Cowboys' Winners & Losers From 'Crazy' Week 9 Win at Colts

The Dallas Cowboys breathed a sigh of relief as their frustrating season avoided going from bad to worse, despite things heading in that direction in the fourth quarter Sunday in Indianapolis.

Ultimately, Dak Prescott's second game-winning drive of the season - and the 28th of his career, one short of the franchise record - allowed Dallas to escape with a 27-23 win over the Colts.

"When you're not as clean as you want to be, you make it tougher on yourself," Prescott said of his team pulling it out. "Sometimes you can overcome it, sometimes you can't. Today we did. Don't want them all to be this close, don't want it like that, but I've said it before: If I can get the ball in my hands with an opportunity to win the game, I'll take it that way.

"If they all have to come down to that, I'm fine with it."

We start this week's "winners & losers" by seeing how the Cowboys defense sealed the victory in the final minutes.

Rookie safety Caleb Downs got his first-career interception in the Colts' last-minute effort to complete their comeback.

Downs, the first-round nickel safety who was playing against his older brother, Indianapolis wide receiver Josh Downs, said he enjoyed the on-field brotherly rivalry.

"It was a surreal feeling going out there lining up in front of him," Caleb said. "It was me and him the whole game. I was just thankful for the situation. He definitely got me on some plays they missed him on."

Josh ended with three catches for 24 yards. He only caught half of his targets, largely because a couple were defensed by little bro.

According to the team, Caleb Downs became the first Cowboys rookie since Tommy Haynes in 1987 to have a sack and an interception in the same game.

Cowboys running back Tyler Goodson was also facing a familiar foe. The former Colt had a career-high 77 yards rushing against the team he spent three seasons with.

Goodson joined Dallas ahead of this season after appearing in 33 games for Indianapolis from 2023 to 2025.

GRADES: Did Brian Schottenheimer's Cowboys 'Just Learn How to Win' at Colts?

Dallas' coach let another inferior opponent make a double-digit fourth quarter comeback against his team, but as Prescott mentioned, the Cowboys avoided disaster.

Still, this performance left fans wondering: Has a team ever fired a coach immediately after a win?

That won't happen, but Schottenheimer's latest gaffe was another red mark on his year-and-a-half resume.

With just under six minutes to play, Schotty declined two Indianapolis penalties after the Colts were all but set to attempt a 61-yard field goal.

The Cowboys accepted a holding call, and the down was re-played. On 3rd-and-16, Indianapolis got the chance to gain yardage and make Spencer Shrader's kick more manageable. He hit the 59-yarder, which tied the game at 20-20.

It was just part of what ended up being a "crazy" day of football.

"Love the heart. The best way to learn how to win is to win and to finish. And this game is crazy. The game of pro football is crazy," Schottenheimer said. "And this team we just played, they lost bad last week. We knew they were going to respond. We lost a heartbreaker last week. We knew we would respond. The men in that locker room weren't going to let them lose."

But their coach almost let them...

"Crazy business, man," Schotty adds.

The Cowboys' star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb kept pace with his stellar 2026 campaign, but he was involved in arguably the craziest play of them all.

Lamb made a sliding catch, smartly got up and ran for more yardage as he was untouched by rookie defensive back Kenneth Harris, but then as Lamb's wrist contacted the turf, the ball jarred loose. Harris recovered the fumble to save himself from a ruthless earful from Colts coaches.

Lamb finished with a game-high 10 receptions, 195 yards and a touchdown. He could have had another score if he had gotten his foot drag down later on, and his two offensive pass interference calls momentarily distracted from a fine game.

He, however, was seen shaking his head after Dallas managed the win.

The rest of Prescott's receivers stepped up with George Pickens sidelined with a hamstring issue. Jonathan Mingo's 23-yard reception set Dallas up for its field goal to start the game, and Ryan Flournoy picked up 46 of his 53 receiving yards on the game-winning drive in the fourth quarter.

"He's just always ready for the moment," Lamb said of Flournoy's big catch. "The way he preps, the way he works every single day. I be thinking about him like, 'Bro, chill. You got to make it to the game.' But that's him; he's a hard worker. It shows in moments like this. He's just always ready when his number is called. When it is called in big games and situations, he shows up."

Already the most penalized team in football, Dallas set a new high mark for flags in a game this season.

Indianapolis accepted 14 flags called against the Cowboys, mounting to 153 yards of penalty yardage. That stat makes the 508 yards of offense pop off the page, because things certainly didn't feel that prolific.

Defensively, it was cornerback DaRon Bland who recorded his sixth penalty of the season, which leads the team.

"We're better than that," Prescott claimed postgame.

Luckily for Dallas, the Colts also forfeited their chances with multiple flags in crunch time. Indy committed nine penalties for 67 yards.

Cowboys running back Javonte Williams found the end zone in his seventh straight road game, tying Tony Dorsett for the franchise record. Williams joined Ezekiel Elliott as the only players to rush for 20 touchdowns in their first 25 games with Dallas.

Williams' nine rushing touchdowns on the season are tied for the second-most in the NFL, next to the likes of Christian McCaffrey, Jahmyr Gibbs and Josh Allen.

The somehow-still-in-reach NFC East division lends fans to believe a buyer mentality for Jerry Jones and the Cowboys at the upcoming trade deadline could be what the team needs to become a true playoff contender.

Prescott doesn't immediately see it that way. He thinks this roster could be good enough.

"Obviously, credit Jerry, credit the front office and those guys of if you can always add, go do it," Prescott said. "Even if you think you have enough, if you can make sure you have enough and get better, go do it. I encourage that. But, yeah, they've done a hell of a job with the team they've put together.

"It's on us now. Period."