The Dallas Cowboys had the offensive performance that Cowboys Nation had missed for several football months spanning from the end of 2017 to the first few weeks of the 2018 NFL season. Dak Prescott and the passing game got on track and Ezekiel Elliott finally looked like the star running back — and best player on the offense — in a really nice bounce back game for the entire roster.
It was a game that came down to the wire and the Dallas Cowboys needed to play a full 60-minute game to come away with the win. More than a few players made their presence felt on Sunday, but only three came be named week four’s 3 Stars.
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Ezekiel Elliott
The Dallas Cowboys needed a big game from Ezekiel Elliott against the NFL’s worst rushing defense. Boy did he deliver.
Elliott finished the day with 25 carries for 152 yards, had four catches for 88 yards on four targets, including a touchdown reception on a huge catch and run on a screen that brought the Dallas Cowboys offense to life.
His 38 yard catch on the game-winning drive set up Brett Maher’s field goal that gave the Dallas Cowboys the 26-24 win was as big a play as he’s made with a star on his helmet.
Ezekiel Elliott is the first player this season to eclipse 200 yards from scrimmage in a game. It’s the third time in his career that he’s gone over 200 total yards. For the Dallas Cowboys to get where they need to go, Elliott’s going to have to be the focus of the offense’s game plan and take advantage of these opportunities.
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Dak Prescott
The criticism has run wild for Dak Prescott for the previous 11 games of his career. What he did on Sunday against the Detroit Lions should put an end to a lot of the questions — but it won’t — that have surfaced since the end of the 2017 season.
Prescott looked way more confident and was throwing the ball deep with amazing accuracy and touch. He was more aggressive than we’ve seen at any time this year. Not counting the screen game, Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys passing attack hit three passes for more than 30 yards in the game.
They would have had one more had Tavon Austin been able to come up with a difficult catch that Dak put on the money in the end zone. It was a catchable ball, though the coverage was really good.
Despite the Austin drop, and a few others, Prescott was more of the player that we saw in the first 24 games of his career than he’s been in the 11 games before Sunday. On the Day, Prescott was 17/27 (62.9% completion percentage) for 255 yards and two touchdowns.
The Dallas Cowboys need more of that Dak.
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Brett Maher
It’s not often that you’re going to see me feature a kicker in this space, but Brett Maher certainly deserves it. When you go 4/4 on your field goal attempts, hit both of your extra points, and nail the game-winning kick in your fourth NFL game, you deserve to get recognized.
Brett Maher accounted for more than half of the team’s 26 points in the win over the Detroit Lions.
Since the end of the preseason, the questions that have surrounded the Dallas Cowboys’ release of Dan Bailey have been non-stop. Those questions have been answered with a statement performance by the former Canadian Football Leaguer.
Honorable Mention
DeMarcus Lawrence
It seems impossible that DeMarcus Lawrence would not be in the 3 Stars, but these are the games we’ve come to expect from Lawrence.
On a day when the Dallas Cowboys’ defense was struggling to slow down the Detroit Lions passing game, DeMarcus Lawrence came up big in leading the team in tackles and recording three sacks. Lawrence now has 5.5 sacks in the first four games of this season and he’s now on pace for 22 sacks in 2018.
David Helman from Dallas Cowboys had a great stat on DeMarcus Lawrence’s sack total growth.
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The Dallas Cowboys evened their record at 2-2 on Sunday with huge performances from several key players.
