They happen more often in the NFL than anyone would like to admit. You have to win some games that you shouldn’t win. This is true because what we are also trying to avoid in reality is that you will inevitably lose some games that you should win.

No one is going to pretend that the Super Bowl was won on an early October evening in Pittsburgh. This is especially the case when you’re fighting a shadow the size of your global brand, like the Dallas Cowboys are.

Ultimately, the Cowboys won on Sunday night against a Pittsburgh Steelers team that refused to capitalize on the opportunities presented to them. Consider that Dallas turned the ball over a total of three times thanks to Dak Prescott. It was only the fourth time in the Mike McCarthy era that they had done so and gone home victorious.

As we always do, now that we’ve had a day to think about it (and not much sleep given the delay nonsense), we’ve put together some thoughts on it.

These are decisive victories

As mentioned, these gains are huge. They are differentiators. Literally, they turn a 10-7 season into an 11-6 season. You have to find a way to eradicate them.

The fact that you are able to do this is the mark of a great team. That’s not to say that the Cowboys Are A great team, but if they want to have a chance of being seen as one when we’ve fallen behind and are wearing hoodies on a regular basis then they need to pile up wins like this.

In addition, things have obviously gone rather poorly for Dallas due to injuries. Keep in mind that Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, DaRon Bland and Brandin Cooks were all missing from this game. Add Caelen Carson if you like. Remember that Marshawn Kneeland left early and that Tyler Guyton also left before the tension fully mounted. Finally, consider how little the front office did with the roster (the roster that we just acknowledged some weaknesses in) over the course of the offseason. It was a difficult scene to say the least.

But somehow the Cowboys won. On top of that, they won on a night where their quarterback was probably pretty upset with the way he played individually in all but the most crucial moments of the game. I’ve seen many generally equate it to the infamous win over the Buffalo Bills in 2007, when we were far less jaded than we are today. They don’t need reminding that the 2007 team won 13 games, and a big reason for that was the accumulation of games they weren’t supposed to have.

This was a huge deal and a huge testament to the fact that the Cowboys can say enough is enough and go out and get a win. We didn’t know if they had that in them. Apparently they do.

The defensive performance was incredibly surprising and impressive

Before Sunday night, you didn’t have to look far to find derogatory information or statistics about the defense. It’s a stretch to call them one of the worst defenses in the NFL.

Much of this could have been (and was) boiled down to effort. Dallas was among the worst tackling teams in the NFL through the first four weeks of the season, suggesting they were comfortable watching opposing players run past them into congratulatory arms while feeling sorry for themselves . Enter Mike Zimmer.

The record shows that I’m skeptical of this attitude and situation overall, but there’s no denying that Zim had the guys ready to rock in Pittsburgh. Was there a single missed tackle? If so, it was irrelevant. And even if the Cowboys had an oopsie or two, we can certainly forgive that given how many toys Mike Zimmer didn’t get to play like he was originally promised.

It was a masterclass in making lemonade with the proverbial lemons.

Ensuring a .500 record on the bye week is highly underrated

The Cowboys are on a winning streak for the first time this season, but if we’re honest with ourselves, it’s unlikely to increase since they have a date with the Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon. Keep in mind that the Cowboys are Detroit’s home underdog in the opening odds.

While the Cowboys are undefeated on the road this year, they are looking for their first win on home soil since defeating these same Lions in the penultimate game of the regular season last year. Anything is possible and “any given Sunday” and all that jazz, but it wouldn’t be shocking for Dallas to lose.

That’s why it was so important to get this win and take it to where we were. With the bye (a very necessary one) following the Lions game, the Cowboys are assured that, worst-case scenario, they will come into the game with a .500 record. The San Francisco 49ers will be waiting for Dallas to get out of this phase, which as we know is a test among tests for this group, but all of that and anything beyond that would look and feel a lot more treacherous and honest said would be much more treacherous if the Cowboys came out of their off week with a 2-4 record.