What we learned in the Dallas Cowboys’ 33-10 ho-hum victory against the Carolina Panthers
Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers was akin to a late season SEC game against an overmatched non-conference opponent.
There was so little doubt about the outcome that the Dallas Cowboys and FOX sports used the game to allow Jerry Jones to announce that he was inducting former coach Jimmy Johnson in the Ring of Honor, even though the game was on the road at Bank of America Stadium.
It didn’t help that the Panthers (1-9) began working on a silent count in practice this week because they expected to have trouble hearing in their own house with Cowboys fans taking over the stadium.
The methodical and ho-hum nature of the game was reflected in the score.
A 17-3 halftime lead became a 30-10 blowout early in the fourth quarter when 21-yard yard touchdown run by Tony Pollard was followed by a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown by record-tying cornerback DeRon Bland.
It was Bland’s fourth pick-6 of the season, which is a franchise record for a season and ties three other players for an NFL all-time high in a season. His four also ties for the Cowboys career record.
Quarterback Dak Prescott said it was nice meeting Johnson before the game but he didn’t know about the Ring of Honor announcement and had no distractions going into the game.
“Every week is about handling business,” Prescott said. “Obviously, we understood the challenge this week. Honestly, not even looking forward to Thanksgiving yet. Keep our focus on where we were. If you look on paper, we knew we had a lesser opponent coming in. Had to get going fast and not take them lightly and keep the focus high. Yeah, got the job done. To say it was clean and it was exactly what we wanted to do, I can’t say that. We have to go look at the film. We’ll take the win any way we can get it. It was a good win.”
The Cowboys upped their record to 7-3 and continued their surge since a 42-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers last month with their fourth win in their last five games.
The Cowboys have now won seven of their first 10 games in each of the last three seasons under coach Mike McCarthy.
Most importantly, they took care of business against the Panthers when their focus could have been challenged because of Carolina’s losing record.
It is simply what the Cowboys do in wins this season against bad teams.
Dallas has won six games by 20-plus points in 2023. The last time the Cowboys won six games by 20 points-or-more in a season was 1978. Dallas’ six wins by 20-plus points are also tied for the second-most by any NFL team through the first 10 games of a season. The only team with more 20-point wins through 10 games was the 2007 Patriots (eight).
Now the Cowboys go from the Panthers to the 4-7 Washington Commanders Thursday on Thanksgiving Day.
It’s a short week. But the Panthers are coming off a 31-19 loss at home to the New York Giants. The same Giants the Cowboys beat last week, 49-17.
The Cowboys other home wins were 30-10 vs. the New York Jets, 38-3 vs. the New England Patriots and 43-20 vs. the Los Angeles Rams.
“We came here and did what we needed to do,” McCarthy said. “It was important to get the seventh win and we won by three scores. So I was glad to get some guys some playing time in the fourth quarter. So overall, it was it was a healthy victory for us.”
What we learned in the Dallas Cowboys 33-10 ho-hum victory against the Carolina Panthers:
Cowboys get run game going against Panthers
Prescott and receiver CeeDee Lamb finally cooled off.
Or maybe, the Cowboys cooled themselves off.
Prescott had a pedestrian day by his standards, completing 25 of 38 for 189 yards and two touchdowns.
It ended a streak of three consecutive 300-yard games and four straight games with a quarterback rating of over 100.
Lamb saw a streak of three straight games of 10 catches and 150 yards. He had six catches for 38 yards a touchdown against the Panthers.
The Cowboys know what they have in the passing attack.
The Cowboys used the game to get Pollard and the running attack going.
Pollard had his best game of the season with 12 carries for 61 yards. He had a 21-yard touchdown run and another 22-yard scamper.
It was important part of the offense that needs improvement heading into crucial games down the stretch in November and December.
“They’ve got a great rush over there,” Prescott said. “The interior, [Brian] Burns on the outside, they’ve got a great rush. They weren’t giving me the cleanest look or that much time. You’ve got a clock in your head, but they were doing a good job. Guys answered the challenge, cleaned that up. We also started getting some opportunities outside. At that point, we took advantage.
“It was huge for us to get the run game going, to get the favorable matchups we wanted outside, get them in more run stopping defenses so we could attack what we wanted to.”
Parsons back in the sack column, Bland sets record
After recording no sacks and no tackles against the New York Giants last week, edge rusher Micah Parsons was due a big game against the Panthers.
Parsons didn’t waste any time getting after rookie quarterback Bryce Young with two sacks in the first quarter.
The Cowboys had three sacks in the first half. Parsons was limited in the second half after vomiting twice on the sideline.
With the Cowboys up 17-3 at halftime, the defense gave up a 17-play, 70-yard drive in the third quarter. Young hit tight end Tommy Tremble for a 4-yard score.
But that was it.
Parsons added another half sack, giving him 10 for the season. It is the third straight year he has recorded double digit sacks.
Parsons blamed his vomited on taking an energy drink before the game that didn’t agree with his stomach.
The Cowboys finished the game with seven sacks.
And then Bland stole the show with his pick-6. He leads the Cowboys and its tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions in 2023.
“He’s scoring touchdowns,” Prescott said of Bland. “At that point he’s a part of the offense. I’m always communicating with the guys. I hadn’t watched these guys much on TV or checked out their offense. I asked, was he going to get an opportunity at one. He told me he was going to get one. We were laughing in the locker room post game and he said ‘I told you I was going to get one’. I said, ‘I didn’t know you were going to score.’ His expectations, his standards. He said, ‘you know that comes with it.’ ... He’s doing a hell of a job. I’m proud of him. Happy for him.”
Two games in four days and three games in 12 days
The Panthers game was the beginning of a tough schedule stretch for the Cowboys that has them playing two games in four days and three games in 12 days.
They host the Commanders on Thanksgiving Day and then another game against the Seattle Seahawks the following Thursday on Nov. 30.
The coaching staff began game planning for the Commanders (4-7) on the plane ride to Carolina.
McCarthy has prepared his players from the schedule challenge by limiting their practices the past couple weeks with just one full practice on Thursday and conducting walk-throughs on the other days.
And he made a point to rest his starters in the fourth quarter with a comfortable lead against the Panthers to keep them healthy for the quick turnaround.
“It definitely was something that we talked about with the coordinators beforehand, which I’d like to do that,” McCarthy said. “It was sort of our first time being on the schedule. It’s a challenge. Obviously, a win we had to have. It’s an NFC win. We’re obviously glad to be healthy and then we’ll move on to the Washington Commanders.”
Prescott said he will watch the Panthers game on the plane ride back to Dallas and then start looking at Washington on Monday.
“Yeah, I mean, being a noon game we can enjoy for the rest of the day,” Prescott said. “But come tomorrow morning. It’s on to Washington on a quick week. Monday is essentially a Thursday. Right? So yeah, gotta get in. Get the film study. Make sure I compact it, we compact it. Do we got to get done to be prepared for these guys. Division opponent and they beat us the last time we played them. So the focus will be high. Damn sure from my part.
“Once again looking on paper, their record, lesser opponent. But we’ve got to come in and be who we are. Take care of business on Thanksgiving and then we can enjoy our holidays the right way.”
This story was originally published November 19, 2023 at 3:33 PM.
