The Cowboys needed a win to keep their faint playoff hopes alive and Rod Smith clearly got that memo, because he responded by having the biggest game of his career.
Not only did the Dallas running back rush for 47 yards and a touchdown, but he also caught five passes for 113 yards and another touchdown in the Cowboys' 30-10 win over the Giants on Sunday.
The 160 total yards by Smith was just slightly more than his previous career high of 66. You know you have an unlikely hero when even he's somewhat surprised by his numbers, and that was Smith after the game when he found out that he totaled 160 yards.
"I didn't know that," Smith said, via quotes distributed by the team. "It felt good, it felt good. I'm really out there just being me. I'm not trying to do too much to tweak, nothing too special. Just out there playing my game and they gave me an opportunity and I'm definitely going to take full advantage of it."
Although this came against the lowly Giants -- who have turned into a circus over the past two weeks -- it's still huge for the Cowboys for multiple reasons.
For one, it keeps them in the thick of the NFC playoff race. At 7-6, the Cowboys are only one game out of the No. 6 seed, helped by the Seahawks' loss to the Jaguars.
Also, let's not forget that a win like this probably gives the Cowboys some confidence. Remember, the Giants were the one team that was able to manhandle the Cowboys last season. In 2016, the 13-3 Cowboys got swept by the Giants. This year, the Cowboys returned the favor, and Dak Prescott believes that can be a confidence builder.
"Definitely, it's confidence anytime you're doing well and then you're growing and you're feeling yourself and you're growing off of what your teammates are doing," Prescott said. "So, yeah, it's definitely confidence and it's good for us moving forward."
Prescott might have actually gained more confidence than anyone from this game. Not only did the Cowboys' quarterback throw for a career-high 332 yards, but he also threw three touchdown passes and completed a total of three passes that went for 50 or more yards, including an 81-yard touchdown to Smith in the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys might seem like a long shot to get to the playoffs at this point, but things are slowly starting to fall in place for them. Not only are they healthy -- the return of Sean Lee completely rejuvenated the Cowboys' defense on Sunday -- but they'll also be getting back Ezekiel Elliott in just seven days. The suspended running back is eligible to return to practice on Dec. 18.
Dallas 30-10 over New York Giants
Cowboys: A
The Cowboys needed a win to keep their faint playoff hopes alive and Rod Smith delivered with with a career game: 47 yards and a touchdown rushing, while also catching five passes for 113 yards and another touchdown. Dak Prescott also had a huge game (20 of 30, 332 yards), throwing three touchdown passes and completing a total of three passes that went for 50 or more yards, including an 81-yard TD to Smith in the fourth quarter.
Giants: C-
Maybe Ben McAdoo was right to try and move on from Eli Manning. In his first game since being benched in Week 13, Manning didn't make a strong argument for keeping his job. Although Manning got off to an impressive start, he cooled down considerably in the second half with two interceptions. On the Giants' final six possessions, five of them ended with either a three-and-out or an interception. Of course, it's not like this loss was entirely Manning's fault -- the Giants have had multiple problems on both sides of the ball this year and all of them seemed to be on display against the Cowboys. The 454 yards by Dallas was the most the Giants have surrendered to a divisional opponent this season.
Chicago 33-7 over Cincinnati
Bears: A
For the first time all season, everything clicked for Chicago, and when we say everything, we mean everything. For one, Jordan Howard (147) and Tarik Cohen (80) helped the Bears total 232 yards on the ground, the team's highest rushing total since 2014. Although Cohen and Howard have been rolling for most of the season, they haven't really received any help from Mitchell Trubisky. However, that chance against the Bengals as Trubisky had the most impressive game of his young career (25 of 32 for 271 yards and one touchdown). If the Bears played the Bengals every week, they'd be 13-0 and on their way to the playoffs.
Bengals: F
The Bengals played so badly on Sunday that it almost looked like they were trying to get Marvin Lewis fired. With Lewis' Cincinnati future still up in the air, this game probably isn't going to help things when owner Mike Brown has to make a decision about Lewis at the end of the season. The Bengals looked absolutely helpless against a Bears team that went into Sunday on a five-game losing streak and hadn't hit the 30-point mark against any opponent all season. If this is the beginning of the end for Lewis, it's almost fitting that it came in this game: The 26-point loss was the Bengals' worst home loss in the Andy Dalton era and the worst one overall since 2008.
