DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys survived the upset bid from the Houston Texans in Week 14, proving once again that nothing is easy in the NFL. A last-minute drive to win the game was not what fans were anticipating, but with the Cowboys, it’s always best to expect the unexpected.
It’s been a roller coaster ride for the Cowboys over the past four weeks after the debacle in Green Bay. Dallas blew out one of the best teams on the road, beat a division rival at home on Thanksgiving, let a bad team hang around before turning the game into a fourth quarter laugher last week and then they waited until the end of the game to put away the worst team in the league on Sunday.
Jerry Jones’ team loves to make things interesting, to say the least. Here's what we learned about the Cowboys from their surprisingly slim margin of victory against Houston:
Cowboys find it when they need it
Sunday wasn’t a pretty effort from the Cowboys over the first 56 minutes against the Texans, but when they needed it, the team hit the ignite button. Their backs were against the wall when quarterback Dak Prescott threw an interception that gave the Texans the ball deep in Dallas territory and a defense that hadn’t made many plays had to rise to the occasion. And they did.
The goal line stand was one of the best series for Dan Quinn’s unit, and it came at the perfect time. The Cowboys had allowed an offense that has had trouble scoring to score well over their season average but stiffened down the stretch. The defense didn’t have a sack for the first time this season, but they stood tall and kept the Texans out of the end zone with the game on the line.
Likewise, the Cowboys turned it on when they got the ball after preventing the Texans from scoring. The Cowboys didn’t need a touchdown to stay in the game when a field goal would’ve helped, but the offense wasn’t going to let the game go into overtime. After struggling to move the ball consistently, the Cowboys went 98 yards in 11 plays to score the winning touchdown.
When they needed to move the ball to win the game, the offense had no trouble going the length of the field for the win. It’s not easy to turn it on when you’re having an off day, but the Cowboys showed that they are capable of doing it.
Redemption eventually arrives
The Cowboys needed a little bit of redemption from a few players late to eke out the win. Prescott wasn’t sharp for much of the game, but he was near perfect on the last drive, with his only incompletion being a dropped touchdown from wide receiver Michael Gallup.
Wide receiver Noah Brown couldn’t bring in one of Prescott’s throws that was a little off and it ended up getting picked off in the second quarter. On the game winning drive, however, Brown made a catch where he had to fully extend for a gain of 18 yards. The catch moved the Cowboys comfortably into field goal range. It wasn’t one of the more memorable plays in the game, but maybe the Cowboys don’t score a touchdown on the drive if Brown doesn’t make that diving grab.
Tight end Dalton Schultz dropped a big pass earlier in the game, but he came back to make a tough catch on the winning drive as well. Late in the second quarter, Prescott threw a perfect pass to Schultz that should’ve been a touchdown. Instead, Schultz couldn’t hold on in traffic and the Cowboys settled for a field goal.
On the final drive, the Cowboys went to the same play and Schultz caught the seam pass for 18 yards and set up a first-and-goal situation at the four-yard line.
It was a big time catch from Schultz after he dropped the exact throw earlier. The Cowboys believed in Schultz’s ability and dialed up the same play with the game on the line.
Cashing in on insurance plan
The Cowboys went into training camp with depth problems on the offensive line, and it was made worse when left tackle Tyron Smith went down with a torn hamstring before the regular season began. After waiting on bringing in help, the Cowboys addressed the issue by signing veteran tackle Jason Peters as an insurance policy.
Until Week 14, the Cowboys didn’t need to cash in that policy, but when right tackle Terence Steele went down with a torn ACL and MCL, the team was put in a tough spot.
First the Cowboys turned to second-year tackle Josh Ball, who couldn’t get the job done. Ball was beaten for pressures on back-to-back plays that were near catastrophic. First Prescott was hit and fumbled, but the offense was able to recover. On the next play, they weren’t as lucky as Ball allowed a defender to hit Prescott’s arm while throwing, which led to the late interception.
The Cowboys didn’t hesitate to make the move to Peters to play right tackle for the first time since 2005. The move paid off and Peters helped keep Prescott clean on the 98-yard game-winning drive. It was the right call for the Cowboys to make a gutsy decision to replace Ball with Peters, and it helped lead the way to the win.
Do you think the Cowboys have learned their lesson about playing down to their opponent? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.
