‘Learn How To Win’: Dallas Cowboys Finally Close Out One-Score Game After Late Losses To Baltimore Ravens, Arizona Cardinals

INDIANAPOLIS — For the second straight week, the Dallas Cowboys let a fourth-quarter lead get away. This time, they went 65 yards in 29 seconds and beat the Indianapolis Colts 27-23 on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Dallas led 20-10 late in the third quarter before Indianapolis scored 13 straight points and took a 23-20 lead on a 50-yard field goal with 1:37 left. A week earlier, the Cowboys lost 33-30 in overtime to the Arizona Cardinals after leading 17-3. In September, the Baltimore Ravens beat them 34-31 in Brazil with a 56-yard field goal as time expired, seven seconds after Dallas tied the game.

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said his players did not blink through a back-and-forth game that included a reversed touchdown and a fumble overturned on replay. The Cowboys improved to 4-5.

“Love the heart. The best way to learn how to win is to win and to finish. And this game is crazy, right? The game of pro football is crazy,” Schottenheimer said. “This team we just played, they lost bad last week. We knew they would respond. We lost a heartbreaker last week. We knew we would respond, but the men in that locker room weren’t going to let us lose.”

“And what can you say about the team in general on defense? Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark, I mean, just dominant performance,” Schottenheimer continued. “But crazy business, man, and like I said, I say it all the time. God is good, and we’re very fortunate and blessed to be a part of this incredible business.”

When Dallas has an opportunity to close a team out, Dak Prescott said, it cannot let up. His 46-yard throw to Ryan Flournoy opened the final drive, and Javonte Williams finished it with a 1-yard touchdown run with 1:08 left.

“It’s to win. To try to win any way we can. At the end of the day, a win,” Prescott said. “That’s all I’m trying to do. That’s all we can control. Individually is doing your part, trying to be efficient, disciplined, and getting a win. And obviously, when you’re not as clean as you want to be, disciplined as you want to be, you make it tougher on yourself. And sometimes you can overcome, and sometimes you can’t. Tonight we did. Today we did.”

“Don’t want them all to be this close. … But I’ve said it before: if I can get the ball in my hands with an opportunity to win the game, I’ll take it that way,” Prescott continued. “And so, if they all have to come down to that, I’m fine with them.”

Sometimes a team overcomes its mistakes and sometimes it does not, Prescott said. Dallas was penalized 14 times for 153 yards Sunday and lost 2 fumbles.

“You get a chance, you got to go win it. You got to go finish it. There’s going to be some ups and downs. We can’t ride them,” Prescott explained. “We’ve got to stay focused and stay locked into whatever our job is individually, and it’s important collectively, but at the end of the game, when you’ve got an opportunity to win or to close them out, you’ve got to do it, and you can’t let up.”

“And obviously, we’re able to go get a touchdown there, and defense with the Caleb Downs interception did that,” Prescott added. “So you can’t let anyone off the hook when you’ve got a chance to put them away.”

Quinnen Williams Recalls Seven Seconds Against Baltimore

Quinnen Williams said there were a bunch of games the Dallas defense never finished. He forced a fourth-quarter fumble by Jonathan Taylor on Sunday, and the Colts’ final series ended with an interception.

“Just having that opportunity to kind of take the next steps as a defense. I know we had a lot of opportunities in the past, ending games, seven seconds [against] Baltimore, and all the previous games we had the opportunity to end games as a defense,” Williams said. “And just having another opportunity today to put our perspective out there and kind of right our own.”

With defensive tackle Kenny Clark in his face, Daniel Jones threw deep on third-and-22, and Caleb Downs picked it off with 35 seconds left. Williams said the defense finally got the chance to right its own.

“It’s been fantastic, man. I know it’s a bunch of games out there that we never finished, especially defense. We didn’t execute to finish the games, and we lost those games,” Williams explained. “And so, for us to go out there and execute on that last drive, to be able to get an interception, to be able to rush the pass[er] … and execute the way we execute, it’s unbelievable, and it’s a good building block to where we can go and where we can do.”

Downs said he is just playing ball and fighting to be his best self. The rookie, who also had a sack, had been saying all year that the defense needed to close a game.

“I’ve been saying it all year, and I’m glad that we finally finished the game today. But at the end of the day, we got to play like it’s on us every play,” Downs said. “We got to play like our defense is the last stand. That there’s no offense. That it’s just us. We’re playing separate games, and that’s what we have to do. And people can say whatever they want, but when we play well, we’re a good football team.”

Tyler Goodson, Ryan Flournoy On Stepping Up Late

Finishing games is the only way Dallas gets into the playoffs, Tyler Goodson said. He ran for 77 yards after returning from a first-half knee injury.

“I won’t say you need it because I’d rather just blow them out. No doubt. But I think it can cause two things, depending on your team and the system you’re in. It can cause you to panic, or it can cause you just to step up to the challenge,” Goodson said. “And I think we do a good job of stepping up to the challenge. And that’s all it’s going to take. Finish the games, guys doing what they need to do.”

“Guys getting on blocks, doing their job, being at the right place at the right time, in the passing game, guys in the run game,” Goodson continued. “That’s what it’s gonna take to be hitting on all cylinders, not just on offense, but defense too, and special teams.”

The Cowboys talked to each other on the sideline and trusted each other even after Indianapolis went up three, Flournoy said. He started Sunday with George Pickens inactive.

“It’s everything for this team. We’ve been wanting to win. We came up short so many times, and just to pull it through this week, it’s been amazing,” Flournoy said. “Really, it’s really not even looking back on what the past week was. We fixed that, and when they went up, when they came back, we knew what we had to do because what we had to do against the Cardinals, we didn’t execute, but we knew we had to execute, and that’s what we did.”

Left tackle Tyler Guyton called NFL football a roller coaster of emotions in which games come down to the last play. He said Dallas learns something from every loss.

“Just staying in mentally. It’s never over till it’s over, and ultimately, like I said, you just got to stay in the game,” Guyton said. “You got to keep on fighting, no matter what the situation is.”

Dallas hosts the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Nov. 15, at AT&T Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.