Written by Jared Dubin at CBS Sports.com
The Dallas Cowboys did not get off to a very good start on “Monday Night Football” in Week 3. But as the Cowboys well know, it’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish.
And boy, did they finish this one in style. They turned an early deficit into a 28-17 victory, despite the fact that they were absolutely blown off the field for the first 15 minutes of the game.
Once the first quarter ended, the Cowboys proceeded to slowly but surely take over. They were helped by two Arizona drives that stalled deep in their own territory, allowing Dallas to march down the field for two touchdowns on drives that totaled 79 yards combined. They were helped also by a missed field goal from Cardinals kicker Phil Dawson, who was brought in to fix the kicking game that so plagued Arizona last season.
Those few Arizona mistakes were all Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and company needed to put their stamp on the football game. Dak got off to a slow start, but eventually wound up having an three-touchdown evening. Zeke was bottled up for much of the early part of the game, but ripped off runs of 30 yards and 20 yards, and later added a game-sealing touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.
Brice Butler made plays deep down the field. Terrance Williams won his matchup with Justin Bethel. Cole Beasley made a huge play on third down. Ryan Switzer made plays in the return game.
And the much-maligned Cowboys defense, after a horrid start, stepped up and did its job. DeMarcus Lawrence dominated the game (more on that below), but Sean Lee, Jeff Heath, and especially, third-year safety Byron Jones, sophomore defensive tackle Maliek Collins, and rookie corner Jourdan Lewis all played big roles in the Cowboys slowing down an Arizona offense that looked like it was going to have a field day in the early going. That clamping down, plus a few timely bursts of offensive effectiveness (the ball-control Cowboys only had the ball for 23:45), was all Dallas ultimately needed.
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