EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Do you want to know how bad things are for the Dallas Cowboys offense right now?
In the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s 21-6 victory over the New York Giants, quarterback Dak Prescott forgot how they scored their first touchdown.
It came after defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence batted a pass up in the air and it was intercepted by cornerback Jourdan Lewis. Running back Ezekiel Elliott scored two plays later on a 13-yard run.
Yet, when asked after the game about the importance of the touchdown drive following the first defensive turnover, Prescott drew a blank.
“Did we?” a confused Prescott asked? “Oh, yeah, yeah, exactly. Got you, got you, got you. Yeah, I mean it was huge. I mean I wish we would’ve turned all of them into touchdowns. But it was huge.”
And then Prescott, who had another middling performance with 217 yards passing and an awful fourth-quarter turnover for the second straight week that kept the game interesting longer than necessary, let the world in on a little secret.
The offense, once the focal point of the team’s success, has a bet going on with the defense that has fueled the team’s three-game winning streak with four turnovers in each game. Meanwhile, the offense of the 10-4 Cowboys has scored four touchdowns in the last three games combined, including just two against the lowly 4-10 Giants.
A bounty of cash is now on the line each week based on touchdowns and turnovers.
“Defense is kicking our [rear] but it’s turnovers vs. touchdowns that we’ve created this week,” Prescott said. “They obviously won this one, but we’ll make sure it carries over. We’ll keep rolling it over so we’ll figure it out at the end of the year. Great celebration hopefully.”
The celebration would truly be great if the end of the season came at Super Bowl 56 in Los Angeles, ending a 21-year drought for the Cowboys who have not played in the final game since the 1995 season, the last of their three Super Bowl titles in the 1990s.
The Cowboys are one win away from clinching the NFC East title and are currently the second seed in the NFC, and just one game behind the top-seeded Green Bay Packers.
Ironically, the defense is giving off some super vibes as the last time the Cowboys forced four turnovers in three consecutive games was in 1994, smack dab in the middle of that super run.
The bet between the offense and defense conjured up some old memories for team owner Jerry Jones when Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders and Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin used to battle it out in practice en route to that last Super Bowl title.
“I love that,” Jones said. “I have seen some of the most productive teams when they have been doing a little wagering. Deion and Michael. And they used to wager $50,000 on who won the practice in two-minute drills.
“We had to stop that,” Jones added with a laugh.
The Cowboys are downright giddy about how the defense is playing right now, and that’s understandable.
This is a unit that has long been the team’s weak link and is just one year removed from giving up the most points in franchise history and the second-most yards ever.
And now the defense is carrying the team and leading the way, which is not only a one-year shift but also a mid-season shift considering the Cowboys’ decline on offense over the last seven weeks.
Prescott has embodied that decline. He had 16 touchdown passes and eight interceptions through his first six games and now has nine touchdowns and six interceptions over the team’s last seven. His yardage is way down too, as Sunday was the fourth time in the last five games that he has thrown for fewer than 240 yards.
“I think as you look at the course of our year and just some of the trends that have gone on — I understand what you’re saying compared to early in the year to this year — but the fact that we’ve been able to do that, I think will serve us well moving forward,” coach Mike McCarthy said.
“Trust me, we know who’s being productive and the things that we need to do a little better. I say it every week, they’re very accountable. We’re about winning and improving.”
Like McCarthy said, that the Cowboys can win and improve while relying on the defense is a good thing, especially in December and as the team prepares for the playoffs — though it might not be good for Prescott’s bet.
The Cowboys know it takes a a good defense to reach the ultimate party in Los Angeles and the way the team is forcing turnovers, it’s a party on that side of the ball every week.
Not only did the Cowboys record three interceptions and a forced fumble against the Giants, but it also marked the 11th game this season that the unit has forced multiple turnovers.
Those takeaways led to 15 points by the offense. The other six points came following a stop on downs just 29 yards from the end zone.
Lawrence had a major hand in the Sunday’s takeaway tally. Actually, he had two of them. First, he batted pass that led to the Lewis interception, and then later he forced the fumble by punching the ball out of running back Saquon Barkley’s arm. (Incredibly, it was just the first lost fumble of Barkley’s career — nearly 800 touches over four seasons.)
For the record, it was Lawrence who goaded Prescott into the bet.
The bet speaks to the confidence the defense is playing with and the changing fortunes of the units.
Lawrence said this is the best defense he has played on as they work toward being the best in the league in a season in which the Cowboys once had the NFL’s No. 1-ranked offense.
“We can’t call ourselves the best unless we do what we have to do and win the championship,” he said.
But “it’s amazing just to be on the team with a strong defense,” Lawrence added. “It don’t get no better than that. Just trying to beat the offense and [get] touchdowns now.”
Not only does the defense want to get more turnovers, but now it also also wants to outscore the offense.
Now that would be something worth forgetting for Prescott.
