The top five plays from the first half of the Cowboys season, plus a few honorable mentions

Can you believe we’re halfway through the 2017 Dallas Cowboys regular season?

Time sure has flown by. We’ve had wins, losses, drama, injuries, controversies, it’s basically been your average Dallas Cowboys season.

While there is still a lot of work to be done, beginning this Sunday in Atlanta, the Cowboys have a lot to be proud of this regular season thus far.

5-3 is a record many an NFL team would take these days, and it feels like we’ve settled for it. This season really is wild.

What led to that record, though? What are the moments we’ll remember forever? If you made a mix CD of the first half, what songs would go on it?

Here are the top five plays from the first half of this Cowboys season:

Cole Beasley makes the catch of the year on opening day

In the first fourth quarter of the season, with a 13-point lead at their back, the Cowboys looked to Cole Beasley.

It was at this moment that Cole Beasley ordered extra sauce. You know what I’m talking about.

It’s been eight full NFL weeks since and there still isn’t a more amazing catch.

Dak Prescott dives into the endzone in Arizona

After getting shellacked in Denver the week before, the Cowboys were hungry for a win in the desert on Monday Night Football.

Nobody personified this more than quarterback Dak Prescott who went sailing into the endzone, pulling off a flip in the process.

If you do a flip, odds are it’s likely a top play.

Honorable Mention:

Later in this same game Dak made one of the sickest throws you’ll ever seen. It was on the run and traveled over 50 yards in the air before Brice Butler brought it down.

Ezekiel Elliott houses it in San Francisco

When you’re up 20-3 in the third quarter against an inferior opponent it’s understandable that you’d sort of be on cruise control. Not worried, but not letting up.

This sort of situation calls for an easy play, call it a screen pass if you will.

The Cowboys did this in San Francisco and Ezekiel Elliott turned on the jets for one of his finest plays as a Dallas Cowboy. Shades of Pittsburgh in 2016.

Feed him.

Honorable Mention:

Earlier in this game, in fact the previous score, Jason Witten showed us why he’s who he is.

Dak Prescott found him near the back of the endzone, and Gold Jacket Witt snagged this thing with one hand like it was no big deal.

Gold. Jacket. Witt.

DeMarcus Lawrence does it all in San Francisco

Amazingly, it’s difficult to pick just one DeMarcus Lawrence play from the season’s first eight games.

You could go a lot of different directions here, but a play where he literally does it all seems to be what fits best.

One of the first moments Lawrence ever gave us was during the Wildcard Round win over the Detroit Lions his rookie year.

DeMarcus sealed the game with an emphatic sack, forced fumble, and fumble recovery of Matthew Stafford. Here he is doing it, three years later, as one of the most formidable defensive players in the league.

Is this real life?!

Tyrone Crawford blocks a field goal and earns NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors

There are three phases to an NFL game - offense, defense, and special teams.

It’s easy to forget the latter, even though we’ve discussed it ad nauseam with Dan Bailey missing time. It’s not easy for Tyrone Crawford, though.

A few weeks ago the Cowboys desperately needed a win in Washington. Late in the first half, trailing by six, Tyrone Crawford had a massive block that swung the game.

Crawford has played very well over the first half of this season. It’s worth noting that this hasn’t been just defensively. He’s living up to the hype of old, and certainly earning that “C” on his chest.