The buzzword in the days leading up to the Dallas Cowboys' trip to the Indianapolis Colts was undoubtedly "execution." After failing to finish off their opponent in previous outings, most notably last week against the Arizona Cardinals, the Cowboys defense stressed the need to play a full 60 minutes.
And leading the charge in that effort was the unit's leader, defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. Not only did he stress execution in his meeting with the media on Wednesday, he then backed up his talk by walking the walk in the team's 27-23 win over the Colts. That marked the fourth time in the last five games the defense has held an opponent to 24 points or less.
"Last week we executed for the first three quarters and didn't execute in the (fourth) quarter," Williams said. "And today, going into halftime, it was one of those same things. All about execution, all about going out there, playing physical and executing every single down, every single play that's been called."
Williams was indeed a force inside, leading the Cowboys with seven total tackles while also posting three tackles for loss and a quarterback hit. But one singular play stood out. Although Dallas was ahead 20-17 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Colts had a first-and-10 at the Cowboys' 18-yard line.
With fears of another late-game collapse hanging overhead, that's when Williams shook off a block and met Indianapolis' star running back Jonathan Tayler square in the backfield. This time, the immovable object won the battle against the unstoppable force as Williams not only dropped Taylor for a loss, but he jarred the ball loose with linebacker Shemar James scooping up the fumble to give Dallas possession.
That particular play didn't result in any eventual points, but Williams' determination did serve notice that the Cowboys defense wasn't about to let mistakes of the past ruin this day.
"If there's a better interior defensive lineman than him in the league, I haven't been around one in a long time," head coach Brian Schottenheimer said in his postgame press conference. "He's just dominant, the way he can change the game. … I think he and Kenny (Clark) inside, they really willed us to go get this victory. The guys followed their lead because the pushing stuff inside in the pocket was incredible.
"I'm going in the right direction," Williams said. "I'm going in the right direction on what I want to be, what I want to do, how I want to affect teams. I want to be a game changer, especially on this defense."
Needless to say, he was in this one. While the Colts did add to the scoreboard on their next two possessions, they were limited to field goals, not touchdowns. And on Indianapolis' final series, which came with just over a minute left on the clock, Williams and company provided enough pressure to disrupt Daniel Jones. The Colts quarterback was flagged for intentional grounding on first down, and then on third down his desperation heave deep was intercepted by the Cowboys' Caleb Downs. Game over.
"For us to go out there and execute on that last drive, to be able to get an interception … and execute the way we executed, it's unbelievable," Williams said. "It's a good building block to where we can go and what we can do."
