DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys beat the Carolina Panthers 33-10 in Week 11, improving their record to 7-3 and evening their record on the road at 3-3. A workmanlike offensive performance gave the team the lead, and their opportunistic defense closed out another blowout win.
Despite what the double-digit outcome might allude to, it was not a victory that was handed to Dallas by a 1-9 Panthers team. The NFC South basement dwellers stuck around long enough to give the Cowboys a fight. Even so, despite Dallas’ road woes this season, the outcome never felt in doubt. When pushed, the Cowboys responded and got a victory away from Arlington, something that has been hard to come by this season.
It’s hard to win games in the manner in which Dallas did last week when they dominated the New York Giants, so the test would be to see if the team could avoid a letdown. They were expected to win, but how they won was recognizable to anyone who’s watched the team over the past few seasons.
In victory, head coach Mike McCarthy’s team got their sixth win with a margin of victory of over 20 points this season, something they haven’t done in 45 years.
The Cowboys have seven wins in their 2023 campaign, six of which have been blowouts. When this team wins, they tend to leave no doubt that they’re the better team. But these kinds of contests have been rarer away from home, which makes the victory on Sunday something to build upon.
Dallas didn’t have the increasingly offensive explosion that they were enjoying since their bye week, but the Cowboys didn’t need it to beat the Panthers. Quarterback Dak Prescott had a steady performance where he threw for two scores, including a perfect strike to rookie tight end Luke Schoonmaker to give the Cowboys an early lead, something they would never relinquish.
The other TD pass went to CeeDee Lamb, who has been the hottest wide receiver in the league before cooling off a bit in this one. Lamb caught six passes, but his streak of catching 10+ passes and 150+ yards ended. The Cowboys didn’t need Lamb to go off in this one, as they got contributions from just about everyone on the offense.
Running back Tony Pollard finally got back in the scoring column with his 21-yard touchdown run. It was Pollard’s first touchdown since Week 1, and he showed a burst and toughness that has been missing for much of the season when he ran over two defenders on his way into the end zone.
The offense’s best work came when the Panthers closed the gap to just seven points in the third quarter. After it felt like the Cowboys were putting things on cruise control, Carolina went on their longest drive of the year, 17-plays, 70 yards and it took almost nine minutes off the clock.
On the series where they scored to get within striking distance, the Panthers converted on three fourth downs. At 17-10, the Cowboys needed to respond, and they answered like good teams do, with a touchdown drive.
Prescott led an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive where he went 4-for-5 for 45 yards and helped convert on their only third down with a 24-yard pass to tight end Jake Ferguson. Pollard finished the drive off with his bulldozing touchdown.
The Cowboys’ defense took over from there to seal the win, a familiar occurrence this season. After they had held the Panthers to just three points in the first half, highlighted by two sacks from Micah Parsons, the defense gave up the long scoring drive in the second half. When the offense gave them another chance, it took just one play for the Dallas defense to answer back.
On the Panthers’ first offensive play of the fourth quarter, cornerback DaRon Bland picked off rookie quarterback Bryce Young and returned it for a 30-yard touchdown. The ridiculous diving interception and score was Bland’s fourth pick-six of the year, tying him for the most in a season in NFL history. It was also his sixth interception of the season, tying him for the league lead.
The touchdown gave the Cowboys a 20-point lead and the game was essentially over. The defense would continue to hammer the young QB on the next possession, sacking Young three times in three plays, which included a fumble that Dallas recovered.
Parsons finished the game tying his career-high with 2.5 sacks, and second year pass rusher Sam Williams got a sack in his third straight game. The Cowboys totaled seven sacks in the win and forced two turnovers.
The Cowboys weren’t perfect in the win, as they had a penalty that extended a drive which ended in a touchdown, and they struggled to stop the run. Yet they still won a road game by 23 points, and it appeared as though they accomplished that with a vanilla game plan on offense.
While the score says it was a rout, and it eventually did play out that way, when the Cowboys were pushed by a cornered Panthers team, they pushed back. Parsons’ sack on the first offensive series likely saved points, the offense answered with touchdowns when push came to shove. Ultimately, like many weeks this season, the defense finished off the win.
The template to win games for the Cowboys remains the same: Get a lead and then have the defense take over until things look ugly on the scoreboard for the opponent. In their seventh win of the season, the Panthers played right into the Cowboys’ hands, and Dallas took advantage.
That’s what good teams do, they take advantage of opportunities. Another hallmark of good teams is blowing out bad teams. The Cowboys continue to do that, too.
Do you think the road woes are a thing of the past for the Cowboys? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.
