The Dallas Cowboys offense bowled over the Philadelphia Eagles in Monday night's 38-21 road victory on the strength of 204 rushing yards on 38 carries.
Javonte Williams led the way with a career-high 155 rushing yards and the exclamation-point score to seal the game. The 155 rushing yards are the most by any Cowboys player in a game since Ezekiel Elliott had 159 against the Buccaneers in Week 15, 2016, per NFL Research. Williams is the first player since Elliott (2018) with 150+ rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in a prime-time game against the Eagles.
"It was good to give [head coach Brian Schottenheimer] the confidence to keep calling the runs," Williams said, via the team’s official website. "He made a big emphasis on that this week -- to get at least 25 rushes in a game. ... And the [offensive line] did a great job. The holes were wide open. And I was just running through it."
After he saw just 11 carries in a Week 6 loss to Green Bay, the Cowboys came in with a concerted effort to feed Williams. Monday marked the running back's first game with more than 20 totes on the season. In four of seven games, he'd been at 12 or fewer carries.
"He's a guy you gotta get in a groove, and I think that's probably one of the frustrating things for him in the last couple of weeks is not getting that chance again and again to get in that groove," quarterback Dak Prescott said. "He can turn some of those two-yard runs into six-yard runs and so on and, tonight, he had that chance. And when you follow that offensive line, trust them, trust those blocks, that's the product you're gonna get."
Williams' 13 successful runs are a career high, with four of those carries gaining at least 10 yards, tied for the second most of his career, per Next Gen Stats. He also forced eight missed tackles, tied for the most of his career.
The Cowboys knew they needed to balance the attack after leaning heavily on the pass. Not counting Prescott's two scrambles for eight yards, Dallas handed it off 36 times for 196 yards and a TD.
The offensive line opened massive holes, and running the ball opened up an efficient passing attack, especially in the red zone. Prescott didn't put up gaudy yardage numbers (212), but tossed three gorgeous touchdowns.
"It was huge," Williams said. "We were just trying to get back to a balanced offense, and I feel like we did a great job tonight. ... We've got a high-powered offense, and when you've got G.P. (George Pickens), CeeDee (Lamb), Jake Ferguson, those guys on the outside, I mean, it's going to open up the running."
Monday was the kind of offensive output we expected to see from the Cowboys this season. The hope in Dallas is this is a stepping-stone game rather than a blip on the radar.
It should be noted that while Philly entered the game uber banged up, they still had most of their starting defenders on the field. Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Jalyx Hunt, Jonathan Greenard, Moro Ojomo, Zack Baun, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Tariq Woolen, etc., all played. They couldn't sniff Prescott (6 total pressures, 0 QB hits) and did a woeful job stuffing the run.
With Philly's injuries on offense, Dallas' win wasn't surprising. But the way it went -- with the offense overpowering the Eagles' starting defense -- is a positive sign for the Cowboys moving forward.
