Cowboys dominate on Sunday Night Football
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The Dallas Cowboys hosted the Washington Football Team Sunday night, looking to extend their winning streak to four games, as well as complete their series sweep over Washington. On the bright stage of Sunday Night Football, this game was the perfect opportunity for the Cowboys to prove their naysayers wrong.
It was cornerback Trevon Diggs who gave Dallas an early jolt, coming up with his 11th interception of the season on the first play from scrimmage for Washington. Quarterback Taylor Heinicke was looking for star receiver Terry McLaurin when Diggs came up with it on the Dallas 29-yard line.
The Cowboys completely controlled the rest of the game, scoring on each of their next five drives. The first of which was a five-yard touchdown pass to Ezekiel Elliott, giving Dallas an early 7-0 lead with 7:42 left in the opening quarter.
The second touchdown as another short pass, this time to tight end Dalton Schultz, who found the end zone on a nine-yard catch. The defense continued to dominate as well, not only getting stops, but also scores of their own, as star defense end DeMarcus Lawrence scored on a 40-yard interception.
Dallas was nowhere near done scoring in the first half, however, as a few minutes later Elliott found the end zone for the second time, this time on an 11-yard rush. The Cowboys next drive ended on a one-yard touchdown pass to right tackle Terence Steele, as offensive coordinator Kellen Moore showed his creativity isn’t lacking.
Finally, the Cowboys ended the half by getting the ball on their own 11-yard line, needing to go 89 yards with just 1:42 left to do so. Dallas quickly got themselves into scoring range, thanks in large part to an unnecessary roughness call on Washington’s Bobby McCain.
The penalty put Dallas on the Washington 13-yard line, where Dak Prescott was able to find Amari Cooper for a touchdown pass, pushing their lead to 42-7 at the end of the first half.
The Cowboys never took their foot off the gas, especially on the defensive side of the ball, where they forced punts on the first two Washington drives. On the second punt Dallas was able to block it and return it for a touchdown, pushing their lead to 49-7.
Dallas scored one more time, this time with their entire bench unit in. Backup quarterback Cooper Rush hit Malik Turner for a nine-yard touchdown pass, as the Cowboys went on to win by a final score of 56-14.
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Despite entering the game on a three-game winning streak, Dallas faced their fair share of critique over the last few weeks, especially on the offensive end. Prescott did an amazing job of answering for all of the Sunday night, finishing the game with 330 yards, four touchdowns and a passer rating of 131.4.
Cooper was the leading receiver in the game, catching seven passes for 85 yards and one touchdown. Turner and Schultz were right behind him with 82 yards each and one touchdown each.
CeeDee Lamb had a strong game, catching four passes for 66 yards, while Michael Gallup had two catches for 53 yards.
The running backs didn’t get a ton of work, but they were effective with the carries they did get. Elliot had a touchdown and 37 yards on nine carries, while Tony Pollard had 34 yards on eight tries, each averaging over four yards per attempt.
Defensively the Cowboys had five tackles for loss and five sacks, as well as a total of 10 hits on the quarterback. That, combined with a pair of interceptions, held Heinicke to a pedestrian 7/22 throwing, for just 121 yards.
This game was the first time in weeks that the Cowboys offense was able to match their defense, showing exactly how good of a team they can be when they are firing on all cylinders. With a record of 11-4, Dallas has clinched both a playoff spot and their division, as well as a chance to still finish as the No. 1 seed in the NFC East, and the first round bye that would come with it.
The NFC East champions will face the Arizona Cardinals at home this week, with it being their last test against another strong playoff opponent. The Cardinals are 10-5 and coming off their third consecutive loss, desperately needing to turn things around before the post season begins.
The match is set for 3:25 p.m. Sunday and will air on Fox. Both a preview on coverage of the game will be provided on Front Porch News.
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