Detroit 24-21 over Tampa Bay
Lions: B
Not even an injured throwing hand could slow down Matthew Stafford in Tampa. With basically no running game behind him, Stafford was forced to carry the Lions to victory, which is exactly what he did. Although Stafford made two mistakes late in the first half with two interceptions in the final two minutes, the Lions quarterback was almost perfect on every other throw in the game, finishing 36 of 44 for 381 yards and a touchdown.
Buccaneers: C-
Bucs coach Dirk Koetter should probably have a long talk with Jameis Winston this week about the importance of protecting the ball, because Winston seems to have some trouble with that concept. The Buccaneers quarterback turned the ball over three times against the Lions -- two interceptions and one lost fumble -- which led to 14 points by Detroit. With the loss, the Bucs are now 0-7 in Winston's past seven starts.
Green Bay 27-21 (OT) over Cleveland
Packers: B-
Josh Jones might have just saved Green Bay's season. The Packers safety picked off Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer in overtime, which set up Brett Hundley's game-winning touchdown toss to Davante Adams. This game was important for one reason: By beating the Browns, the Packers kept their playoff hopes alive, which means Aaron Rodgers will be returning as soon as this week as long he's medically cleared. If the Packers do make the playoffs, no one will remember that they almost suffered one of the most embarrassing losses in franchise history at the hands of the Browns.
Browns: C
For the first time all year, the Browns actually held a fourth-quarter lead, but this is the Browns we're talking about, so you know this didn't end well for them. Of all the Browns' losses this season, this one is probably going to sting the worst and that's mainly because Cleveland blew a 21-7 fourth-quarter lead. Kizer's inexplicable overtime interception wasted impressive games from Isaiah Crowell (121 rushing yards) and Josh Gordon (69 receiving yards, one touchdown).
Buffalo 13-7 (OT) over Indianapolis
Colts: C
The fact that the Colts scored any points in this game was basically a miracle considering the blizzard-like conditions. Even though the Colts lost in Buffalo, Frank Gore should probably win some sort of award this week for what he was asked to do on Sunday. Gore, 34, carried the ball 36 times for 130 yards, which has never been done before by a player his age. Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, no player 34 or older had ever carried he ball more than 33 times in a game.
Bills: B
LeSean McCoy must be part eskimo because he had no problem running through the blizzard that was falling in Buffalo. With Nathan Peterman under center, the Bills did the smart thing and decided to have McCoy carry the ball as often as possible in this game, which translated to 32 carries for 156 yards and a touchdown for McCoy. Shady's biggest run came in overtime when he scored the game-winning touchdown from 21 yards out. The 32 carries for McCoy was a career-high for the veteran, who's been in the NFL since 2009.
Carolina 31-24 over Minnesota
Vikings: B
After rolling through the first 13 weeks of the season, it looks like the Vikings might have a weakness that other teams can expose: their offensive line. The line has been dealing with injuries and that could be an issue going forward if Case Keenum continues to get pressured like he did in Carolina. Keenum spent of the game on Sunday running for his life. At times, it worked out for him as he rushed for 40 yards. However, most of the time, it didn't work out at all. The Vikings quarterback was sacked six times and threw two interceptions as he faced constant pressure.
Panthers: A
Before Sunday, no team this season had rushed for more than 115 yards on the Vikings, but that changed in Charlotte thanks to an impressive performance from Jonathan Stewart. The Panthers running back, who hadn't had a multi-touchdown game all season, ran for 103 yards and three touchdowns on the Vikings defense. Cam Newton also added 70 yards rushing as the Panthers totaled 216 yards on the ground. Stewart picked a good week to go off because the Panthers needed this win if they wanted to have a realistic shot of winning the NFC South or even getting a first-round bye in the NFC.
