Good, bad, ugly from Cowboys�...

The Dallas Cowboys had their first offensive explosion of the season in their 49-29 routing of the Chicago Bears. Quarterback Dak Prescott returned to the form that made him an MVP candidate in the first half of 202, also utilizing his legs to keep the chains moving in the Cowboys’ sixth win of the 2022 campaign. This was a game where it seemed like the Cowboys had the game well in hand, but allowed the Bears to stick around with some sloppy play. Luckily, the Cowboys had the right answers, which included Prescott and running back Tony Pollard, to keep the Bears playing from behind. It wasn’t a fun day for the defense, who were gashed in the running game once again. The unit made enough plays though, despite fighting through some injuries and misfortunes. Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly as Dallas won their second game in a row, and heads to their much-needed bye week at 6-2.

With starting running back Ezekiel Elliott sidelined due to injury, RB 1A stepped up and dominated. Pollard ran for 131 yards and three scores on just 14 carries, good for a ridiculous 9.4 yards a carry. The offensive line opened holes for Pollard, but the patience, vision, shiftiness and speed of Pollard were all on display. Pollard’s best run came after the Bears scored to get within two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Facing a critical third-and-one near midfield, the Cowboys dialed up a run to Pollard, who found the edge, broke a tackle and then raced down the sideline for a 54-yard touchdown. It was Pollard’s third score of the game and sealed the win for the Cowboys. If there were any doubts about how good Pollard was, or if he could handle getting the majority of the carries, the fourth-year RB squashed any of that talk. It wasn’t a great day for the veteran defensive end, who had his opportunities to make plays but failed to take advantage. The stats will show Lawrence with a sack and a tackle for a loss, yet there were too many missed tackles when he was one-on-one with Bears quarterback Justin Fields. Multiple times, Lawrence charged into the backfield with a chance for a sack or to cause a big loss. Instead, Lawrence took terrible angles and allowed Fields to get outside for big gains.

In his second game back from his broken thumb, Prescott looked like the Prescott of old. The veteran signal caller began hot with his arm and got back to using his legs to put the offense on the scoreboard. Prescott accounted for three of the first four touchdowns in the first half. Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore dialed up a call for Prescott to use his legs on the first score of the game, a seven-yard touchdown run. On the ensuing possession, Prescott found wide receiver CeeDee Lamb open for a 21-yard on a perfect throw. A one-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ferguson off a play fake was the third score from Prescott in the first half. Until the last second interception from Prescott to end the first 30 minutes of football, it was close to a perfect performance. Prescott ended up 21-27 for 250 yards and three total touchdowns, without having to do much in the second half. It was the worst game from the Dallas defense this season. Chicago has the NFL’s best rushing attack with Fields’ ability to use his legs, coupled with running backs David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert. The Cowboys knew it would be a challenge to slow the Bears on the ground.

The Cowboys had been struggling to move the chains no matter who has been the quarterback through the first seven games. That was not a problem against the Bears. Prescott and the offense started on fire, going six for their first six and didn’t fail to convert a third down until the third quarter. It felt like the Bears were churning out big yards on every carry as Dallas gave up 5.6 yards a run. Fields only ran it eight times for 60 yards, but every rush felt like it came on a big third down, as the second-year QB ran for a first down or a score on six of his eight carries. The Cowboys had no answer for Fields, or the running game from the Bears. It was a miserable day trying to stop the run by the Dallas defense, who needs to find an answer to slowing the run.