Cowboys Defense Steps Up in Big Win over Jets

ARLINGTON— The Dallas Cowboys are 2-0 on the season so far after stomping the New York Jets Sunday.

After beating the New York Giants in Week One, the Cowboys squared off against the other New York team, the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets. The Jets were this season’s feature on the HBO series “Hard Knocks” and had Super Bowl aspirations.

New York had finally gotten a quarterback in former Green Bay Packer Aaron Rodgers, who went down four plays into the first game of the season against the Buffalo Bills last week.

While the Jets had the Bills to deal with, the Cowboys handled the Giants in a 40-0 thrashing. The Dallas defense was awesome and shut out New York and had two defensive touchdowns, seven sacks, two interceptions, three forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Against the Jets, the Cowboys had three sacks, three interceptions, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.

All-World linebacker Micah Parsons is HIM with three sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.  His impact on the field is unmatched right now.

Into the game, the Cowboys elected to receive the opening kickoff and marched down the field 75 yards when quarterback Dak Prescott found second year tight end Jake Ferguson for a four-yard touchdown. After a successful kick, the Cowboys were up 7-0.

Plano product and new Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey kicked a 35-yard field goal in the second quarter to put the Cowboys up 10-0. Jet’s quarterback Zach Wilson found Garrett Wilson for a 68-yard score to move New York within three points at 10-7.  The Cowboys answered quickly with a 13 play, 75-yard drive where Prescott found rookie tight end Luke Schoonmaker for a one-yard touchdown. A penalty on the Jets moved the point after try to the one-yard line and Cowboy’s running back Tony Pollard bashed in a two-point conversion to make the score 18-7. With :04 left in the half and with Wilson killing the Cowboys with his scrambles, the Jets kicked a 59-yard field goal to make the score 18-10 at the half.

The Cowboys defense really showed up in the second half forcing a Jets’ punt and the offense went 55-yards in 12 plays for another field goal to extend their lead to 21-10. The Jets did not get the ball back for long as their newer addition at running back, former Viking Dalvin Cook, fumbled the ball when Parsons striped it from him. The whistle wasn’t blown, and Parsons ran the ball back for a touchdown. Upon further review, Parsons was touched at the fumble and the score was called back. This turned into another field goal to make the score 24-10.

The Dallas defense forced another Jets punt and Aubrey kicked another field goal early into the fourth quarter to make it 27-10. On the next Jets’ drive, Wilson found Cowboy safety Jayron Kearse for an interception that turned into another Aubrey field goal, extending the score yet again 30-10.

Dallas defensive backs Trevon Diggs and Malik Hooker each had an interception in the final quarter and the game ended with the famous “Landry Shift” as the Cowboys knelt the game out with a 30-10 victory.

Prescott played an incredible game, throwing 31/38 for 255 yards and two touchdowns to no interceptions. Dallas wide receiver CeeDee Lamb caught 11 passes for 143 yards to keep the Cowboys moving the ball and Prescott found two tight ends for touchdowns.

Defensively, Parsons had two sacks, three tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, four quarterback hits, and one pass defended. Defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa had one sack and Diggs, Kearse, and Hooker had one interception each.

The Cowboys play the Arizona Cardinals next week in the desert where Dallas has historically struggled in the past. The Cardinals just dropped a game in a comeback to the New York Giants, 31-28.