The Dallas Cowboys beat the Indianapolis Colts 27-23 on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium. Javonte Williams' 1-yard touchdown run with 1:08 left answered a go-ahead Colts field goal and settled a game Dallas controlled on the stat sheet but nearly gave away.
Dallas outgained Indianapolis 508 yards to 271 and averaged 7.2 yards a play. It should not have come down to the last minute. What kept the Colts alive was Dallas' own sloppiness: 14 penalties for 153 yards and 2 lost fumbles.
How It Happened
Brandon Aubrey opened the scoring with a 45-yard field goal at 11:45 of the first quarter. Indianapolis answered at 6:13, when Seth McGowan ran in from 2 yards out to put the Colts in front.
Dallas took the lead back early in the second quarter on Dak Prescott's 10-yard touchdown pass to Jake Ferguson. Prescott then hit CeeDee Lamb for a 44-yard score with 21 seconds left in the half, and the Cowboys went to the locker room with a comfortable cushion.
Spencer Shrader's 47-yard field goal at 6:12 of the third got Indianapolis moving, and Aubrey answered with a 28-yarder late in the quarter. The Colts struck right back. Daniel Jones found Ashton Dulin for a 55-yard touchdown with 1:17 left in the third, pulling Indianapolis back into the game.
Shrader took over the fourth quarter. His 59-yard field goal at 5:56 tied the game, and his 50-yarder with 1:37 left gave the Colts their first lead since the opening quarter. Dallas needed a touchdown and got one, as Williams punched it in from the 1 with 1:08 remaining.
Key Performers
Dallas Cowboys
Dak Prescott: 10-YD TD pass to Jake Ferguson, 44-YD TD pass to CeeDee Lamb
Javonte Williams: 1-YD rushing TD, 1:08 left in the fourth
Brandon Aubrey: field goals of 45 and 28 YDS
Team passing: 21-34, 329 YDS, 0 INT
Team rushing: 34 ATT, 179 YDS, 5.3 per carry
Indianapolis Colts
Spencer Shrader: field goals of 47, 59 and 50 YDS
Daniel Jones: 55-YD TD pass to Ashton Dulin
Seth McGowan: 2-YD rushing TD
Team passing: 20-34, 166 YDS, 1 INT
Team rushing: 23 ATT, 105 YDS, 4.6 per carry
Shrader nearly stole this one by himself. Without his leg from 59 and 50 yards, the Colts never get the late lead, because the offense around him managed just 4.6 yards a play.
The Dallas ground game was the steadier engine. The Cowboys ran for 179 yards at better than 5 a carry, well ahead of the Colts on the ground, and that helped them win time of possession 35:43 to 24:17.
What It Means
Dallas moves to 4-5, and the split tells the story of its season. The Cowboys are 3-2 on the road and 1-3 at home, and this win is another example of a team that travels better than it hosts.
The penalty problem is the bigger takeaway. Dallas was flagged 14 times to 9 for Indianapolis and converted just 5 of 16 third downs, which is how a dominant yardage day turned into a one-score finish.
Indianapolis falls to 2-7 and 1-3 at home. The Colts turned it over twice, on an interception and a lost fumble, and converted only 3 of 13 third downs. Their defense kept them in the game, but the offense could not sustain drives against a Dallas team that kept handing them chances.