Prescott Rallies Cowboys Past Colts 27-23

Down 23-20 with 1:37 left at Lucas Oil Stadium, Dak Prescott went deep on the first snap. Ryan Flournoy ran under it down the right sideline for 46 yards, a pass interference flag put the ball at the 1, and Javonte Williams punched it in with 1:08 to go. The Dallas Cowboys beat the Indianapolis Colts 27-23, the Cowboys’ official recap showed, and this time the late lead held.

That matters in the standings. Dallas is 4-5 and still chasing the 5-2-1 Giants in the NFC East, and a loss to a 2-7 Colts team weighing trades before Tuesday’s deadline would have been brutal. The Cowboys had blown a fourth-quarter lead the week before. Rookie Caleb Downs made sure it did not happen twice, leaping to pick off Daniel Jones on third-and-22 for the first interception of his career.

Lamb Carried the Passing Game

Prescott finished 21 of 34 for 335 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. CeeDee Lamb was the engine, catching 10 passes for 195 yards and a score, the second-highest yardage day of his career. His 44-yard touchdown came with 28 seconds left in the first half, after Dallas got the ball at its own 25 with 49 seconds and two timeouts, and it sent the Cowboys to the locker room up 17-7.

It was Prescott’s first game with 300-plus passing yards, multiple touchdown passes, no interceptions and a game-winning drive since Week 17 of 2018. Jake Ferguson had the other touchdown, a fourth-down grab in the back corner of the end zone while staring into the sun.

How It Almost Slipped Away

Dallas outgained Indianapolis 508 yards to 271 and still nearly lost. The Cowboys were flagged 14 times for 153 yards and lost two fumbles. Prescott was strip-sacked at his own 21 in the first quarter, which set up a short Colts touchdown, and Lamb lost the ball at the end of a 48-yard catch-and-run early in the fourth after a replay review.

Lamb also had two offensive pass interference calls and a would-be touchdown wiped out because he could not get both feet down. Ashton Dulin’s 55-yard screen score cut it to 20-17, Spencer Shrader tied it from 59 yards, Brandon Aubrey missed from 50, and Shrader hit from 50 to put Indianapolis ahead. Then came the 29-second answer.

Short-Handed and Still Standing

Dallas did this without George Pickens, who was inactive with a hamstring injury. Williams ran for 101 yards and the go-ahead score on 20 carries, and Tyler Goodson added a personal-best 77 in his return to Indianapolis. Next up is the San Francisco 49ers at home in Week 10.

Smacktok pick lean: Lean higher on CeeDee Lamb receiving yards against San Francisco. With Pickens out he drew the downfield work all afternoon, catching 6 of 12 targets that traveled 10 or more yards in the air for 180 yards. If Pickens is ruled out again, Flournoy is the second read to back, since he made the biggest catch of the game on the winning drive.

Dallas finally closed one out. Now it has to beat a 49ers team at home to make the NFC East race feel real again.