All season long, the Dallas Cowboys offense has been an unstoppable force held back by a defense composed of very movable objects. Twice, they’ve scored 37 points in regulation and twice they’ve gone to overtime.
In fact, the only game that hadn’t been decided by four points or less so far has been the only game where the offense truly struggled, the 31-14 Week 3 loss to the Chicago Bears. Going into Week 5, if the offense didn’t perform lights out, the team as a whole didn’t have a chance.
But on the road against the New York Jets, the defense finally put it all together for a day in a 37-22 win that wasn’t as close as the score would suggest. That, coupled with the offense’s usual efficiency made for the first easy Sunday of the Cowboys' season.
The much maligned pass rush not only recorded five sacks, but they also contained Justin Fields on the ground. The dual threat quarterback was limited to 26 yards on seven carries and constantly struggled to break containment when dropping back.
Dallas also recorded a takeaway for the second week in a row, as Marist Liufau punched the ball out Breece Hall’s arms in the red zone late in the first half. The ensuing 90 yard drive by Dak Prescott and the offense gave the team a two possession lead, and a quick stop and score by Jake Ferguson allowed the Cowboys to turn what was a close game into a blowout rapidly.
As mentioned on the broadcast, Dallas has outscored opponents by a combined score of 27-0 in the last two minutes of the first half between this week and last week. It would’ve been 28-0, but Brandon Aubrey proved that even goats can’t chew turf by missing an extra point.
As for the offense, Prescott threw four touchdowns, Javonte Williams had 135 yards which included a 66-yarder to set up that last first half touchdown, and Ryan Flournoy had his first 100-yard game. For good measure, Jake Ferguson caught two touchdowns after scoring for the first time in 23 games last week, and George Pickens extended his scoring streak to four games on a 43-yard deep ball.
It’s a debate as to what is more impressive: the fact that an outing like that is becoming the norm for this offense, or that this all happened with a starting offensive line that included four backups. Of those five starters, three were undrafted free agents, one was a sixth-round pick, and the last was a seventh rounder.
After a Week 3 game that threatened to sink the season before it started, the Cowboys have built real momentum and are a .500 team after five games. With all the injuries, all the drama, all the trades, and all the points given up, it’s hard to ask for anything more than that.