As my family and I make the six-hour trip back home after our first family trip to the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, I do so with a big smile.
I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend.
The Dallas Cowboys pulled off a heart-stopping win over the Detroit Lions that I was actually in attendance for.
It was my first Cowboys game, and not only did I witness perhaps the most exciting win of the season, but I also got to see an incredible event.
Two-time Super Bowl-winning HC Jimmy Johnson was finally inducted into the coveted Cowboys’ Ring of Honor (several years too late if you ask me).
I can’t lie. The induction ceremony had me filled with emotion and on the brink of tears.
When Jimmy said, “I only have one thing left to say. How ’bout them Cowboys!!” I just about lost it.
An incredible win by Dallas was just the icing on an already delicious cake.
Here are three observations I want to talk about before we set our sights on Washington for the NFC East title and the second seed in the conference.
The Prescott To Lamb Connection
If you don’t put any stock into the “refs gave the Cowboys the game” narrative, your first thought of this game is probably the rapport between QB Dak Prescott and WR CeeDee Lamb.
Lamb finished the win over the Lions with 13 receptions on 17 targets for 227 yards and a 92-yard touchdown catch on a scramble drill where he escaped behind the defense.
The Prescott to Lamb connection has reached heights that have surpassed previous Cowboys’ connections of Troy Aikman to Michael Irvin and Tony Romo to Dez Bryant.
Prescott has targeted Lamb 168 times this season, converting 122 of those targets (72.6%) into 1,651 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Lamb has one more game to expand on his new franchise records for receptions and yards in a single season.
Situational Football
By now you know the final score of 20-19 did not come with some controversy.
What if I told you that never should have happened to begin with?
No, I’m not talking about the incorrect tripping call by the official, although that certainly could have helped.
TE Peyton Hendershot was called for tripping on a Tony Pollard seven-yard run after a Donovan Wilson interception.
The trip was clearly the leg of Lions’ DE Aidan Hutchinson as Pollard was running by, but the officials marked Dallas back 15 yards to the Detroit 44 yard line.
Mike McCarthy, facing a 1st & 25 from outside of K Brandon Aubrey’s range, went into attack mode leading 17-13.
The first down play was an 11-yard completion to Lamb to the Detroit 33 yard line, well in Aubrey’s range.
Now under two minutes to play and with a four-point lead in plus territory, the smart play is to force the Lions to use their final two timeouts.
Instead, Prescott threw for the endzone to Brandin Cooks and the ball fell incomplete to stop the clock at 1:49.
A third-down pass to Jake Ferguson gained eight yards and forced the Lions to use their final timeout at 1:45 before Aubrey’s field goal attempt.
Instead of only having about 60 seconds with no timeouts to try and drive the length of the field, Jared Goff and the offense had 1:45, a lifetime in the NFL.
They would score in just nine plays.
Detroit didn’t pull off the victory, but poor situational football almost cost the Cowboys in a big way.
Improved Rush Defense
The defense looked to be in serious trouble after losing NT Johnathan Hankins to an ankle injury.
They gave up 226 yards rushing to James Cook and the Bills in a blowout loss, and soon the skies of Cowboys Nation were falling.
However, they have since tightened up in consecutive weeks versus two of the top rushing attacks in the NFL (Miami and Detroit).
Versus the creative rush attack of Mike McDaniel, the Cowboys defense allowed just 91 yards on 26 attempts.
Against Detroit’s two-headed monster of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs, the defense allowed 125 yards, forcing Goff to pass to stay in the game.
It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for the improvement, but it could be Micah Parsons taking more snaps as an off-the-ball linebacker.
DeMarcus Lawrence has also played a large role in the improvement with several tackles for loss on great pre-snap reads by the veteran.
Whatever it is, the Cowboys need to keep it up into the postseason for any chance of success.