Upping the ante: Dallas Cowboys’ touchdown-turnover bets now includes paid vacations

It was just a friendly wager between teammates. And so far, the Dallas Cowboys defense is winning.

But let’s be honest, if the defense ends up winning its bet with Dak Prescott and the Cowboys’ offense — the bet is whether the offense scores more touchdowns than the defense forces turnovers — the team’s success is likely doomed.

The winning unit earns a vacation trip paid by the other. The bet, which started last week ahead of the Cowboys’ win over the Giants, goes throughout the playoffs, however long the team stays alive.

“A little competition won’t hurt,” DeMarcus Lawrence said. “Figured it was good to see if the offense can beat us on turnovers vs. touchdowns and, you know, defense, won this one. [We’ll] see what they got this week.”

Indeed, the defense forced four turnovers against the Giants. The offense had just two touchdowns.

Of course, none of this friendly wager stuff truly affects the Cowboys on the field, but how likely is it the team keeps winning if the defense wins the bet?

“I don’t know. You may have stumped me on that one,” Randy Gregory said. “Did [the defense] win last week? Yes. And we won. If it happens that way, that’s fine. I don’t mind. We win the bet, win the game. It’s a win-win for us. I never thought about that, you kinda stumped me right there.”

Ezekiel Elliott said it’s just another motivational technique.

“I think it’s a good wager. They beat us pretty bad last week. We got to bounce back this week,” said Elliott, who had one of the two touchdowns against the Giants. The Cowboys host the Washington Football Team at 7:20 p.m. Sunday at AT&T Stadium. “A little competition, pushing each other. Those are two very important parts of winning football games. Scoring and taking the ball away. It’s a good contest for the team.”