'At The Movies': Cowboys Trying to Create Hollywood Ending, Starting With 44-21 Drubbing of Rams
ARLINGTON - Last week, in preparation for Sunday's meeting with the team from Hollywood, coach Jason Garrett sat his Dallas Cowboys in the meeting room at The Star to show them the feel-good movie of the year: a highlight reel demonstrating all the special plays this roster is capable of making. And then came Cowboys 44, Rams 21 at AT&T Stadium, and Garrett won't need to splice together years of momentous plays ...
He can simply put on the screen this one game. Unedited. A blockbuster film.
“We know what type of men we have in this room,” said Ezekiel Elliott, who rushed Elliott rushed 24 times for 117 yards, including two second-quarter touchdowns to combine with rookie Tony Pollard (and others) for a 264-yard effort on the ground “When we go out there and handle our business, when we go out there and execute, we’re hard to stop.''
Of course, the "whens'' and the "ifs'' and the "buts'' are what made this jump to 7-7 so stunning. Dallas had lost three straight, had lost four of the past five, had lost seven of 10. Yes, the Cowboys entered the day tied atop the NFC East, and their status is now the same.
But their showdown for the division title next Sunday in Philadelphia feels substantially more winnable than it did before the Sunday coin flip - and, actually, during it, as Dak Prescott and Tank Lawrence and the captains verbally bumbled their way though what the coaches wished them to do.
“A little bit of everything,” Dak said, trying to explain his inability to simply say "We defer.'' “Bad use of words by me.”
The 44 points here is the largest offensive outburst for Dallas since 2014. Combine that with the Cowboys having crushed the Eagles 37-10 in an earlier meeting this year, and, well maybe owner Jerry Jones' much-discussed "fairy-tale story'' is almost ready for the silver screen.
This win, Jones said "is just what the doctor ordered to get you out of the (funk) you’re in. I just know that I’m buoyed by the fact that they’re going to get this shot of inspiration, shot of confidence in what their hard work can do when it pays off. I think everybody has soul-searched ... Hopefully we’ll see that as we go forward into our really second season here.”
The "second season'' talk is a tad premature. But Dallas finally beat a team with a winning record. Young colts and old hands (Jason Witten and Sean Lee, especially) pitched in. Heck, even the new kicker, Kai Forbath, did his job without too much foolish drama. Oh, and yes, guys in the locker room said Garrett earns credit here as well, for an inspirational Saturday night speech that re-ignited player' thoughts on "teamwork.''
The Cowboys offense set the early stage when it scored touchdowns on four consecutive drives to lead 28-7 at halftime. Included: A one-handed TD catch from Witten, and Prescott (15 of 23 passes for 212 yards) lobbing a 59-yard TD to a wide-open Tavon Austin.
But one of Elliott's TDs came as the result of veteran linebacker Lee's dynamic interception-and-return, a play that clearly fired up the Cowboys. Indeed, Dak suggested he was as "excited'' about that play as he'd ever been for any teammate.
“We’ve done it at times this year, we have played good defense,” said Lee, who didn't practice all week due to injuries but once it was game time also added a sack and was pivotal in holding Todd Gurley to 20 yards rushing. “But we haven’t been as consistent. We know if we want to win games and get in the playoffs we have to be the defense that plays like that. It was great to show it. But we have to do it week-in and week-out. We have a big one next week we have to do it in.”
And if they do it, then they'll show it. On the big screen inside The Star.
