NASHVILLE, Tenn. – If nothing else we reconfirmed a tight end can be a quarterback's best friend.
Er, receiver.
The Cowboys offense had to grind out a 27-13 win over the game Tennessee Titans, losing their sixth straight to fall to 7-9 in what turned out to be a meaningless game in their drive to win the AFC South title with Jacksonville.
Why the Cowboys couldn't run the football effectively against the Titans persistent five-man fronts, averaging just 2.7 yards a carry, though being persistent running it on 32 of their 74 plays.
And while Ezekiel Elliott ran for a touchdown, his one-yard run stretching his consecutive streak of rushing for a touchdown to nine, just two short of Emmitt Smith's franchise record of 11, but to do so, he had to run the ball three times from the Titans six to reach into the end zone.
Of course, the Cowboys once again struggled with turnovers, three of them here Thursday might at Nissan Stadium, a botched center snap and two interceptions, one of those another one of them dropped passes that this one was tipped again and landing in the laps of the Titans.
But in the second half, leading just 10-6, with a Titans team leaving eight injured players inactive for the game, one of those starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill, and also one of the NFL's top running backs Derrick Henry, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott leaned on his tight end.
Meet Dalton Schultz, the tight end the Cowboys thought enough of to franchise when they couldn't come to a long-term agreement. Schultz finished the game with seven catches for 56 yards and two very important touchdowns, giving him 53 catches for 544 yards and five touchdowns this season, second to just Lamb's team-leading 102 catches and eight touchdowns, and now just one yard behind second place Noah Brown for yards.
Unfortunately for the Titans, who were uber-concerned with trying to stop wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, which they didn't, putting up another 100-yard game on the dot with 11 catches, Schultz two touchdown catches had a lot to do with the Cowboys finally creating some separation on this initial rainy night to push the Cowboys record to 12-4, securing back-to-back 12-win seasons for the first time since three in a row from 1993-95.
"Schultz is a guy, a tight end I have a lot of trust in," Prescott said.
So, on the Cowboys first possession of the second half, knowing they struggled to run the ball in the first two quarters, 17 carries for 61 yards, this time once they reached the Titans six, first and goal, they didn't even mess around trying to run the ball against the Titans goal-line defense.
The Cowboys came out in two tight ends, Dak rolling to his left and throwing a swing pass to Schultz on a quick route, beating corner Tre Avery for the touchdown, giving the Cowboys a 17-6 lead.
"That was an easy one," Schultz said. "Just how we drew it up."
The next one was a thing of art, the Cowboys facing a second-and-seven from the Titans 10, now leading the pesky Titans just 17-13. In came the Cowboys three tight end set, with Zeke in the backfield. For sure the Titans were bracing for another run. Nope, not this time.
Let Schultz take you through the play.
"That route is designed for CeeDee, and they played the only coverage I had a chance," Schultz. "We ran that play in practice a few times and the ball never came my way. The corner locked on to CeeDee and I have the safety one-on-one."
Schultz took the safety Andrew Adams to the back left corner of the end zone. A seven-year veteran, but just 5-11, 202. Schultz checks in at 6-5, 255. A bad matchup for the Titans.
Dak saw it right away. Schultz got behind Adams.
"He put that ball up in the perfect spot," Schultz said. "And when I saw the safety (with him) I knew I had a chance."
A great chance, and Dak threw a honey of lob to the back corner of the end zone that Schultz went up to make a great grab over Adams, then getting both feet down for the touchdown with 11:58 left in the game, the Cowboys grabbing a much more secure 24-13 lead the Titans never again would cut into and Schultz his second multi-touchdown game of the season.
And this win, fueled by Prescott's two TD passes to Schultz, goes a long way toward keeping the Cowboys on the heels of the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC East title, needing the New Orleans Saints to beat the Eagles on Sunday to push this division title battle to the final game of the season.
"Just not take our foot off the pedal," Schultz said. "This will be a game we can learn a lot from."
Yep, and a reminder of how important tight ends are to quarterbacks.
