Are These Cowboys ‘Special’? Proof Beyond the 3-1 Stats

“We’re building a great culture,” says receiver Amari Cooper. “It feels like something special is going to happen.”

ARLINGTON - If winning football was only about individual numbers? Well, the Dallas Cowboys maybe would’ve still topped the NFL's No. 1 defense and the Carolina Panthers 36-28 on Sunday.

But winning in the NFL - winning big - requires something more than stats.

READ MORE: A Milk-and-Cheese Cowboys Win

“We’re building a great culture,” said receiver Amari Cooper, who caught a TD pass in the meeting at AT&T Stadium as part of Dallas’ numerical avalanche. “It feels like something special is going to happen.”

Yes, winning teams (Dallas is now a winner of three straight to jump to 3-1) always say this. But it can become a self-fulfilling prophesy - especially when lots of different contributors get to pile up lots of different numbers.

Want numbers?

Ezekiel Elliott finished with 143 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries and Dallas darted and bulled to 245 yards on the ground against a Panthers defense that coming in has allowed just 135 total rushing yards in the first three games.

Said Zeke, frankly: “We came out with our piss hot … The O-line, they dominated the line of scrimmage today, and by the end of the game, those guys didn’t really want anything more to run … They hadn’t seen an offense like us this year, so we came out and played good ball.”

Quarterback Dak Prescott dissected Carolina for four TD passes to four different guys, including two different tight ends.

Dallas O-line? It kept Prescott upright and almost untouched against a Carolina defense that entered with an NFL-best 14 sacks.

And on defense?

Trevon Diggs recorded two interceptions for an NFL-leading five while becoming the first Dallas player with a pick in each of the first four games since the 1970 merger - and his Everson Walls chase is now on.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys sacked QB Sam Darnold five times, including two from Randy Gregory.

Said Gregory: “I told (Diggs) before the game, ‘I need one (interception).’ He said, ‘I’m going to get you two.’ So, he got that first one, and I thought we were good. He did his job. 

“Then he got that second one.”

READ MORE: Diggs Now Chasing Everson Walls

And that’s what this is about, really: The numbers must intertwine and support each other. And the “brotherhood,” as Prescott and others have labeled this locker room, must do the same.

That’s how a football team becomes “special.”