Clarence Hill’s 5 Things from the streaking Dallas Cowboys’ 54-19 win vs. the Colts
It took longer than expected.
But when the Dallas Cowboys finally got started with the thumping of the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night, it was historically relentless and thorough.
The Cowboys set a franchise-record with 33 points in the fourth quarter in a 54-19 victory AT&T Stadium. It was most points scored in any quarter in franchise history.
The 54 points were the fifth-most scored by the streaking Cowboys in a game. It was their third straight win and fifth victory on the last six games to move to 9-3 as they continue to keep pace with the 11-1 Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East and race for the best record in the conference.
The Cowboys led 21-19 after the third quarter before the eruption began with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Dak Prescott to Michael Gallup. It was followed by a 38-yard fumble return for a touchdown from safety Malik Hooker. A 30-yard touchdown run from Tony Pollard was next. A 4-yard run by Ezekiel Elliott and a 23-yard run by Malik Davis closed the scoring.
The Cowboys recorded five turnovers in the game, including four in the fourth quarter to spark the final uprising against a 4-8-1 Colts team that has lost three straight games.
The Cowboys won despite an admittedly off night from quarterback Dak Prescott, who passed Hall of Famer Roger Staubach and Tony White into third place on the team’s all-time passing touchdown list with three touchdowns in the game but threw for just 170 yards. He had one interception and nearly threw two more.
He now has 156 on his career but has 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2022.
“It’s humbling to be third on on a such a historical list,” Prescott said. “I’m just worried about wins. Let me know what when I’m when I pass those guys in wins or championships. For me that that’s all that really matters. These are all stats and they’re cool enough, but yeah, this is a team day for me.”
The Cowboys took a step toward getting more wins for Prescott on Sunday. They are now one win away from back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time in 1995-1996. The Cowboys also are on the brink of back-to-back trips to the playoffs since 2006-2007.
Owner Jerry Jones credited coach Mike McCarthy for the Cowboys being on the doorstep of creating new history.
“I think Mike is really doing an outstanding job,” Jones said. “I think he’s held steady when the ship was wavering. He’s held steady. The players know he’s steady. But I think we’ve got a really good team. We do have a good team. As you saw out there tonight, the first two quarters this good team can get stopped or we can have, we really can take a stutter step and I think we did that, but we always hear that a good team can come on back from that and play better.
“We saw a little of that tonight. That’s telling. But again, I think the journey here is very important, and I wouldn’t rule us out as far as what we might be able to do in our division. That’s not over yet.”
Now there is a question of when they will lose again. They’ve outscored their last three opponents (Vikings, Giants, Colts) 122-42.
With games against the Houston Texans (1-10-1) and at the Jacksonville Jaguars (4-8) before a Christmas Eve showdown against the Eagles at AT&T Stadium that could decide the division as well as the conference superiority.
5 Things from the Cowboys’ 54-19 win vs. the Colts
Ezekiel Elliott benched as a starter for the first time his career for disciplinary reasons
Tony Pollard, the team’s leading rusher on the season and top big play threat, got the start against the Colts at running back for the first time with a healthy Ezekiel Elliott active and ready to go.
It was marked the first time in Elliott’s career dating back to his rookie season that he didn’t start a game when healthy. Going into Sunday, Elliott has 97 games played and 97 starts.
Elliott and coach Mike McCarthy claimed the Cowboys started Pollard just because it was part of a rotation.
But owner Jerry Jones said it was for disciplinary reasons because Elliott’s phone went off in a position meeting.
“Yeah, think there was a little issue he had with his coach and some discipline issues,” Jones said. ”Being tardy for a meeting or a phone going off or something serious, relative to Zeke, but I won’t get into that, but I’m not giving out that punishment. I’d be a lot more lenient than that.”
Jones reiterated that the Elliott issue wasn’t serious.
“It’s a minor thing that you have with your meetings and your phones and things like that,” Jones said. “That was not a demotion as to the first one on the field. That had more to do with your phone going off at the wrong time, those types of things. Nothing of consequence. Be sure and mention that. No behavior issues.”
But against the Colts, it was Pollard on the field for the first two series and Elliott didn’t come into the game until the 8:41 of the first quarter.
And he made an immediate impact, rushing for 10 yards on his first play.
He and Pollard continued to alternate for much of the game.
Elliott finished with 77 yards on 17 carries and a crowd-pleasing four-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that was capped by him jumping into the Salvation Army red kettle in the back of the end zone and popping up after quarterback Dak Prescott pretended to wind him up with his arms.
