Plankton
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This game was truly a game of two halves.
For one half, the Detroit Lions, who had a lot to play for, played as if their season were on the line. The Dallas Cowboys, on the other hand, who couldn’t improve their playoff lot at all tonight, played as if this were a meaningless contest.
Once the second half came, the Cowboys got serious, and swung the tide heavily in their direction, and ran away with their franchise record tying 13th win of the season.
Yes, there were the now considered usual strong performances by Dak Prescott (212 yards passing, 3 touchdowns) and Ezekiel Elliott (80 yards on 12 carries, and 2 touchdowns), as well as a showcase performance by Dez Bryant (70 yards receiving, 2 touchdown catches, and 1 touchdown pass).
But, on a night where the Cowboys came out of the game a little banged up, if there were a performance that won’t get a lot of press and recognition, and was absolutely critical to the win tonight, it was by a player who recently came back from the injured list.
J.J. Wilcox turned the game in the Cowboys favor in the second half.
With the game tied at 21, and the Lions receiving the second half kickoff, Wilcox, the subject of much ridicule by the fan base, put his stamp on the game. On the first play, after the defense had been gashed by the unheralded Zach Zenner on the ground in the first half (64 yards), Wilcox laid the boom down on Zenner, bringing the crowd into the game. Following a holding penalty by Zenner, and a sack by Maliek Collins, Wilcox made his presence known again. Wilcox intercepted a Matthew Stafford pass near midfield, a turnover that led to an Elliott touchdown run that gave the Cowboys a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
The Lion offense went out with a whimper from the point onward, as they were shut out in the second half, held to 137 yards after halftime, and had Stafford left under siege by a resurgent Cowboy pass rush. David Irving continued his game wrecking ways from the previous week with 1.5 sacks. His fellow end, Benson Mayowa, continued his strong play since coming back from being benched, also notching 1.5 sacks. Whatever Rod Marinelli said to his troops at halftime worked, as the defense played with a sense of urgency that will serve them well in the playoffs.
The injury list from tonight’s game is somewhat lengthy, and will likely make personnel decisions for the season finale in Philadelphia much easier to make. Tyron Smith left the game with a knee injury, Terrell McClain had an ankle, Ryan Davis also had a knee injury, and Anthony Brown left with a concussion. Combine this with the existing injuries of Cedric Thornton and Morris Claiborne, and the Cowboys may need to make some decisions on defense to field a team next week.
A short week awaits. With efforts like the one put forth by J.J. Wilcox tonight, the Cowboys look to be on track to do some special things in January.
Other notes from tonight’s game:
For one half, the Detroit Lions, who had a lot to play for, played as if their season were on the line. The Dallas Cowboys, on the other hand, who couldn’t improve their playoff lot at all tonight, played as if this were a meaningless contest.
Once the second half came, the Cowboys got serious, and swung the tide heavily in their direction, and ran away with their franchise record tying 13th win of the season.
Yes, there were the now considered usual strong performances by Dak Prescott (212 yards passing, 3 touchdowns) and Ezekiel Elliott (80 yards on 12 carries, and 2 touchdowns), as well as a showcase performance by Dez Bryant (70 yards receiving, 2 touchdown catches, and 1 touchdown pass).
But, on a night where the Cowboys came out of the game a little banged up, if there were a performance that won’t get a lot of press and recognition, and was absolutely critical to the win tonight, it was by a player who recently came back from the injured list.
J.J. Wilcox turned the game in the Cowboys favor in the second half.
With the game tied at 21, and the Lions receiving the second half kickoff, Wilcox, the subject of much ridicule by the fan base, put his stamp on the game. On the first play, after the defense had been gashed by the unheralded Zach Zenner on the ground in the first half (64 yards), Wilcox laid the boom down on Zenner, bringing the crowd into the game. Following a holding penalty by Zenner, and a sack by Maliek Collins, Wilcox made his presence known again. Wilcox intercepted a Matthew Stafford pass near midfield, a turnover that led to an Elliott touchdown run that gave the Cowboys a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
The Lion offense went out with a whimper from the point onward, as they were shut out in the second half, held to 137 yards after halftime, and had Stafford left under siege by a resurgent Cowboy pass rush. David Irving continued his game wrecking ways from the previous week with 1.5 sacks. His fellow end, Benson Mayowa, continued his strong play since coming back from being benched, also notching 1.5 sacks. Whatever Rod Marinelli said to his troops at halftime worked, as the defense played with a sense of urgency that will serve them well in the playoffs.
The injury list from tonight’s game is somewhat lengthy, and will likely make personnel decisions for the season finale in Philadelphia much easier to make. Tyron Smith left the game with a knee injury, Terrell McClain had an ankle, Ryan Davis also had a knee injury, and Anthony Brown left with a concussion. Combine this with the existing injuries of Cedric Thornton and Morris Claiborne, and the Cowboys may need to make some decisions on defense to field a team next week.
A short week awaits. With efforts like the one put forth by J.J. Wilcox tonight, the Cowboys look to be on track to do some special things in January.
Other notes from tonight’s game:
- The offense was sloppy pre-snap once again in the first half. They committed five penalties before the snap, and they looked like they were still on the Christmas holiday in terms of focus. They cleaned it up in the second half, but they make things much harder on themselves then it has to be.
- The performance of Dak Prescott was incredibly impressive, and to me, more noteworthy than last week’s 32 for 36 effort against Tampa Bay. Prescott made some difficult throws into some contested windows, as well as a pretty post corner to Terrance Williams in the third quarter. Prescott was in a groove, and notched his best passer rating of the season (148.3). He looks to be closing the season on a hot streak, and it’s great to see.
- Elliott has the unbelievable ability to make the difficult look effortless. Whether it’s a key blitz pickup, or maneuvering through traffic with a screen pass for a first down, or breaking a 55-yard touchdown where he looks to be coasting, but pulls away from all defenders, the electric rookie continues to amaze. Despite a reduced workload tonight, he did absorb some pretty good hits tonight, and it was good that he was pulled when he was.
- BTW, Elliott’s homage to his teammates following his long touchdown was nice, as he emulated Bryant, Williams and Cole Beasley with his celebration.
- The offensive line played well in pass protection, but they had some issues with creating running lanes against the Lion DTs Haloti Ngata, A'Shawn Robinson and Tyrunn Walker.
- Someone needs to remind me – is Dez Bryant no longer elite? Because he sure looked like it tonight. He made contested catch after contested catch.
- All of Cowboy nation took a deep breath when Tyron Smith exited with a limp. While it remains to be seen how serious it is, his replacement, Emmett Cleary, held up relatively well. He got some help from an extra TE at times, but he had a nice block collapsing the end on a run play, and held up well against Ziggy Ansah on a Prescott pass play from the end zone.
- Chris Jones got into the spirit, following Wilcox’ lead. His decleater of Andre Roberts on his fourth quarter punt return would have done Bill Bates proud.
- Next week, the Cowboys do have something to play for. With a win, they will set a franchise record for most wins in a season by a Cowboy team. I do expect that a number of players will get the week off due to injury, but it will be interesting to see how much they will play to win.
- I'm sure that the media focus this week will be on whether Tony Romo will play or not against the Eagles. What the Cowboys need to focus on is cleaning up the pre-snap penalties, and keep the momentum going, regardless of who is under center.
