our emphasis is on the details and little things. So, fact of the matter is we're playing at home, and we just need to take care of business."
