The Cowboys’ 3-step winning formula starts with Ezekiel Elliott

Philadelphia Eagles may have lost enough to close the book in the 2018 season at Dallas Cowboys. Instead, the cowboys pulled out on the road winning 27-20 desperately needed to stay in the East NFC race.

There is still plenty of climbing - especially after Washington improved to a 6-3 win over Tampa Bay Pirate - but Dallas returned to the mix in 4-5. Cowboys have a real shot at catching Washington too if they play the way they did on Sunday night.

The key to cowboys is to do what they did against eagles: control the time of acquisition.

In the win against the Eagles, the cowboys were in the field for a 33:22 hour game, compared with 26:38 for Philadelphia. This is especially impressive given that the Eagles entered the game with an average time of possession of 33:46 - the best in the NFL.

It was the third time this year that Dallas was punished more time than his opponent. Cowboys are 3-0 in those games.

Dallas is designed to gain possession time more often. While they did not do so consistently in 2018, the victory over Eagles showed that cowboys have elements to accomplish this task.

Here are the top three steps for Cowboys to keep winning the ball control game:

Feeding Ezekiel Elliott is a top priority

It is no secret that continuous ground attack is the most important part of the time of the takeover battle. If you manage to run, your watch will be on your side and will fight the opposing defense out of the field.

So when Elliott stands at a height of up to 151 yards raging, two landing, 36 yards, it is clearly a good sign for the cowboy.

Dallas used the previously dreaded offensive to pave the way for these types of numbers on a weekly basis. But the group took a step back in 2018 and is still missing the center of Travis Frederick, who announced in August that he was diagnosed with autoimmune disease.

The good news for cowboys is that Elliott does not need much space to make big plays. Produced in space and is particularly distinctive:

Cowboys also looked like an old lineback in the second half against the Eagles. Against a defensive line with Fletcher Cox and Michael Bennett, Delfin dashed in front of the road and set the road to Elliott.

Elliott has won 100 yards four times so far in 2018, and has won three of these games. Scott Linhan, the offensive coordinator, was not reliable in his commitment to Elliott, but when he does, it usually leads to positive results.

2. Cowboys are tough to run against

If running the ball is the most obvious way to control the ball, stopping the run is the second obvious. Dallas becomes so beautiful in it.

Through nine games, the average opponent is 3.6 yards per load against cowboys. The only team that carries a difference to a lower average is the Chicago Bears team, which is located just in the hundredth of the arena for each load.

The group of bold eagles found two big competitions on the ground on Sunday night. Josh Adams escaped from the right meridian for 29 yards and Cory Cory was bursting for 11 yards. But Philadelphia's other 14 attempts went to only 31 yards.

The Dallas defensive line deserves the closing of the opposing attackers, but the stars who lead the race to defend the game are the two young footballers, Gailon Smith and Leiton Vander Esch.

The defensive game of Cowboyz came in the final minutes when a screen pass appeared before the Eagles to make a big profit. Vander Isch sniffed, blew past a pair of Philadelphia offensive players, and made a tackle for his 5-yard loss.

Although they have not been a running game, they only show the type of gradient ability brought by the Esch Vander, making it difficult to find running trails against cowboys.

Dallas is the No. 3 NFL in both total defense and points allowed per game. Many transformations have not been forced, but Vander Isch is also ready to help:

Cowboyz's defense will not allow for many long drives, especially with its young players. This will give Dallas plenty of opportunities to do his own damage.

3. Duck Prescott just has enough to move the chains

Cowboys turned 36 percent of their third attempts down in 2018. This is No. 24 in the NFL.

But against the Eagles, the eight cowboys of 16 tried from bottom to bottom and try only fourth down. The Eagles made four out of 10 third declines to the first and failed in each of the fourth declines.

The key to success in Dallas was the performance of 26 of 36 from Prescott - the first time since last November that he finished a game with a completion ratio of more than 70. With Elliot's defense cut to grind, Cowboys does not need Prescott to do much. Just perform the plays when there are, and do not throw objections.

That was Prescott's debut season in the 2016 season. He did not have a lot of numbers, but he completed 67.8 percent of his assists with 23 down and four rebounds. A year later, its rate of achievement fell to 62.9, and its opposition rose to 13.9.

So far in 2018, Prescott has cast five choices. He threw two of each intercept in losses for the Seahawks and Texans, and another one in the loss of the Titans. Against Eagles, Prescott did not make those mistakes.

It is now useful that Amari Cooper now added to the mix. After finishing with five receptions for 58 yards in his first Cowboys debut last week, Cooper added six more receptions to 75 yards against the Eagles.

Other Cowboys receivers were also set up to make plays. Allen Hernes, Michael Gallup and Cole Beesley were at least 20 yards ahead of Philadelphia.

If Cooper helped Dallas get a copy of Prescott that kept the drives alive against the Eagles, the 

cowboys are in business.

The biggest thing for cowboys moving forward is consistency

When Dallas wins from these three funds, the team wins possession time and wins the games. The best example of this was the defeat of Jaguar Jacksonville at 40-7 in the week 6. Cowboys finished the match with a 38:50 possession - the most he has ever had in a game since his victory over Brown in 2016.

The problem is that nothing about cowboy crime was fixed.

Jaguar's demolition was followed by losses for Washington and Tennessee that saw Eliot stuffed for 94 yards in two weeks combined.

Games against New Orleans and Washington before the end of November will test the ability of Cowboys to re-show their strong against the Eagles. But the easier matches against the hawks, the pirates and the giants mean that Dallas has a shot in the end that is linked together to victory and momentum.

Sunday's win showed what cowboys can do when they click things. This can not happen once every three games.