DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys got back on the winning track with a 24-6 victory over the Detroit Lions in Week 7. The start was sluggish, but the Cowboys played better in the last 30 minutes to put away an undermanned Lions team.
Dak Prescott’s return to the lineup was supposed to lead to a better offensive output to compliment one of the league’s best defenses, but the Cowboys’ play appeared eerily similar for much of the afternoon to the team that they were with backup Cooper Rush at quarterback.
No one will complain. The objective has always been to win games and the Cowboys added one to the win column, regardless of how listless the offense appeared throughout.
This game was billed as strength versus strength coming in. The Lions were coming off a bye week and brought with them one of the best offenses in the league where they were set to challenge a top shelf Dallas defense.
The Cowboys, meanwhile, had one of the game’s best offenses under Prescott in 2021 and, with him back in action, the unit was expected to tease a return to those lofty heights. Of course, Prescott’s group likely wasn’t going to get back to an elite level in one week, but surely the healthy unit was ready to attack one of the league’s worst defenses.
Neither thing happened.
The offense for the Lions was never close to exposing the Cowboys’ defense, and the Prescott-led offense never got on track against Detroit’s suspect defense. The result, however, played out as expected. Dallas pulled away late to beat a Lions team that held a talent deficit.
Despite the victory, it was an ugly display early for the Cowboys. In the first half, Dallas only managed to score three points and trailed 6-3 while the same mistakes reared their ugly heads. Penalties and sloppy offensive play held the team back.
Despite getting themselves in positive down and distances, the offense couldn’t get first downs. Odd play calling on third downs left the Cowboys short of the line to gain to move the chains. Both Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard were stopped on plays designed to the outside, when runs in the middle of the field likely would’ve gotten the first down.
In Prescott’s return, the play calling remained something to second-guess. Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore’s game plan seemed to ignore the fact that his best quarterback was back in the lineup. The offense was predictable, as there were too many runs on first and second down, and the passing game rarely attacked down the field.
Things didn’t change much on offense in the second half, but the defense for Dallas picked up the slack. The Cowboys forced all five of their turnovers in the last 30 minutes of football, and the offense cashed in on those mistakes.
The Lions had six possessions in the second half,and the Cowboys forced a turnover in five of them and a punt in the other. Aside from the last turnover, which allowed Dallas to take a knee to end the game, the Cowboys turned three of those takeaways into 21 points.
Trevon Diggs’ third quarter interception got the ball rolling, and the offense turned that pick into a seven-play, 82-yard touchdown drive that gave the Cowboys a lead that they would never relinquish.
However, the biggest play of the game came during the first possession of the fourth quarter on a 17-yard gain that got the Lions into a 1st & goal situation with the score still 10-6 in favor of the Cowboys. The Lions called a tight end screen that appeared to have resulted in a go-ahead touchdown, but TE Brock Wright was chased down and knocked out of bounds by Micah Parsons at the half yard line to save the score.
On the next play, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence forced the first career lost fumble for Lions running back Jamaal Williams and the Cowboys escaped with the lead.
The momentum of the game was about to shift in the Lions’ favor, but Parsons’ play changed it back to the Cowboys. The team would go on to force three more turnovers in the fourth quarter and put the game away.
Dallas’ defense had five takeaways and notched four of their five sacks in the second half. Dan Quinn’s defense also set the offense up to score three touchdowns in the second half, all of which came off of turnovers. Running back Elliott produced two short touchdown runs and Prescott threw his first touchdown pass of the year to rookie tight end Peyton Hendershot – the first of his career – to salt away the game.
Sunday wasn’t Prescott returning to play the hero, it was the defense who led the way for the Cowboys in victory. The quarterback may have changed, but the path to winning remained the same. Dallas won because of their defense.
Just as it’s been for most of the season.
Do you think the offense showed enough with Dak Prescott back at the helm? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.