Hook 'Em! Former Colts Safety Malik Hooker Leads Cowboys Rout of Indianapolis; Top 10 Whitty Observations
Good teams win without their best games. After Sunday night's 54-19 dismantling of the Indianapolis Colts, there's no question the Dallas Cowboys are good ... churning toward great. Even in a game riddled with early mistakes, they created five takeaways and scored a franchise-record five fourth-quarter touchdowns to rout the Colts.
10. Hook 'Em - Malik Hooker was the Colts' first-round draft pick (15th overall) in 2017. Now in his prime he's making impact plays for the ... Cowboys. The safety turned this game with an interception just before halftime that led to a touchdown and a 21-13 lead, and then put it away with a scoop-and-score fumble return for a 34-19 bulge early in the fourth. The Colts were hanging around with 12 minutes remaining, but rookie linebacker Damone Clark stripped tight end Mo Alie-Cox and Hooker took it on one bounce for a 38-yard fumble return. Said Hooker, "Definitely some extra motivation. Sorry how it ended with (the Colts), but I just wanted to come out and prove that I'm still the player that I was drafted to be. I feel like I showed that tonight."
9. Red Alert - The Cowboys' "Salute to Service" red stripe on their helmets looked much prettier than last year's or last century's uniform tweaks. They wore the stripe in 1976 to celebrate America's Bicentennial, and again last season against the Denver Broncos. After an 11-3 season in '76 the were upset by the Rams in the first round of the playoffs. And last year they fell behind the Broncos 30-0 in their ugliest loss of the regular season. At Sunday's game were 17 Medal of Honor recipients, which made this "tribute" even more successful.
8. Revenge Game? - Sorry, but even though the Colts are now based in Indianapolis and even though the game was played 51 years ago, every time we see that blue horseshoe on the side of a white helmet we cringe at the thought of Super Bowl V. Because of its 11 turnovers and 14 penalties, it's known as the "Blunder Bowl". It's also the only title game in which a losing player (Chuck Howley) was named MVP. If replay was a thing for the 1970 season, John Mackey's tipped touchdown reception would've been ruled an incompletion, Duane Thomas' fumble at the Colts' 2-yard line would've been ruled recovered by center Dave Manders, and the Cowboys would own six Super Bowls. Instead, Jim O'Brien and his unbuttoned chinstrap kicked the winning field goal and we're still seeking the weakest level of revenge.
7. Sit 'n Spin - CeeDee Lamb was down. Except, he wasn't. The Cowboys' receiver caught a short pass and appeared to be tackled by Colts' safety Rodney McLeod in the first quarter. But instead of touching the turf, Lamb merely sat on McLeod's chest, spun, and got up to run in untouched for a shocking, spectacular 20-yard score.
6. Not a Typo - With his scoring toss to Lamb and then two more to Michael Gallup, Dak Prescott has thrown more touchdowns (156) for the Cowboys than Roger Staubach (153). Only Tony Romo (248) and Troy Aikman (165) have thrown more touchdowns for Dallas. Let's be honest, this is more a sign of the aerial evolution of the game than a reflection of Dak vs. Roger. In his career Prescott is averaging 33.7 passes per game; Staubach only threw 22.5.
5. Lordy Forty - On NBC's pre-game show former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett made the shocking prediction that "the Cowboys win this game by forty!" He wasn't right, but his old team did score 40+ points for the second time in three games. Hard to believe this game was 21-19 late in the third quarter. The Cowboys scored a franchise-record 33 points in the fourth quarter (despite missing a two-point conversion and getting a PAT blocked) via touchdowns by Gallup, Hooker, Tony Pollard, Ezekiel Elliott and Malik Davis. The 33 tied for the second-most fourth-quarter points in NFL history. Kick two extra points and Dallas would have scored 35 and topped the 34 by the Lions in 2007 and the 33 by the Chicago Cardinals in 1925. The Cowboys have scored 40+ 12 times since 2019, most in the league.
4. Jump. Stop. - Trevon Diggs is one of the NFL's best cornerbacks because of his anticipation. His best asset, however, also remains his worst liability. Diggs expected a slant route by Colts' seldom-used receiver Ashton Dulin late in the first quarter, so he jumped the route to the inside. But after a subtle shoulder-fake by Matt Ryan and a double-move by Dulin, Diggs was embarrassingly beaten for an easy 14-yard touchdown. Live by the instinct. Die by the instinct.
3. Quarterback Quality - Prescott threw three touchdowns; Ryan three interceptions. Sometimes the outcome is that simple. The matchup between Dallas' league-leading scoring defense and the Colts' 30th-ranked scoring offense was too close for comfort most of the game, especially after Indy produced a 17-play, 90-yard drive in the third quarter to pull within 21-19. But when forced to throw, Ryan looked way over the hill and the Cowboys' defense started hunting the ball. Four consecutive takeaways by Dallas - including two interceptions by rookie cornerback DaRon Bland - turned this into a laugher.
2. Chasing The Wind? - Cowboys are 9-3 and playing some of the best football in the NFL. It's not going to matter in the NFC East, where the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Titans Sunday afternoon to improve to 11-1. Other than the Christmas Eve meeting in Arlington, the Eagles remaining schedule features the fading 7-4-1 Giants (twice), the 3-10 Bears and 4-8 Saints. Hard to see Philly losing one of those. Despite only two teams - the Eagles and Vikings - having more wins, Dallas is headed for a Wild Card.
1. Fine Fodder - The Cowboys haven't lost to the Colts in DFW since 1996, when Indy's quarterback was Jim Harbaugh (See No. 8 and insert smiling emoji).
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