Cowboys 'Play Down to Competition,' Top Titans JV
The Dallas Cowboys have completed their tour of the lowly AFC South, a division populated by "have-nots,'' "might-be's,'' and "who's that's?'' and they survived, with a 27-13 win on "Thursday Night Football'' over the Tennessee Titans Junior Varsity.
Is it fair to say that after tight wins over the lowly Colts and lowly Texans, followed by a stunning loss at Jacksonville, and then capped by this result over a Titans team that was mailing it win while waiting until next week to determine its fate?
Yes, that is fair, even as the 12-4 Cowboys might be on their way to winning their final two games while chasing 13-2 Philadelphia for the top spot in the NFC.
The Titans are now 6-8 and yet they can win a third consecutive AFC South title by beating the Jaguars in Jacksonville in Week 18. ... which rendered this game meaningless to them.
And yet even without a real QB (they shoved one-week practice-squadder Josh Dobbs into duty) and even without their best players (including running back Derrick Henry), the Cowboys offense's twin personalities - explosive and implosive - headline the day.
Dak Prescott (29 of 41, 282 yards) tossed a pair of TD passes to Dalton Schultz to key the scoring, which started when Ezekiel Elliott plowed in early for a score - his ninth straight game hitting paydirt. But the positivism was offset by a trio of turnovers ... a Dak-involved fumble, yet another "volleyball'' interception and then yet another poor Dak throw.
Prescott's 14 picks are going to put him in worst-in-the-NFL status, no matter how well he plays otherwise and no matter how little some of this turnovers are not his fault. The point is, this is a high-octane but turnover-prone offense that is scary for opponents ...
And a little scary to watch for Cowboys Nation as well.
Fortunately for the Dallas defense, Tennessee doesn't boast anybody able to match the production of the likes of CeeDee Lamb (11 catches, 100 yards) or Schultz (seven for 56 and the two scores) though Dobbs (20 of 39 for 232 yards) gets credit for keeping respectable what oddsmakers assumed would be a blowout.
A two-TD margin of victory is impressive, though given the circumstances, this didn't quite have that vibe. Nevertheless, Dallas, for all the hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing around here, has won six of seven to put some heat on Philadelphia and has one game left, next week at Washington.
Just as the Cowboys now have a 2022 track record of struggling with the AFC South, Dallas has a history of dominating in the NFC East. Maybe that will be the keynote against the playoff-contending Commanders ... with familiarity breeding contempt.
And, Cowboys fans hope, a victory more convincing than this one.
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