Dallas Cowboys dominate Cleveland Browns 33-17 in opener, defense shines with multiple sacks
Sunday began with fireworks for the Dallas Cowboys as they (finally) took care of quarterback Dak Prescott with a record setting contract extension.
As exciting as that was the season still had to begin and had to do so with Dallas as road underdogs against the Cleveland Browns. Oddsmakers may want that one back as the Cowboys (who were +2.5 to be specific) completely dominated the Browns, particularly on defense.
It was a multi-sack day for Dallas where Micah Parsons obviously shined, but where DeMarvion Overshown properly announced himself. On offense Dak Prescott orchestrated things as always and CeeDee Lamb remained a high point of consistency. Brandin Cooks opened things up with the first touchdown of the season, there was so much success that you just about forgot that Amari Cooper was on the Browns sideline with an orange helmet on.
Notably the Cowboys saw tight end Jake Ferguson leave with a potential injury, something we will certainly continue to monitor.
Below you will find our running recap from throughout the game as it unfolded, we have gone ahead and reorganized it so that it can be read in chronological order.
The Cowboys are officially 1-0 and just made pretty easy work of what was arguably the best defense in the NFL last year.
1st Quarter
The Browns won the toss and deferred which put the ball in Dallas’ hands. A Jalen Tolbert penalty and sack on Dak Prescott made things rather tough against a ferocious defense so the Cowboys wound up punting.
A nice return put the Browns in position to do damage, but they ran into some penalty issues themselves. Ultimately they settled for a field goal to draw the game’s first points.
The Cowboys got back to work though and began to feed the CeeDee Lamb well.
This put the team in striking distance and on third down Cleveland sent an all out blitz and paid dearly. Prescott found Brandin Cooks for the first touchdown of the season.
Cleveland and Dallas would go on to trade punts after this and the Browns did so again right as the first quarter expired.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25610673/1Q.png)
2nd Quarter
Myles Garrett disrupted the first play of the quarter for Dallas and that made things difficult before an eventual punt.
The Dallas defense stood tall again and got the ball back for the offense. After starting on their own 22-yard line they went 11 plays and cashed in with an Ezekiel Elliott touchdown. Admit it, you smiled.
Once again the Cowboys defense stood tall and forced a punt. It was quite impressive to see.
Some offensive movement took place, but not all the way to the endzone. Dallas settled for a 57-yard field goal attempt that Brandon Aubrey, obviously, drilled.
Cleveland took back over and was facing a tough situation. It was then that Micah Parsons and Eric Kendricks made it more tough with a tag-team interception.
Things stalled just a bit after this for the Cowboys, but Brandon Aubrey came through yet again and cashed in another field goal.
The Browns tried but failed to do anything right before halftime.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25610745/1Q.png)
3rd Quarter
The third quarter began fun enough as the Cowboys defense showed up again to stop the Browns. DeMarcus Lawrence even picked up his first sack of the season.
But then things got really fun as right before the Dallas offense touched the ball for the first time in the second half… KaVontae Turpin took care of things all by himself.
Despite this being his third season with the team this was Turpin’s first return for a score. Interestingly it happened on a punt and not on the new dynamic kickoff.
The Browns managed to put together their most successful drive of the game and despite some confusion down near the goal line ultimately cashed in for their first touchdown. It was Deshaun Watson finding Jerry Jeudy, although Amari Cooper helped set it up.
Things went back and forth for a bit and unfortunately in the process Jake Ferguson appeared to get injured. We will track that as the story unfolds.
But the third quarter ended with Dallas sitting pretty.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25610874/1Q.png)
4th Quarter
Things kept up a bit slow as the Browns tried to find even the slightest bit of offense and were unable to. To be fair the Cowboys were no longer on fire as they took over beyond the 50 and settled for a field goal, the second time in a row that this happened.
Cleveland was doing their best to keep things close until Deshaun Watson made the mistake of throwing a ball that got tipped in the vicinity of Trevon Diggs.
Welcome back, 7.
The Browns drove down and scored one last time before things were all said and done, but this game was over way before then.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25610927/1Q.png)
Follow Blogging The Boys Everywhere
Notable Recent News
The Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott agreed to a massive four-year, $240M extension with $231M guaranteed on Sunday morning.
Injury Updates
Nothing new to report for the Cowboys.
NFL News Relevant To The Cowboys
The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers on Friday night in Brazil. Meanwhile the New York Giants lost to the Minnesota Vikings early on Sunday.
Up Next For The Cowboys
Dallas hosts the New Orleans Saints in their home opener next Sunday afternoon, September 5th, at 1pm ET.