‘It Was A Must Drive’: Dallas Cowboys Beat Indianapolis Colts 27-23 On Javonte Williams’ Late Touchdown, Caleb Downs’ Interception

INDIANAPOLIS — With 1:08 left and Dallas down three, Javonte Williams went in from the 1-yard line to finish a four-play, 65-yard drive that took 29 seconds. Caleb Downs intercepted Daniel Jones with 35 seconds remaining, and the Dallas Cowboys left Lucas Oil Stadium with a 27-23 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

The win moved Dallas to 4-5 one week after a 33-30 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals, a game in which the Cowboys let a 17-3 lead get away. Indianapolis fell to 2-7 with its fifth straight loss. Receiver George Pickens, cornerback Joey Porter Jr., and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown were all inactive for Dallas with injuries.

Dak Prescott has said before that if he can get the ball in his hands with an opportunity to win the game, he will take it that way. He got that chance when Spencer Shrader made a 50-yard field goal to put Indianapolis ahead 23-20 with 1:37 left.

“It was huge. I mean, obviously, the one in the first half to get the touchdown was big,” Prescott said. “Was good for momentum going in the half. … And then at the end of the game, I mean, it was a must. We talk about a must win. It was a must drive, and we had to have it, and so communication throughout the whole offense was great.”

“Ultimately, as I said, I want to be in those situations if it means going to win the game, and I know the rest of the offense does,” Prescott continued. “And so not surprised just by the way that we do two minute and the way that we prepare with two minute that we’re able to come out with touchdowns like that.”

On the first snap after the kickoff, Prescott went deep down the right side to Ryan Flournoy, who beat cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner for 46 yards to the Indianapolis 19. Williams ran for 8 yards two plays later, and two penalties on the Colts’ defense, illegal use of hands and pass interference on a throw to Flournoy, moved the ball to the 1. Williams scored on the next snap.

Prescott said the deep shot was not necessarily the call. It developed from the coverage, with the safety looking elsewhere and Flournoy one-on-one outside.

“Just what I expect from those guys, honestly. I mean, that’s how they practice. That’s how they approach the game. That’s how detailed they are in everything that they do. Trust me,” Prescott explained. “CeeDee, after the game, tells me I owe you about 60 yards and a touchdown, and that’s the standard that he sets for himself that we have, and the expectations.”

“And Flo’s a guy that I can’t talk enough about him, and I try to every time, just tell you guys what he means to me, what he means to this offense, a guy that does everything right,” Prescott added. “So when I got an opportunity like that, with a minute left, I got Flo man to man. I don’t care necessarily who’s guarding him. When that’s the read, that’s the look that the defense has given me, I’m going to attack with the utmost trust, and Flo went and showed you why I have that trust, and proud of those guys.”

Flournoy started with Pickens out, and he said being the next man up has been the story of his life. He entered Sunday with 30 catches for 342 yards this season.

“Before every single drive, I step up, I pray to God, and in that particular prayer, after I was finished, I said I’m made for this, and I told myself I’m made for this,” Flournoy said. “I’m made for this in the huddle. That calling play, I’m talking to myself. I’m made for this. Not even knowing the play could have been a run play. I was gonna go out and block.”

“I was made to block, but called the pass play, and I ran my route,” Flournoy continued. “[When I] seen the ball in the air, I just knew I was made for that moment to catch it.”

Indianapolis still had two timeouts after Williams scored. Jones was flagged for intentional grounding on first down, which carried a 10-second runoff, and on third-and-22, Downs picked off his deep throw over the middle at the Colts’ 37 with defensive tackle Kenny Clark bearing down. Downs, the 11th overall pick in April, had been saying all year that the defense needed to finish a game.

“It was a surreal feeling, honestly, to have it, because I seen the play coming, and I seen their setup, and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s coming right here. I know it. I gotta make the play,’” Downs said. “And then I was about to get up, but then they kept pushing me back on the ground. So I’m like, ‘All right, well, it is what it is.’”

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Dallas played really well while missing key players. The Cowboys had already let late leads slip this season against Arizona and the Baltimore Ravens, who won 34-31 in Brazil on a field goal as time expired.

“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.”

Javonte Williams, CeeDee Lamb Pace Dallas Cowboys’ 508-Yard Day

Dallas outgained Indianapolis 508 yards to 271 and held the ball for 35:43. Prescott finished 21-of-34 for 335 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions, and Schottenheimer said the yardage could have gone higher without the untimely penalties.

“I thought we moved the ball really at will. I mean, put up over 500 yards offense. I thought Dak was incredible,” Schottenheimer explained. “I haven’t even seen the catch of Flo’s. The big pass sounds like it was an incredible one-handed catch, and felt really good about the matchup. … Back and forth game.”

“CeeDee, you think he’s in on the one, and then the fumble, the craziness of the fumble about the wrist as opposed to the forearm, and all that stuff is crazy,” Schottenheimer added. “But again, our guys didn’t blink, and that’s what I love about that team. And they believe in one another, and they executed, and that’s what we needed.”