Kansas City 26-15 over Oakland
Raiders: F
Derek Carr might want to just stay in Oakland the next time the Raiders play in Kansas City because he never seems to show up for games at Arrowhead Stadium. Including Sunday's loss, Carr is now 0-4 in Kansas City, and most of those losses have been ugly for him, including this one. Carr threw two picks and although he did throw a late touchdown pass, the game was out of reach by the time he did that in the fourth quarter. The Raiders get a big fat "F" because with first place in the AFC West on the line, they forgot to show up. Well, except for Bruce Irvin. The Raiders linebacker had two sacks and was one of the few bright spots for Oakland.
Chiefs: B+
Just in time for the Fantasy playoffs, Kareem Hunt finally decided to emerge from hibernation. After going nine weeks without scoring a touchdown, the rookie running back showed up with a vengeance against the Raiders, carrying the ball 25 times for 116 yards and a touchdown, When Hunt's rolling, that usually means the entire Chiefs offense is rolling, and that was the case in this game. With the Raiders worrying about Hunt, Tyreek Hill (75 yards), Travis Kelce (74 yards) and Albert Wilson (72 yards) were all able to capitalize by going over 70 yards receiving.
San Francisco 26-16 over Houston
49ers: A
Jimmy Garoppolo's agent is probably seeing dollar signs in his head every time Garoppolo takes the field for the 49ers. For the second straight week Garoppolo started for the Niners, and for the second straight week they won. With 334 yards passing and a touchdown, Garoppolo looked like a franchise quarterback. Amazingly, Garoppolo is still unbeaten in his career as a starter. With the win, Garoppolo is 4-0 in four career starts.
Texans: C-
It doesn't really matter who the quarterback is for the Texans as long as the person under center knows to throw the ball as often as possible to DeAndre Hopkins. That's exactly what Tom Savage and T.J. Yates did on Sunday, as Hopkins caught 11 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately for the Texans, Hopkins was really the only player who looked good for them against the 49ers.
Denver 23-0 over N.Y. Jets
Jets: F
When everyone said the Jets were going to be tanking this season, this is the team we were expecting to see. This Jets team couldn't move the ball, couldn't play defense and got blown out in every way that an NFL team could get blown out. The ugliest part for the Jets is that they finished with just 100 yards of total offense, which was the lowest total for any team in the NFL since 2010 and the lowest total for the Jets since 1976.
Broncos: A
After eight straight losses, the Broncos finally gave their fans something to cheer about and they did it in style with a shutout win. As good as the Broncos defense has been over the past few years, it had actually been more than a decade since Denver's last shutout. Before Sunday, the last Broncos' shutout came in 2005 against, you're not going to believe this, the Jets. The Broncos also held a team to 100 yards or less for the first time since 2003.
Arizona 12-7 over Tennessee
Titans: D-
The only thing exotic about Tennessee's exotic smash-mouth offense is how bad it's been lately. Marcus Mariota had one of his ugliest games of the year as he completed just 16 of 31 passes for 159 yards. Mariota also threw two interceptions in this game, including one in the third quarter that came inside of Arizona's 30-yard line. Even when Mariota struggles, the Titans usually have their ground game to fall back on, but that wasn't the case in Arizona. The rushed for just 65 yards and are now 0-11 in Mariota's career when they rush for 70 yards or less. This game actually could've gotten uglier if not for an impressive performance from a Titans defense that racked up eight sacks.
Cardinals: B+
Maybe we need to give the AFC South's playoff spot to the Cardinals because they just completed an impressive run through the top of that division. Two weeks after beating the Jaguars, the Cardinals took down the division's other top team with a dominating win over the Titans. With the Cards trailing 7-0 at the half, Blaine Gabbert led the Arizona on four scoring drives in the second half. It actually would've been five scoring drives, but Phil Dawson missed a field goal in the fourth quarter. The Cards held the Titans to just 204 total yards, which was the best defensive performance from Arizona this year.
L.A. Chargers 30-13 over Washington
Redskins: F
If the Redskins are still on the fence about keeping Kirk Cousins, this game definitely didn't help things. Cousins threw for just 151 yards, which was his lowest total since 2013. This game was actually uglier than the final score indicated. The only reason the Redskins even hit double-digits on the scoreboard is because Bashaud Breeland returned an interception 96 yards for a touchdown after picking off Chargers backup quarterback Kellen Clemons late in the fourth quarter.
