It was the Dallas Cowboys’ Sunday night game at The Indianapolis Colts marked the first of three consecutive games played against teams that have a loss record. Still trying to catch for the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC East lead The Cowboys must keep their heads in the game throughout this crucial period.
They certainly did make a statement the night, as they stomped on the rough side of the Colts by a crushing win of 54-19.
Colts vs Cowboys Highlights | Week 13
The Dallas defense was simply able to outrun Indianapolis as the game rolled through the fourth quarter, changing into an euphoriac feeding up. The unit had three interceptions and two fumble recovery Four of them came in the fourth quarter.
Malik Hooker, who was initially drafted to the Colts and played the first four seasons that he played in Indianapolis He recorded both an interception as well as an fumble recovery, regaining the former to score an touchdown. He was the very first Cowboys player to accomplish this accomplishment in the history of football since Dennis Thurman on Sept. 11, 1983, in St. Louis.
Of course, he was not the only one when rookie cornerback DaRon Bland racked two interceptions of his own. the defense in general had three sacks. They also prevented Colts quarterback Matt Ryan to a paltry 59.9 passer rating. The running back Jonathan Taylor, last season’s champion in rushing, was constrained to 3.9 yards for each carry, for an average of 82.2.
On the other hand on the field, a well-balanced offensive attack was able to see Dallas play the ball 34 times, before returning to pass at 31 times. The ground game produced 220 rushing yards , with Tony Pollard totaling 91 and Ezekiel Elliott racking up 77.
Don’t even think about it and think that the Cowboys may be their no. one wide receiver. CeeDee Lamb was amazing. Moving more times than he has ever done ever before in his career He racked up 70 receiving yards from five catch and one touchdown. Michael Gallup also reached the final zone twice while the quarterback Dak Prescott successfully completed 66.7 per cent of the passes he completed, netting just 170 yards. He scored the three touchdowns he scored with just one interception, for a score of 100.7.
The Cowboys were able to score 33 points within the final quarter, setting a record for the team.
First Quarter
It took a few games and a brief gap until the Dallas offense was able to get things moving. After the Colts scored 3-0 after the field goal of 52 yards and a 52-yard field goal, the Cowboys immediately came back and took on the field in an eight-play, 73-yard run. Elliott and Pollard together racked up eight runs and 32 yards, that included a 6-yard catch from the latter on the fourth down.
However, Prescott played his part too, as he completed three passes totalling 41 yards. The last being a 20-yard pass to Lamb who, after he rolled over a potential tackler, never stepped on the field and swung off to the goal line, and scored his sixth touchdown of the season. He’s already surpassing his career best.
The advantage for the home team was not long-lasting, however. The Colts quarterback Ryan first put a blaze in Cowboys cornerback Anthony Brown on the right side of the field with a huge 45-yard gain. Then, two plays later Ryan was able to get his fellow cornerback Trevon Diggs to eat the fake, which left the receiver Ashton Dulin wide open in the left corner of the end zone to score the touchdown.
Second Quarter
A blitz on safety Donovan Wilson got to Ryan on a third-and-4 from the Indianapolis 25-yard line which forced Colts back. Colts into their 16. Donovan’s play, as well as the subsequent Indy punt, put the Cowboys on an own line of 44 yards. They took just six plays in order to make it to the pay dirt.
Pollard began the game with a 17-yard run from left tackle, and then finished the sequence with a 2-yard run up the middle to score the touchdown. In the midst, Lamb added to his total with a 22-yard catch as well as a running down on the sideline of left.
Unfortunately, Prescott threw an interception in the nick of time with less than three minutes left in the second quarter. It was his seventh interception of the year, but fourth interception to be at the end of the first quarter. The cornerback Stephon Gilmore threw the ball and returned the ball 31 yards to the Dallas 19-yard mark. The Cowboys defense stood firm, but thanks to a field goal of 34 yards Indianapolis cut the deficit down to one.
The Cowboys had another shot at it just before the break, however they were able to take advantage of the break after Brown again made a tipped Ryan pass, with Hooker on the field to snag the ball. The safety climbed to his feet and ran up to 26 yards, which was at the Indianapolis the 26 yard line. Dallas winning with just 55 seconds remaining , and the three timeouts are in hand.
There was plenty of space for Dallas to get back to the final zone. Third-and-9 on 13 yards, Prescott wandered to his right , before seeing Gallup speeding through the middle. The receiver then pushed to get into the goal zone to increase the Cowboys advantage at halftime 21-13.
Third Quarter
The tensions grew again during the third quarter of the game when the Colts embarked on a lengthy 15-play drive that lasted 90 yards and took 8 hours off the clock. Indianapolis took the decision to take advantage of fourth-and-1 from the Dallas 13-yard line, Ryan keeping it himself to get the necessary yards and to transfer the chains. A couple of snaps later, the quarterback made contact to Alec Pierce for the touchdown. Indianapolis attempted to score twice but the attempt to pass failed to be successful.
During the drive Cowboys’ Brown had to take off the field due to an injury to his ankle. The replacement for him, Kelvin Joseph, was the primary victim of the scoring which allowed the Colts back within two points.
Fourth Quarter
Again, Dallas came right back with a 75-yard, 10-play drive of its own, that rolled through the last quarter. Dallas did get an opportunity when a close interception inside Colts zone was just not ruled out, but an offside penalty against Indianapolis allowed the ball over the opposing team’s 20-yard line.
With another opportunity, Prescott, found a speedy Lamb in the middle to gain 17 yards up to the 3 yard line, before pursuing Gallup again for the touchdown. This was the third time with a multi-touchdown in his career.
The floodgates were then were opened.
On the Colts initial move of their next game the rookie linebacker Damone Clark kicked the ball away from tight end Mo Alie Cox, the ball flying straight to the hands of Hooker. He ran for 38 yards unaffected on the left sideline for the touchdown, which was the first of his six-year professional career. Dallas attempted to score two points to create three-possession play however, Lamb’s trick-play passing to the end zone was unfinished.
It was then time to join The Bland show. The cornerback rookie scored his second interception in his career afterward to grant Dallas possession of its own 47-yard line that eventually resulted in an unconverted 30-yard touchdown run by Pollard.
The point that was added was not allowed but it was not a problem. In the Colts next game, Bland turned the trick again, scoring his second catch of the evening. While the crowd sang his name and chanting his name, this time Elliott was awarded the scoring honours and plowed in from the 4 yard line for the touchdown. After that, he was able to tie Bob Hayes for the third-most touchdowns recorded in the team’s record books with 76.
All there was to do now was to run out the clock , and end the contest to a merry conclusion. There were still six minutes left.
If Sam Williams then recovered a lost fumble after Ryan was sacked in the strip by Osa Odighizuwa and then out came the quarterback Cooper Rush and many of the second players. The incident didn’t really make any significant difference, however, the rookie player Malik Davis scooted in for his first touchdown of his career and the team surpassed 50 point for the eleventh time ever in the history of club football.
The Cowboys maintained their lead over the top Eagles and increased the gap to those who trailed their team in this division. They’ll then host to the baseball-stricken Houston Texans for a Lone Star State match on Sunday.