CeeDee Lamb caught 10 passes for 195 yards and 1 touchdown on 16 targets. His 44-yard touchdown down the right sideline with 21 seconds left in the first half capped a four-play, 75-yard drive and gave Dallas a 17-7 halftime lead. Late in the third quarter, replay overturned an 11-yard touchdown catch by Lamb, and Brandon Aubrey kicked a 28-yard field goal for a 20-10 lead.

Early in the fourth quarter, Lamb caught a 48-yard pass on third-and-12 and was ruled down at the Indianapolis 13. The Colts challenged, and the call was reversed to a fumble that Indianapolis recovered at its 9. Lamb was also flagged for a false start and two offensive pass interference penalties, and he said the numbers looked crazy but could have been more.

“Before the review, obviously, I thought I was down because I felt … I don’t know who it was,” Lamb said. “I think it was a linebacker. He had hit me in my back as I was trying to make a move, and I went down, right? But I used my arm with the ball, which obviously I feel like I shouldn’t have. But when you’re in a moment of moving around, I guess when you’re in a situation, you’re not really thinking.”

“But obviously, I know now not to use the ball to keep my balance. But I also thought I was down by contact,” Lamb continued. “Clearly, the refs had it out for me this week.”

The replay came down to whether Lamb’s wrist or forearm was on the ground, and Schottenheimer said Dallas understood it would be ruled a turnover. The catch would have put the Cowboys at the Indianapolis 13 in a 20-17 game.

“That’s who CeeDee is as a competitor. He said, ‘Hey, I owe you one.’ I said, ‘You don’t owe me anything, dude.’ Great player, great effort,” Schottenheimer said. “They blitzed us a lot, and that was a cover zero, where they came an all-out blitz. Great job finding the ball. Great job recognizing he wasn’t down. But the rule is the rule.”

Williams carried 20 times for 101 yards and 1 touchdown and caught 4 passes for 23 yards. Tyler Goodson, who spent three seasons with Indianapolis, ran 12 times for 77 yards after leaving in the first half with a knee injury and returning in the third quarter. Goodson said duo and inside zone were the best runs for Dallas on Sunday.

“Just attacking them downhill. Double teams getting up to the linebackers. We knew this linebacker team was gonna be downhill,” Goodson said. “Towards the end of the game, they kind of got away from that downhill a little bit, tried to play a little patient, and just attacking them downhill and getting those double teams up to the linebackers is what helped us the most.”

Left tackle Tyler Guyton felt pretty good about the run game but still wanted to see it from the bird’s-eye view on tape. Dallas finished with 179 rushing yards on 34 carries.

“Just sticking to the plan. Nobody trying to be a superhero. Everybody doing their job,” Guyton said. “All 11 on the field working together.”

Jake Ferguson caught a 10-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-2 early in the second quarter, finishing a 15-play, 65-yard drive that took 7:05. Ferguson got hurt on an 11-yard catch in the third quarter and did not return, and Schottenheimer said the tight end had a stinger and a knee injury. Ferguson entered the day questionable with an ankle injury that cost him most of the Arizona game, and Prescott said he is not a guy who gets moved by the noise or the ups and downs.

“It was a huge play being fourth down, being ready. Had to go make a big-time catch, but not surprised,” Prescott said. “He’s not a guy that gets moved … through the noise and the ups and the downs and being consistent. He’s got a lot going on in his life right now. And I’m just proud of the way that he shows up each and every day with the spirit that he does, with the mindset that he does, and the teammate that he is to get better and to do whatever it takes.”

“And so just getting the opportunity to throw him that rock right there on fourth down, and him go make that big-time catch, I know [it means] a lot for him,” Prescott continued. “And now he’s just got to get healthy, and we can keep rolling.”

Dallas was penalized 14 times for 153 yards, and nine of the flags came against the offense. Penalties erased 103 yards of Cowboys gains, including an 18-yard Lamb catch on third down in the second quarter and a 25-yard Goodson catch in the fourth. Prescott said the Cowboys get in their own way and make games closer than they have to be.

“We can’t do that. Simple as that. We can’t do that. We can’t have this many penalties, especially on offense,” Prescott said. “I don’t know the number on defense, but I know on our side of the ball that’s purely unacceptable. We’re better than that from pre-snap to combative to however you want to categorize the penalties. That was way too many of them, and we’re fortunate. We’re going to be able to fix them with the win, but we’ve got to get better in that category.”

Referee Clay Martin’s crew worked the game, and Indianapolis was flagged 9 times for 67 yards. Schottenheimer said penalties are the one area he knows for a fact Dallas has to clean up.

“Well, we’re gonna take a look at all of them. I want to see what they all look like,” Schottenheimer said. “This is a crew that hadn’t called a lot of penalties. There was a lot of penalties called, so I want to look at the film before I speak on it.”

Quinnen Williams, Caleb Downs Help Cowboys Close Out Indianapolis Colts

Aubrey opened the scoring with a 45-yard field goal after a 23-yard catch by Jonathan Mingo on third-and-3. On third-and-8 later in the first quarter, Laiatu Latu strip-sacked Prescott, and the Colts returned the recovery to the Dallas 19. Seth McGowan finished the short drive with a 2-yard touchdown run for a 7-3 lead.