Chargers: A
At 0-4, the Chargers seemed to be left for dead in the AFC West, but Philip Rivers has slowly brought them back from the ashes. For the fourth straight week, Rivers and Keenan Allen proved to be an unstoppable combination and for the fourth straight week, that meant a huge win for the Chargers. Allen finished with 111 yards receiving, which is basically par for the course for him at this point (He went for 172, 159 and 105 yards in the past three weeks). As for Rivers, he picked apart the Redskins to the tune of 319 yards and two touchdowns. This game marked just the fourth time since 2009 that the Chargers have held an opponent under 205 yards of offense.
Philadelphia 43-35 over L.A. Rams
Eagles: A
The Eagles might have clinched the NFC East with their win over the Rams, but that's the last thing they're thinking about right now. Carson Went reportedly may have tore his ACL in the fourth quarter of this game, which means Nick Foles would likely have to carry this team for the rest of the season. After Wentz left the game, Foles did show some encouraging signs: He completed 6 of 10 passes for 42 yards and led two scoring drives that allowed Philly to win.
Rams: B-
The Rams didn't have a total meltdown in the fourth quarter, but it was close. Offensively, Jared Goff lost a fumble with under nine minutes left that set up Philadelphia's go-ahead field goal. The Rams actually got the ball back after that, but went three-and-out. The Rams defense wasn't much better under pressure as they allowed the Eagles to score on three straight pivotal drives in the second half. Maybe the Rams just aren't ready for the bright lights of Hollywood.
Jacksonville 30-24 over Seattle
Seahawks: B-
After years of punching other teams in the mouth with their defense, Russell Wilson and the Seahawks got a taste of their own medicine in Jacksonville. Even after taking that punch though, the Seahawks still had a chance to win this late in the game. This is one of the few Seahawks' losses that can be pinned squarely on Wilson, who threw three interceptions in a game for the first time this season.
Jaguars: A
Watching the Jaguars defense dominate the Seahawks on Sunday wasn't that shocking because the Jaguars defense has been dominating everyone this year. The shocking part about this win is how easily the Jags' offense was able to move the ball. Going up against one of the best defenses in the NFL, Blake Bortles had a huge day (268 yards, two touchdowns) that included a 75-yard TD pass to Keelan Cole. Leonard Fournette also had a huge day with 101 yards and no run was bigger than his 12-yard gain that gave the Jags a game-clinching first down on third-and-11 with under two minutes left. When the Jaguars' offense is clicking, this looks like one of the scariest teams in the NFL and this scary team is in first place by themselves this late in the season for the first time since 2010.
Pittsburgh 39-38 over Baltimore
Steelers: B+
With the Steelers' defense struggling, Ben Roethlisberger went out and played one of the best games of his career, and he did it against a Ravens team that went into Sunday's game with the NFL's third-best passing defense. Roethlisberger finished 44 of 66 for 506 yards and two touchdowns and became the first quarterback in NFL history to hit the 500-yard mark in three different games. Big Ben's 44 completions are the second most by any quarterback in any game in NFL history. The most impressive part of Roethlisberger's performance was how clutch he was. With the Steelers trailing 31-20 in the fourth quarter, Big Ben led his team on four straight scoring drives in the game's final quarter. In the fourth quarter alone, Roethlisberger threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns, which is almost better than what Joe Flacco did for the entire game. Big Ben also got some help from the other Killer Bs, including Antonio Brown (11 catches, 213 yards), Le'Veon Bell (125 total yards, three touchdowns) and Chris Boswell (4 for 4 on field goals, including the game-winning 46-yarder).
Ravens: B
The Ravens' defense has been so good for so long that the loss to the Steelers marked the first time since John Harbaugh took over as coach that the Ravens have lost a game when scoring 35 or more points. Before Sunday, the Ravens were 16-0 under Harbaugh when scoring 35 or more. Although the loss of Ryan Shazier hurt the Steelers, the Ravens also had a big loss on defense this week when Jimmy Smith tore his Achilles tendon. The Ravens' secondary looked lost as they gave up the most passing yardage in franchise history. One bright spot for the Ravens was Alex Collins, who totaled 166 yards and a touchdown.
