While the rest of the NFL is going through their gameday morning process, the Dallas Cowboys have already taken care of business in Week 13.
It wasn’t pretty, but it sure as heck was exciting to see Dak Prescott and the offense carry the load on Thursday night.
Dallas, playing their third game in 12 days and their fourth game in 18 days, looked gassed on defense.
They gave up a season-high for points allowed in AT&T Stadium, winning by the score of 41-35 to improve their record to 9-3.
Seattle (6-6) was fighting to turn their season around, and it showed.
The trio of wide receivers at QB Geno Smith’s disposal took advantage of a tired Cowboys’ secondary that seemed half a step slow all night.
DaRon Bland specifically had one of the worst games of his career, and all three Seattle wide receivers took a turn putting him in the spotlight.
The Seattle Seahawks might have had some stars shine on Thursday night, but the Cowboys had their own stars shine as well.
Today I would like to put a nice navy and silver bow on Week 13, capping off the week with my list of standout stars from Thursday’s 41-35 win over the Seahawks.
Dak Prescott
This is the absolute lowest hanging fruit possible, but how can I leave Dak Prescott off of this list?
He will continue to be featured in this segment until a week comes along where he doesn’t deserve to be mentioned.
The way he’s been playing lately, as readers you should just get used to seeing him in every standout stars article.
Either way, isn’t it fun to point out Prescott’s stats to all the naysayers out there?
Prescott finished the game throwing 29/41 (71%) for 299 yards and 3TD.
He was one yard shy of hitting the 300 yard mark for the fourth time in the past six games.
Prescott made play after play, even using his legs when necessary.
Dak tied a season high in rush attempts (7). They only went for a total of 23 yards, but one of them was for a critical first down.
His numbers could have been even better if not for some untimely drops by his pass catchers.
A couple of those were off the hands of star WR CeeDee Lamb. Speaking of Lamb…
CeeDee Lamb
Cowboys star WR CeeDee Lamb continues his hot streak.
He was targeted 17 times by Prescott, catching 12 of those targets for 116 yards and a touchdown.
Lamb has looked like a top-three wide receiver this season after much criticism that he didn’t belong in the discussion as one of the top wide receivers in the game.
The latest 88 voiced his displeasure with his role after the embarrassing 42-10 loss at the hands of the 49ers.
Since then, Lamb has been a featured part of Mike McCarthy’s offense.
CeeDee has gone seven straight games with either double-digit receptions, over 100 yards receiving, or a touchdown.
Like mentioned above for Dak, Lamb’s numbers could have been even better if not for two big drops.
You can’t really fault him for the first one. Prescott threaded the needle through defenders in the endzone and the ball got to Lamb’s hands very quickly.
The second drop was all on Lamb, and he was the first to admit it on the field, as it came on a crucial 4th down late in the game.
Next up for Lamb is an Eagles defense that he torched in Week 9 to the tune of 11 receptions for 191 yards.
Jake Ferguson
For the first time this season, second-year TE Jake Ferguson lands on my standout stars list.
You can’t see his jersey number in the photo above, but that’s Ferguson completely hurdling over Seahawks S Quandre Diggs.
Ferguson’s elite hurdling skills left the Seattle defender hugging the ghosts of his relatives who have passed on.
Let’s forget about stats for a second and commend Ferguson for the attitude he provided to this game.
The Seattle secondary, namely Jamal Adams, was chirping at the Dallas offense since before the game started.
Ferguson provided the return fire for Dallas, constantly being involved in post-play scuffles and colorful language.
I firmly believe Ferguson almost single-handedly provided the juice needed for the Cowboys to respond in an appropriate manner to win the game.
Ferguson caught six receptions for 77 yards and a huge touchdown grab in single coverage by Seattle S Jamal Adams.
The most impressive part of that stat line is that 60 of those 77 yards were YAC (yards after catch).
It marks a career-high for Ferguson, and his big after-catch ability moved the chains for Dallas on big downs numerous times.
Ferguson is quickly becoming one of the league’s biggest playmakers at the tight end position, and that’s great news for Prescott and the offense.