DAL 49, CHI 29 : Cowboys offense shines in victory over Bears

Dallas Cowboys RB Tony Pollard had 14 carries for 131 yards, scoring three times, and QB Dak Prescott threw two touchdowns and ran for one as the Cowboys dominated the Chicago Bears 49-29 Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium.

The Cowboys (6-2, 2-1) racked up 443 yards total offense and dominated the Bears (3-5, 0-2) on the ground and in the air from start to finish. Defensive-wise, the Bears and QB Justin Fields had their way from time to time against the Boys but were limited to 371 yards total offense.

(They need to clean up their rushing defense, as the Bears had 240 rushing yards.)

Despite the defense allowing a large number of yards, they came up big, as they caused havoc on Fields throughout the whole game and got a touchdown of their own when Leighton Vander Esch forced a fumble in the third quarter, and Micah Parsons returned it for a touchdown.

A+ awareness by Micah Parsons to realize he was never touched. Takes the fumble back the other way for a touchdown. What a superstar. pic.twitter.com/n0tM4UvoOm

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 30, 2022

Highlights

In the first half, the talk of the Cowboys was their offense, as they exploded for 28 points.

The team got points from a Prescott seven-yard rush, a CeeDee Lamb 21-yard catch, a Tony Pollard 18-yard rush, and a one-yard touchdown from Jake Ferguson. While touchdowns are always good — the Boys allowed the Bears to stay within striking distance, as they had 17 at halftime. Countless mistakes killed the Boys.

Entering the second half, you figured two things would happen.

The Cowboys’ offense would slow down, and they would try to run it more to kill the clock in the second half.

The Bears would continue to score and make it a close game.

Well, both things happened in a way.

In the second half, the Cowboys looked like they were slowing down as they had to punt on their first possession after a three-and-out. The Bears got the ball and began the drive with a carry from RB Khalil Herbert.

As Herbert ran up the middle, he fumbled the ball, and the Cowboys recovered. Fans, players, and all of Cowboys Nation cheered as it gave them the ball in Bears’ territory.

However, a reverse by the refs gave Chicago the ball back, and they drove the field in five plays, 62-yards– capping it off with a Herbert 12-yard touchdown. His score cut the Cowboys lead 28-23.

With momentum gravitating toward Chicago, the Cowboys responded with a seven-play, 75-yard drive. Three long passes from Prescott to Schultz and Lamb were key plays during the possession, but Pollard was the finisher as he ran from seven yards out to push the lead to 35-23.

On the next drive, the Bears attempted to respond. However, on a catch-and-run from David Montgomery, he coughed up the football, and Parsons returned it for a 36-yard touchdown.

From there, it would be all Cowboys’ as they led by 19 points. Following the Parsons score, the Bears would get another score on a 10-yard catch from TE Cole Kmet to pull the Bears within 13.

But Pollard, who had a massive rushing day, put the Bears away for good on a 54-yard touchdown run.

Tony Pollard 54-yard touchdown!

(via @dallascowboys) pic.twitter.com/lg69tutJlv

— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) October 30, 2022

Game Balls

Lamb led the team with five receptions for 77 yards and had a score of his own. Schultz added six receptions for 74 yards. Donovan Wilson led the defense with eight tackles and one tackle for loss. Parsons had one fumble recovery for a touchdown.

Final Takeaway

Entering this game, I was skeptical about if the Cowboys could move the ball on the 3rd-rated pass defense. I figured the emphasis on the run game was important, but I didn’t envision Pollard exploding as he did today. It was encouraging to see OC Kellen Moore call a healthy mix of pass and run, and seeing Prescott get the ball out quickly was great.

In the end, the offense shined today. However, that is no knock on the defense, who could have had three total turnovers, as we could be talking about a different score. The run defense is still a weakness, but it’s also hard when you have to worry about Fields beating you in the run.

There is no doubt that Pollard, who was arguably the co-MVP of this game with Prescott, earned himself some money — as he’s an upcoming free agent. Overall, I’m not going to criticize the team for the flaws they showed against the Bears because that’s for another day.

I’m just kidding.

It was a great team win, but I’m most impressed with the offense since we have seen the defense excel in mostly every game. The Cowboys now enter the bye with a 6-2 record and are in a good position.

Now it’s time for them to get healthy and their mind cleared during the bye, as when they return to action in two weeks, the second half of their season begins.