Dallas City News

One game down, 20 more to go.

The Cowboys marched into Cleveland on Sunday, just a few hours after Dak Prescott finally signed a contract extension with the team to make him the highest paid player in history, and put on a clinic against the team that was favored to beat them by 2.5 points. The 33-17 win was arguably the least exciting blowout win that one could imagine, but the Cowboys controlled things almost right away.

The Cowboys offense got the ball to start, and began things with a classic: handing the ball off to Ezekiel Elliott, once again a Cowboy, to watch him hurdle a defender but ultimately have the play erased by a holding penalty. That killed the drive immediately, with Dallas punting on fourth and 11 a few plays later.

The Browns offense then took the field following a short punt from Bryan Anger, and it only took a few plays for them to get into field goal range. They ultimately settled for that field goal, taking a 3-0 lead early on.

That’s when Prescott and CeeDee Lamb got things going, with the receiver racking up 44 yards on two plays before Prescott delivered a fadeaway dime to Brandin Cooks for the first touchdown of the new season.

That marked the beginning of the end for the Browns, whose offense wouldn’t even move the chains once in their next seven drives, extending all the way into the third quarter. New defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s defense stifled the Browns on nearly every play, bottling up run plays and frequently getting in Deshaun Watson’s face.

The Cowboys offense didn’t have its best day, punting two more times in the first half, but they managed to string together some successful drives against a Cleveland defense that was tops in the league in nearly every category last year.

Mike McCarthy utilized a gameplan that relied heavily on running the ball and getting it out of Prescott’s hands quickly to neutralize the pass rush, led by Myles Garrett. All in all, Dallas finished the game with 102 rushing yards on 25 total carries; Elliott led the team with 40 yards on 10 carries, with Rico Dowdle putting up 26 yards on eight carries. Elliott had a strong debut in his return to the Cowboys, scoring a touchdown to put them up 14-3.

Brandon Aubrey added two more field goals in the first half to make it 20-3, and he very nearly had a 66-yard field goal – which would’ve tied Justin Tucker’s NFL record – right before halftime. There was some confusion, though, as the play clock was not properly reset on the play, which led to a delay of game penalty and some choice words from McCarthy and John Fassel to the officials.

It may not have counted, but the fact that Aubrey drilled the kick with ease – and in a stadium known for its windy conditions – just further reinforces how special Aubrey is. The odds that Aubrey ties or breaks Tucker’s record this year surely went up after this.

The second half started out with a bang. Cleveland went three-and-out, thanks to a third-down sack from DeMarcus Lawrence, and that set up a punt. That’s when KaVontae Turpin did what KaVontae Turpin does best.

Following that play, things settled down for the remainder of the game. The Browns offense responded with a long 12-play drive that resulted in a touchdown, and the Cowboys did their best to grind out the clock with their remaining possessions. Dallas scored two more field goals to notch a total of four on the day, and Cleveland scored a touchdown with 29 seconds left in the game to put some bargain-bin lipstick on their pig of a performance.

The story in this game, though, was the Dallas defense. Zimmer’s unit looked solid in the preseason, but this was the first time we’ve seen the starters in the new defense. The results were incredibly promising.

Running back Jerome Ford had just 44 rushing yards on 12 carries, and the pass rush smothered Watson, tallying six sacks and plenty of pressures throughout the day. Lawrence and Eric Kendricks each had two sacks, with Micah Parsons and DeMarvion Overshown getting a sack apiece too.

Oh, and the takeaways continued to pile up for this Dallas defense. Kendricks picked off a pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage by Parsons, and Trevon Diggs racked up his first interception of the year off a deflected pass late in the game. Rookie Caelen Carson also came close to several picks, and Lawrence’s second sack of the day stripped the ball loose, but a Browns player recovered the ball.

The Cowboys will surely want to see better results from their offense, though this may end up being the best defense they face all season. For a season opener, though, it’ll be more than acceptable. The offense was able to score points, the defense did what they’ve been doing for several years, and special teams made a meaningful difference.

For all their respective efforts, the Cowboys are now 1-0 and tied for the top record in the league. It wasn’t perfect or even exciting television, but the Cowboys took care of business early on and came away with a rather drama-free victory on the road. You can’t ask for much more in Week 1.