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A16 SPORTS
Tuesday 22 November 2022
Analysis: How ‘bout them Cowboys! Dallas is most impressive

By ROB MAADDI ants (7-3) on Thanksgiving
AP Pro Football Writer in a fight for second place
Dak Prescott was nearly in the division.
perfect in directing a bal- For now, the Buffalo Bills
anced, dynamic offense. are the best second-place
Micah Parsons again team in the NFL. They re-
wreaked havoc in leading bounded nicely from a
a dominant defense. mistake-filled, overtime loss
Behind Prescott and Par- at home to the Vikings with
sons, Dallas dismantled a 31-23 victory over Cleve-
Minnesota and put the rest land. Despite a chaotic
of the NFL on notice with a week that saw them forced
convincing 40-3 victory on to play a “home” game in
the road Sunday against a Detroit because a storm
team that had won seven dumped several feet of
straight games. snow in western New York,
How ‘bout them Cowboys! the Bills (7-3) got back on
No team owns a more im- track against the Browns.
pressive win this season. Josh Allen didn’t turn the
“This is exactly what I ex- ball over after a rough
pected,” Cowboys safety three-week stretch and
Jayron Kearse said. “We the offense scored on all
Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott celebrates with teammate quarterback Dak Prescott knew we were going to five possessions in the sec-
(4) after scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run during the second half of an NFL football game, come in here and knock ond half. “We still don’t feel
Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022, in Minneapolis. them down. We showed like we played very well,
Associated Press them who the tougher but it goes to show you we
team is, and it is us. That is played smart football and
the type of football that we put up 31 points and didn’t
can play week in and week play to our standard,” Allen
out if we continue to stay said. The Bills may eventual-
together and do our job.” ly surpass Miami (7-3) in the
The Cowboys (7-3) are un- AFC East the Dolphins won
likely to win the NFC East. the first matchup and the
They trail the Philadelphia teams meet in Buffalo on
Eagles (9-1) by two games Dec. 18. Like Dallas, the Bills
and already lost to them. also play Thursday, when
But they proved why they’ll they face the Lions (4-6).
be a dangerous team that The Cincinnati Bengals are
nobody will want to face another second-place
in January following the team finding its groove.
biggest road win in team The reigning AFC cham-
history.“This team has got pions beat Pittsburgh 37-
the work ethic. It’s got the 30 for their fourth win in
attitude. They’ve got a five games. Even without
hard mindset, which you Ja’Marr Chase, the Ben-
have to have,” coach Mike gals (6-4) are rolling on of-
McCarthy said. fense. Joe Burrow led the
The Cowboys have aver- way with four TD passes
aged 28.8 points per game and running back Samaje
in Prescott’s five starts. Tony Perine set a franchise re-
Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott, cord with three TD catches.
who scored two touch- The Bengals are one game
downs apiece against the behind the Baltimore Ra-
Vikings (8-2), provide a vens (7-3) in the AFC North.
strong 1-2 running attack. The Ravens won in Cincin-
They may end up add- nati in October and the di-
ing Odell Beckham Jr. to vision could be on the line
join CeeDee Lamb, giving when the teams meet in
Prescott another weapon. Baltimore in Week 18.
“Right now the challenge is “I think we’re playing as
handling success,” Prescott good as anybody,” Bur-
said. “Having a game like row said. “We’re hitting
this in the NFL is tough to our stride offensively. Still
do. To be able to do that, left some points out there.
we’ve got to put this behind There’s always room to im-
us and know that we’ve prove, obviously.”
got to go out there we’re In a season filled with close
as good as our last game. games and comeback
We’ve got to turn the page wins, the last team standing
and go put another one to- may be one that doesn’t
gether on Thursday.” finish the regular season in
The Cowboys host the Gi- first place.q