For an offense that finished with 508 yards, Dallas had an awkward problem with 1:37 left: it was three points behind. The Cowboys beat Indianapolis 27-23 on Sunday, and the gap between their yardage total and the work required to win deserves a closer look. A team can be good at moving the ball for an afternoon and considerably worse at bringing the points home.
That was the strange accounting of a game the Cowboys controlled in territory and production but could not comfortably control in score. Dallas converted only 5 of 16 third downs, while Indianapolis went 3 for 13. The Colts gained 271 yards, yet their shorter possessions repeatedly produced just enough points to keep the game within reach.
Dallas had the ball for 35:43 and ran 71 offensive plays. The Colts needed 59.
Dallas began with a 34-yard possession and a field goal from Brandon Aubrey. On its next series, the Cowboys advanced just two yards before Dak Prescott was stripped on a sack. The Colts took over at the Dallas 19 after Caden Curry recovered and needed six plays to score.
There’s an asymmetry in the box score: one empty Dallas drive helped Indianapolis get seven points with less ground to cover than Dallas had needed for three.
The Cowboys gave two demonstrations of a possession done properly before halftime. One took 15 plays and more than seven minutes before Jake Ferguson caught a 10-yard touchdown. The other consumed just 28 seconds, culminating in CeeDee Lamb’s 44-yard score shortly before the break.
Different tempos got Dallas to the same place. The Cowboys led 17-7 at halftime because their two best drives had finished in the end zone.
The second half became a test of whether that formula could survive incomplete drives. Dallas drove 60 yards in 10 plays before Aubrey’s 28-yard field goal, moving ahead 20-10. Then a six-play, 73-yard possession appeared ready to create another score.
Lamb’s 48-yard reception reached the Indianapolis 13, but replay reversed the ruling that he had been down. The ball came loose as he fell, and Indianapolis recovered at its own 9.
Lamb’s production held up even as that possession came apart. He totaled 195 yards on 10 receptions and scored once. Prescott threw for 335 yards, while Javonte Williams and Tyler Goodson supplied most of the 179 on the ground. Dallas could get to scoring range through several routes. What happened when the next snap went badly was the expensive part.
Indianapolis had a much smaller margin for error and found a few efficient ways to spend it. After Dallas’ field goal, Ashton Dulin turned a pass into a 55-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit to 20-17. Later, after Lamb’s fumble, Jonathan Taylor lost the ball on the Colts’ ensuing drive, with Quinnen Williams forcing the mistake and Shemar James recovering for Dallas.