Was it pretty? No. Was it a win? You bet it was, as the Dallas Cowboys pulled out a much-needed victory in the final minute, defeating the Indianapolis Colts, 27-23.
Overall, the game was a rather sloppy affair. The Cowboys were flagged 14 times for a whopping 153 yards with a pair of lost fumbles. Dallas, though, outgained the Colts by a wide margin, 508 yards to 271, and dominated the time of possession, 35:43 to 24:17.
But despite fears of another late collapse looming large with Indianapolis taking the lead late in the fourth quarter, this time the Cowboys were finally able to finish off their opponent to pick up their first victory of the season when scoring fewer than 30 points.
Fortunately, the Cowboys had the difference-maker: CeeDee Lamb. The star wide receiver hauled in 10 catches for 195 yards, the second-highest total of his career, with a touchdown. He was the main benefactor in a day that saw quarterback Dak Prescott complete 61.8% of his passes for 335 yards and two scores for a 114.2 passer rating.
And continuing a rollercoaster ride in the ground game, the Cowboys ran for 179 yards, their second-highest total of the season. Javonte Williams chewed up 101 yards, but Tyler Goodson, who played the first four years of his NFL career with the Colts, returned to Indianapolis and picked up a personal-best 77 rushing yards.
Defensively, Christian Parker's unit was solid, recording a pair of turnovers and two sacks while holding standout running back Jonathan Taylor to just 46 rushing yards. Quarterback Daniel Jones totaled only 180 passing yards with a touchdown and an interception for a 70.7 rating.
First Quarter
A promising start was soon turned on its head. The Dallas offense came out on the game's opening drive and worked across midfield. But the drive stalled at the Colts' 26-yard line, leaving Brandon Aubrey to kick a 45-yard field goal for a quick 3-0 lead.
And after the defense forced a three-and-out, the Cowboys had a chance to really take command, but on third-and-8 at their own 21-yard line, Prescott was strip-sacked with defensive end Caden Curry falling on the fumble. Set up with great field position, Indianapolis then needed six plays to get across the goal line with rookie Seth McGowan, a Dallas-area native, scoring his first career touchdown on a 2-yard run to go up 7-3.
The Cowboys got back on track, although they didn't exactly make it easy on themselves. Three penalties during the series negated first downs, but each time the offense was able to overcome the self-inflicted wounds, helped in part by a 15-yard unnecessary roughness call on the Colts.
Second Quarter
By the time the second frame got underway, Dallas was facing a third-and-1 at the Indianapolis 9-yard line. But when an end-around to CeeDee Lamb got stuffed for a yard loss, the Cowboys decided to go for it on fourth down. That's when tight end Jake Ferguson, staring straight into a glaring sun, reached over the defender and caught an underthrown pass from Prescott in the back corner of the end zone for the highlight-reel touchdown. In all, the drive also ate 7:05 off the clock.
After the early scoring, the defenses largely held serve as the punters for both sides were busy. However, the Cowboys offense continued to do themselves no favors. On one possession, they again had three penalties, including an offensive pass interference call on Lamb, his first of two in the game, that negated his 18-yard catch.
But Lamb would make up for the miscue. Dallas got the ball back at its own 25-yard line with 49 seconds left in the half, and with two timeouts, that turned out to be plenty of time. Williams ran for 9 up the middle, Prescott targeted Lamb for 22 yards and then with only 28 seconds left, Lamb found himself wide open down the right side. Prescott saw him, the result being a 44-yard touchdown, which gave the Cowboys a 17-7 lead after 30 minutes of play.
Third Quarter
With the sledding remaining tough for both offenses, the second half got off to a relatively quiet start. The Colts finally added to their point total with an 11-play drive, but even that managed to only gain 29 yards before Indianapolis converted a 47-yard field goal to narrow the Dallas advantage to seven points.
The Cowboys responded, and thought they had another touchdown when Lamb hauled in an end-zone pass. But the wideout failed to get both feet in bounds, so Dallas instead had to settle for a 28-yard Aubrey field goal.
And then, in a flash, the Cowboys defense blinked. On the second snap of the Colts' ensuing possession, wide receiver Ashton Dulin took a short screen pass, got his blocks and raced untouched down the left sideline for a 55-yard touchdown. With that, Dallas was now clinging to a 20-17 advantage as the game headed to the fourth quarter.
Fourth Quarter
After a rather pedestrian three quarters, the fourth got off to a crazy start when, on third-and-12 at the Dallas 39, Lamb came back to corral a Prescott pass as he was going to the ground. But when the Colts defender failed to touch him down, the Cowboys receiver jumped up and took off running, gaining 48 yards to the Indianapolis 13-yard line.
Except as he was falling, upon video review, the officials ruled Lamb fumbled when his hand hit the ground first, which jarred the ball loose. With the Colts having fallen on the prize originally, the Cowboys' threat was now done with Indianapolis taking possession.
The hits kept coming. Three plays into the series, Jones threw deep to receiver Deion Burks, and although the pass fell incomplete, cornerback DaRon Bland was called for pass interference, a 40-yard penalty. That was then followed by linebacker Dee Winters getting flagged for unnecessary roughness, which tacked on another 15 yards.
But just when things were looking bleak, defensive tackle Quinnen Williams stuffed Taylor, forcing a fumble that was picked up by linebacker Shemar James to get the ball back in Prescott's hands.
Despite being given the gift, though, the Cowboys quickly went three-and-out, and before long, the game was tied. The Colts went 42 yards in five plays before kicker Spencer Shrader split the uprights from 59 yards out to equal the score, 20-20.
Things only got worse. The Cowboys marched right back into enemy territory, but stalled at the Indianapolis 32-yard line. So while the normally sure-footed Aubrey came out to try a 50-yard field goal, he pulled his boot wide left, no good. Perhaps affecting his attempt, the snap on the play skipped off the turf, although holder Bryan Anger appeared to have the ball in place for the kick.
So back came the Colts, who used eight plays to travel 28 yards to reach the Dallas 32-yard line. But unlike Aubrey, Indianapolis' Shrader was good from 50 yards to give the home side a 23-20 lead.
With 1:37 left on the clock, the Cowboys weren't done yet. Prescott immediately went deep, connecting with Ryan Flournoy down the right sideline for a huge 46-yard gain to the Colts' 29. After a pass interference penalty set Dallas up at the 1-yard line, Javonte Williams put Dallas back in front with the touchdown.
Now Indianapolis had just over a minute remaining and two timeouts to work with, but when the Cowboys needed them most, the defense stepped up and sealed the deal. On third-and-22 from his own 14-yard line, Jones heaved a desperation pass, only to have a leaping Caleb Downs come down with the interception, the first of the rookie's career.
The Cowboys survived the scare, 27-23, and kept pace in their pursuit of the NFC East title.
