The Dallas Cowboys are a good enough football team that even their sloppy efforts wind up looking like dominant wins that were never in doubt.
This is a bonafide contender. A genuine threat to the league. And a team that should walk into Kansas City in mid-November with an 8-1 record.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott threw for 302 yards and three touchdowns, overcoming an uneven start to the game that featured two turnovers, leading the Dallas offense to another 30-plus point performance, as the Cowboys made quick work of the New York Giants, in a 44-20 win.
Prescott threw a pick on the game's first series, when Dallas went for it on 4th & 2, and his pass was tipped and picked by Giants linebacker Lorenzo Carter. Later, he fumbled a snap inside the Giants 10 yard line, forfeiting a possession that was destined for points.
But he bounced back quite well, dropping an absolute dime on CeeDee Lamb for a 49-yard touchdown pass in the early moments of the second quarter, and then zipping a 24-yard touchdown pass between two Giants defenders to Amari Cooper, to give Dallas a 17-10 halftime lead.
Meanwhile, Trevon Diggs showed once again why he's arguably the best cornerback in the NFL. And if he's not the best, at minimum he's the best ballhawk in the league. He recorded his sixth interception of the season, making a leaping catch in the middle of the field on a deep shot by the Giants. Diggs has now intercepted a pass in each of the Cowboys first five games of the year, becoming the first Cowboy to do so since Don Bishop did so in 1961.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott showed for a third straight week that he is back to his young self -- 21 carries, 110 yards, and a touchdown. He was quick, he was fast, he was elusive.
He's now posted consecutive 100-plus yard rushing performances for the first time since mid-2019. Elliott ran for 100-plus yards in three straight games in October and early-November of that season. Since then, he hadn't stacked two straight 100-yard games. Now he's got two straight. And he also ran for 95 against Philly, the week prior.
Zeke is back. The Cowboys are a league power. And 2021 is just getting started.