‘Really Willed Us’: Brian Schottenheimer Credits Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark As Dallas Cowboys Defense Holds Indianapolis Colts To 271 Yards

INDIANAPOLIS — Quinnen Williams finished with 7 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 quarterback hit, and 1 forced fumble Sunday, and the Dallas Cowboys held the Indianapolis Colts to 271 total yards. Dallas won 27-23 at Lucas Oil Stadium.

With Indianapolis at the Dallas 18 midway through the fourth quarter, Williams knocked the ball loose from Jonathan Taylor, and linebacker Shemar James recovered. Two of Williams’ tackles for loss came in the fourth quarter, including a 1-yard stop on Taylor during the Colts’ final scoring drive. Defensive tackle Kenny Clark had 2 tackles and a quarterback hit and was pressuring Daniel Jones on Caleb Downs’ game-sealing interception.

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said the two interior linemen were incredible. Dallas entered the week allowing 152.8 rushing yards per game, last in the NFL, and Indianapolis ran for 105 yards on 23 carries.

“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.”

One perimeter screen got out for a big play, Schottenheimer said, a short pass that Ashton Dulin took 55 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter. Outside of that, the Colts went three-and-out on 5 of their 14 possessions and converted 3 of 13 third downs.

“Our defense really over the past two weeks, minus a couple drives there late against Arizona, they played really well. You see guys coming [into] their own again,” Schottenheimer explained. “I can’t say enough things about Quinnen Williams. Him and Kenny Clark today just were dominant. Shemar James running the show, awesome. Caleb Downs making plays. I thought the coverage was much better.”

Quinnen Williams Says He Is Going In The Right Direction

Williams, the third overall pick in 2019 and a first-team All-Pro in 2022, came to Dallas from the New York Jets at the 2025 trade deadline and signed a three-year, $105.9 million extension in August. He said the dominant performance the defense is chasing is still out there.

“I’m going in the right direction. I’m going in the right direction on what I want to be, what I want to do, how I want to affect teams,” Williams said. “I want to be a game changer, especially on this defense. And I know that we got to watch the film, and I got things to clean up. But I feel like I’m going in the right direction to be who I want to be.”

There were a bunch of games the Dallas defense never finished, Williams said. A 34-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Brazil ended on a field goal as time expired, seven seconds after the Cowboys tied the game.

“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 explained. “And just having another opportunity today to put our perspective out there and kind of right our own.”

Against the Arizona Cardinals a week earlier, Williams said, the defense executed for most of the game before Arizona rallied from a 17-3 deficit to win 33-30 in overtime. He wants to see on film whether all 11 players executed every down Sunday.

“It’s just the biggest thing about executing the whole game. Like you said, last week we executed for the first three quarters … and today going into halftime is one of those same things, all about execution, all about going out there, playing physical, and executing every single down, every single play that’s been called,” Williams said. “So, like I said, I got to watch the film to make sure all 11 did that, and make sure that all 11 on the same page and keep going forward.”

Rashan Gary had a sack and 6 tackles, and Downs had a 10-yard sack on third down in the second quarter. Clark joined Dallas from the Green Bay Packers in the August 2025 trade that sent Micah Parsons to Green Bay.

Dak Prescott Calls Williams One Of His Favorite Teammates

Dak Prescott said he and Williams are mirror-first guys who look at themselves before anyone else. Dallas gave up a 2027 first-round pick, a 2026 second-round pick, and defensive tackle Mazi Smith to get Williams from New York.

“I don’t know if you can put it in words. Trade was made to get a player of his caliber, and he’s lived up to the expectations and some each and every day, and just the way that he shows up, the way that he prepares, and ultimately you see it on game day,” Prescott said. “He’s a guy who loves this game, loves his teammates. I’m fortunate to be a locker over right from him to have conversations throughout the week about leadership and how to get this side going versus our side going and what we need to do for the team.”

“And one of my favorite teammates all time, and super thankful for that guy for the way that he’s wired. He just plays this game the right way,” Prescott continued. “He loves this game the right way, and it shows. It shows every time, every snap that he plays, he puts it out there, and I’m fortunate to be his teammate.”

The two talk about trying to fix the team and get everyone on the right page, Prescott said. Williams is one of four defensive representatives on Schottenheimer’s 11-man leadership council.

“The love for the game, the love for the game, the love for winning and doing anything and everything it takes to win, I think that’s what makes it so natural. Just in our conversations, and we’re two guys that are mirror-first guys,” Prescott explained. “We’re looking in the mirror to see what we can do first and foremost to better ourselves, to better our team, to better our units, and then we’ll go outwards, but we’re going to fix what we do first.”

“And it’s synonymous in the way that we love this game, the way that we approach this game. And he’s a guy that, as I said, I’m super fortunate to be a locker over from him to share the conversations that we have,” Prescott added. “And the sky’s the ceiling. It’s not even the ceiling. He can go further. He can go to space.”

Williams had 7 tackles and 2 sacks in the loss to Arizona a week earlier. Dallas, now 4-5, hosts the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.