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THE DALLAS COWBOYS ARE BACK!
America’s Team entered Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams with a lot of bad stuff really close in the rearview mirror. The Philadelphia Eagles won earlier in the day which meant that the Cowboys needed two wins out of their remaining three games (one must be in Philly next week) to win the division, but in spite of a little bit of room for error, this team played like everything was on the line.
It’s so hard to know who this team will be next week. Who they are today is winners though, and here are 10 that stood out.
Winner: Ezekiel Elliott
What a performance. Seriously, what a game.
Zeke was the straw that stirred the Cowboys drink (he was hardly alone) as the Cowboys throttled Los Angeles. This was perhaps his finest game of the season and one of his best ever as a professional.
Winner: Sean Lee
Let him play forever. Seriously. He can be 99 years old and I’m certain that he’d still be doing something legitimate.
With no Leighton Vander Esch and no practice for The General, Sean Lee was everywhere against the Rams. He had an interception, a sack, and wreaked havoc against an offense that really flexed some muscle last week.
Respect.
Winner: Logic
There was an insane controversy that surrounded this game with what happened at the coin toss to start it. While Dak Prescott definitely said things like “defense” and “kick” he also clearly expressed that the Cowboys wanted to “defer” once they won the toss.
Walt Anderson had a very bad day. Good on the NFL for not letting the situation embarrass them even more.
Winner: Jason Witten
Gold Jacket Witt didn’t let Sean Lee serve as the only old-timer making plays, he had one of the most unbelievable grabs that he’s ever had to score the game’s first touchdown.
We have all been very critical of Jason Witten as of late, and a great game doesn’t exactly change that. It’s clear that Witten can still play at an NFL level, it was quite the sight to see him do it throughout this game.
By the way, he now has 72 receiving touchdowns on his career. He’s only one behind Dez Bryant for the franchise’s all-time lead.
Winner: Dak Prescott
This wasn’t a super flashy game for him, but Dak was calm, cool, and collected throughout this game. He used his legs when it made sense and even got to convert a 4th-and-1 on a called quarterback sneak. For real!
Sometimes your quarterback needs to guide your overall offense to victory and that’s exactly what Dak did. It wasn’t a big statistical day for any of his wide receivers, but with all the points that they scored, it’s hard to be disappointed.
Winner: Jourdan Lewis
The Cowboys have been forced to play Jourdan Lewis more this season due to injury to Anthony Brown (who’s birthday was Sunday by the way, HBD Anthony!) and he has justified why people have called to see this much sooner.
Lewis was all over the Rams offense. It was a quiet game for Cooper Kupp and Lewis was a huge reason why. He even picked up another sack. His time is finally here.
Winner: Antwaun Woods
Just before the Cowboys lost to the Chicago Bears last week, it was announced that Woods had been arrested earlier in the week. People were understandably upset.
Woods clogged up the middle of the Rams offensive line for most of this game. He was the classic Rod Marinelli defensive tackle and didn’t let up all game long. Kudos to him.
Winner: Tony Pollard and Blake Jarwin
THE COWBOYS ARE FINALLY USING OTHER GOOD PLAYERS ON OFFENSE!
Seriously, the Cowboys got both Pollard and Jarwin involved in addition to the players ahead of them on the depth chart and as a result the offense sung a lot. We always talk about how talented this roster is, the Cowboys finally used more of it than normal.
Winner: Kai Forbath
Having faith in a kicker is such a peaceful thing.
Although let’s work on those kickoffs to start the game!
Winner: Jason Garrett
It still feels like Garrett’s future with the Cowboys is questionable at best, but good for him for getting a huge performance against a team not only with a winning record, but with a lot of momentum coming into this matchup.
It was reported earlier in the week that Garrett showed his players highlights of themselves from the past and peopled made fun of him for that. Garrett certainly has his flaws, but he is always looking for ways to motivate his team.
For this week at the very least, it worked. Good for him.