Pollard finished with 91 yards on 12 carries and touchdowns of 30 and 2 yards.
CB Anthony Brown suffered season-ending torn Achilles
Opponents are increasingly choosing to go after cornerback Anthony Brown or rather anyone not named Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs in the Cowboys secondary.
Brown gave a 58-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson against the Green Bay Packers and a 44-yard completion to Darius Slayton against the New York Giants.
And against the Colts, he allowed a 44-yard pass to Alec Pierce that was followed 14-yard touchdown pass to Alec Dulin on Diggs, who bit hard for the pump fake.
Brown giving up the big play is a problem the Cowboys need to solve but what’s also true is that Brown continues to compete and never lets a bad play multiply on him.
It was Brown who helped change Sunday’s game against Colts with tight coverage on Michael Pittman that led to a tipped interception by safety Malik Hooker, who returned it 26 yards to the 26 with :55 left in the second quarter.
Up 14-13, the Cowboys turned into a 13-yard touchdown pass from Dak Prescott to Michael Gallup and a 21-13 halftime lead.
Brown also had a pass deflection in third quarter.
The much-maligned Brown’s absence was felt later in the quarter when he departed the game with an ankle injury and backup Kelvin Joseph gave up a 15-yard touchdown pass to Pierce.
And it’s that could bit the Cowboys for the rest of the season as he suffered a torn Achilles and will be lost for the season, per owner Jerry Jones.
Joseph, who has been a disappointment on and off the field since being picked in the second round in 2021, will be charged with replacing Brown in the starting lineup.
Malik Hooker has big day against his former team
Sunday’s game was personal for Cowboys safety Malik Hooker, a former first-round pick of the Colts.
He spent seasons in Indianapolis before being let go in free agency after the 2020 season after suffering a torn Achilles.
He joined the Cowboys in 2021 on a one-year deal, then had a strong finish to his season to earn a 2022 contract.
Hooker came the game as the team’s fourth-leading tackler and left it as it’s biggest defensive player.
Hooker had an interception into the second quarter, returning it 26 yards to set a touchdown before half, giving the Cowboys a 21-13 lead.
Hooker all but ended the game in the fourth quarter with a 38-yard fumble return for a touchdown to make it 34-19.
Rookie linebacker Damone Clark forced fumble on tight end Moe Alie-Cox.
“It was special,” Hooker said of his big game against the Colts. “To be able to go out there and perform against the team that drafted me, that believed in me, it was special for me to go out there and perform like that. It was definitely a game for me that I wanted to perform [well] in, and not just because it was the Colts. I just felt like it was due . . . I just wanted to put my best foot forward.”
The Cowboys forced five turnovers in the game, including three Matt Ryan interceptions.
Rookie cornerback Deron Bland got the second and third interceptions on consecutive possessions following the Hooker touchdown. And that was followed a sack by Osa Odighizuwa and a recovery by rookie defensive end Sam Williams that led to the final touchdown.
Ryan now has a league-high 17 turnovers this season.
The Colts had two fumbles in the game.
CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup show out for prospective receiver Odell Beckham
The Cowboys want receiver Odell Beckham to join their offense and upgrade the receiver corps for a possible Super Bowl run.
No. 1 receiver CeeDee Lamb and and No. 2 Michael Gallup held personal welcoming party for Beckham with some highlight plays.
Lamb had five catches for 71 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown on a play when he spun out of tackle, landing on top of the defender and then raced untouched into the end zone.
Lamb showed off his running ability with two carries for 23 yards on end arounds.
Gallup had four catches for 23 yards and two touchdowns. His 13-yarder before the half put the Cowboys in the lead for good. He had a 3-yarder from a scrambling Dak Prescott in the fourth quarter to make the score 28-19.
“We’re trying to be as great as we can be in every aspect.,” Prescott said. “And obviously getting late into the year with what we’ve got coming up just in our schedule, then obviously making a run at the Super Bowl, you want to make sure you have as many weapons as you can. You want to make sure fully loaded in every direction.”
Mike McCarthy couldn’t lose to Jeff Saturday
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy would never say itbut he wanted Sunday’s game against the Colts very badly because of interim coach Jeff Saturday’s presence on the opposite sideline.
No veteran coach respects the process in how Saturday was given the job by owner Jim Irsay to replace the fired Frank Reich.
Saturday, a former Colts player and long-time friend of Irsay, was working an ESPN NFL analyst when was asked to take the job with no prior NFL coaching experience.
It was a move that’s considered a slap in the face to all coaches who worked to move up in the profession.
After winning the first game against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Colts have now lost three straight games with Saturday at the helm.
