By Dwain Price, NDG Sports
ARLINGTON – If Saturday’s game against the Houston Texans is any indication, the upcoming season for the Dallas Cowboys may not end until sometimes in February. In the Super Bowl.
In a one-sided battle against their in-state rivals, the Cowboys totally dominated and frustrated the Texans, spanking them to the tune of 34-0 in Dallas’ home preseason opener at AT&T Stadium. The win increased the Cowboys’ record to 2-1 going into Thursday’s 7 p.m. preseason finale – also at AT&T Stadium — against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Against Dallas, the Texans were no match for the Cowboys, who forced four turnovers, recorded a whopping eight sacks and built a 27-0 lead at the half. What’s more, linebacker Joe Thomas blocked a punt and eventually recovered it in the end zone to put Dallas ahead, 14-0, midway through the first quarter.
From there, the rout was on.
“When the defense takes the ball away, and the offense cashes in on it, then you get a blocked punt,” Coach Jason Garrett said. “And now we’re getting after their quarterback, and then we get another takeaway. Those are all things that you want to have on your team, and you want to make them contagious, and you want to respond and feed off of those things and gather momentum as you go. One of the things we talk about a lot with momentum is you have to earn momentum.”
“You earn momentum through execution and making plays. When you get the energy going, and you start playing downhill against them, and you execute, good things are going to happen.”
Quarterback Dak Prescott got the Cowboys off to a 7-0 lead when he scrambled and tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Michael Gallup. It was one of only two completions for Prescott, who passed for just 22 yards and also had three incompletions.
“MG did a great job of getting open and showing me his numbers and giving me a place to throw the ball,” Prescott said. “I just got to make the throw, and he went and made a great contested catch.Â
“It’s something good to see from a young guy like Michael Gallup that I’ve talked about whose grown so much over the last year or so and is always trying to figure out how he can get better. A lot of good things are going to come from him.”
A lot of good things especially came from the Cowboys’ defense. The Texans only compiled 136 total yards against a swarming Cowboys’ defense led by Taco Charlton, who picked up two sacks, caused two fumbles and also recovered a fumble.
While defensive end Kerry Hyder also had a pair of sacks, Charlton had perhaps his best game since the Cowboys drafted him in the first round in 2017. It was Charlton who jarred the ball loose from Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson and recovered it that led to the touchdown by Gallup.
“I got a chance to come out here and play with my brothers, compete, have fun, and do what we do,” Charlton said. “I haven’t done anything.Â
“I still have a lot of work to do and a lot of stuff to prove. I just want to lace them up and play.”
The game likely was the last time the Cowboys’ starters will play before the regular season begins on Sept. 8 against the New York Giants. And what an impressive way for the Cowboys to show what they are made of, even without the services of the premier running back Ezekiel Elliott, who is still holding out for a massive contract extension.
“Offensively, we played well throughout the game,” Garrett said. “I think the story of the game was our ability to take the ball away from them – the blocked punt – and how well our defense played.Â
“They really did a great job controlling the line of scrimmage and not really letting them get anything started offensively throughout the game. When the defense takes the ball away, and the offense cashes in on it, then you get a blocked punt, and now we’re getting after their quarterback, and then we get another takeaway, those are all things that you want to have on your team. And you want to make them contagious, and you want to respond and feed off of those things and gather momentum as you go.”
After Prescott exited for good late in the first quarter, backup quarterback Cooper Rush was 15-of-25 for 173 yards, and third-string quarterback Mike White had six completions in nine attempts for 56 yards and also hurled a 12-yard TD to Jordan Chunn late in the third quarter.
With kicker Brett Maher going 2-for-2 on field gals — his kicks were from 36 and 23 yards — the Cowboys were able to tie a neat little bow around an extremely dominating performance.
“One of the things we talk about a lot with momentum is you have to earn momentum,” Garrett said. “You earn momentum through execution and making plays.
“When you get the energy going, and you start playing downhill against them, and you execute, good things are going to happen.”
And a lot of good things happened for the Cowboys against the Texans in all phases of the game.