Indianapolis went three-and-out on 5 of its 14 possessions and converted 3 of 13 third downs. Jones finished 20-of-34 for 180 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. Jonathan Taylor ran 13 times for 46 yards against a defense that entered the week allowing an NFL-worst 152.8 rushing yards per game, and the Colts finished with 105 rushing yards on 23 carries.

Quinnen Williams had 7 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 quarterback hit, and 1 forced fumble. With Indianapolis at the Dallas 18 midway through the fourth quarter, Williams knocked the ball away from Taylor, and linebacker Shemar James recovered and returned it 11 yards. Dallas was then flagged 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Prescott said Overshown is upset at himself about it.

“I was upset. I didn’t know exactly what it was for. I thought it was because we had the whole 40 guys come from the sideline,” Prescott said. “I didn’t realize it was just Overshown, and so at the end of the day, it’s about being disciplined, though. Whether it’s Overshown, I know he’s upset at himself about it, or whether it’s us on offense and holding penalty, or holding calls, or CeeDee and the offensive pass interference, or the fumble. We’ve got to be accountable to every one of these mistakes individually.”

Schottenheimer said the two interior linemen were incredible. Clark finished with 2 tackles and a quarterback hit, and he was the one pressuring Jones on the game-ending interception.

“If there’s a better interior defensive lineman than him in the league, I haven’t been around one in a long time. He’s just dominant, the way he can change the game,” Schottenheimer said. “And as a man, like I said, I think he and Kenny inside, they really willed us to go get this victory. And the guys followed their lead because the pushing stuff inside in the pocket was incredible.”

Williams said Dallas had chances to end games as a defense in the past, going back to the seven seconds against Baltimore. This time, the defense held Indianapolis to a field goal on its last scoring drive and took the ball away on its final series.

“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 said. “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.”

Rashan Gary sacked Jones once and made 6 tackles, and Downs added a 10-yard sack on third down in the second quarter. Downs’ older brother, Colts receiver Josh Downs, caught 3 passes for 24 yards on 6 targets. The brothers dapped up before kickoff, and Caleb said it was an all-business approach after that.

“Honestly, we needed to win as a team. That’s the biggest thing, and it was a surreal feeling going out there and lining up in front of him,” Downs explained. “Like it’s me and him the whole game. So I was just thankful for the situation. He definitely got me on some of the plays that they missed him on, but I mean, I’m just thankful that he’s healthy, I’m healthy, and thankful that my family could be here.”

Indianapolis climbed back from 20-10. After Aubrey’s kickoff fell short of the landing zone and gave the Colts the ball at their 40, Ashton Dulin took a short pass from Jones 55 yards for a touchdown with 1:17 left in the third quarter. Shrader tied the game with a 59-yard field goal with 5:56 to play.

Aubrey missed a 50-yard try wide left with 3:34 remaining in a 20-20 game. Schottenheimer said he wanted to look at the kick and thought one of the snaps was a little bit off.

“Those guys worked so well together. But again, like I said, we’re fortunate we have the best kicker in the league,” Schottenheimer said. “My money’s on him every time he goes out there.”

Dallas used all three of its timeouts on the next Indianapolis possession, which ended with Shrader’s 50-yarder. Schottenheimer said the stop kept the Colts out of the end zone with enough time left for the Cowboys.

“But how about our defense going out there and getting the four-minute, holding them to a field goal?” Schottenheimer said. “And I think that was huge to give us a chance to go down and win the game.”

Linebacker Dee Winters and edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku both left and returned, according to the official play-by-play, and safety P.J. Locke was hurt with 2:10 left. Schottenheimer said he hopes to get Dallas’ inactive players back this week.

“We had a lot of guys. I’ll just give you guys an update on the injuries, because it leads in. Goody battled through a knee. Should be okay,” Schottenheimer said. “[Ezeiruaku], who had an ankle. Winters, evaluation for concussion, he was fine. Fergie had a stinger, and then he had a knee. Mingo, [on] the third down early on, he got an ankle. Tried to play through, and then P.J. unfortunately had another concussion, so got him covered in prayers.”

“… We are blessed to have a one-two punch like that,” Schottenheimer noted. “But Javonte getting over 100 yards [today] was really cool. It was a little bit of a slow start early on from that regard, but we just kind of found our rhythm as the game went on.”

Lamb pointed to the history between the teams and the players San Francisco has on defense. The 49ers come to AT&T Stadium next.

“We needed a dub going into it. We all know that, and then we know what we got going on,” Lamb explained. “Just the history of the game, the guys that they have over there on defense, and the prep. I mean, it’s gonna take a lot of preparation, a lot of execution. We can’t have as many flags because [they] have a really good offense too.”

Dallas opens a three-game homestand against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Nov. 15, with kickoff at 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX. Indianapolis hosts the Miami Dolphins the same day.