Sunday night’s 20-point pasting of the rival Eagles gave Cowboys fans plenty to fly high about. This Victory Monday edition of News and Notes recaps everything that happened on the field, from why Dak Prescott says the offense could have scored even more, what was said to Stephon Gilmore early on that flipped his switch, what goes through Jake Ferguson’s mind when he hurdles a defender, and which Cowboys star was dropping F-bombs on ESPN.
We’ll also look in on Johnathan Hankins and think through the options in case he misses time with his ankle injury. We’ve got the extra precautions Mike McCarthy took on the Dallas sideline, and we reveal which defender beside Micah Parsons had a big game despite battling the flu. The TV ratings were through the roof, the power rankings shifted ever so slightly in Dallas’s favor, and we’ll recap who really made the most of their time on the Sunday night stage.
Prescott was happy about the team win, but not necessarily content with how they did it. “I’m my biggest critic,” Prescott said, noting a first-quarter series where he struggled through six incompletions. “As I talk about my performance tonight, it was good enough to win, but I hold myself to super high standards. If I play my best game, we’re putting up 50 out there. I’m going to keep pushing for that.”
The veteran run-stuffer left Sunday’s game early in the third quarter and was carted to the locker room. While Hankins returned to the sideline, he did not re-enter the contest. The team believes his high-ankle sprain not to be one that should require an extended absence; Ian Rapoport tweeted that he “should be back for the playoffs, if not sooner.”
Dallas signed defensive tackle Carl Davis back in November; he could be elevated from the practice squad if Hankins has to sit. Free agents like Ndamukong Suh, Michael Brockers, and Akiem Hicks are possible options if the club decides to look outside. Quinton Bohanna is on Detroit’s practice squad. Or Trysten Hill, anyone?
Parsons said he had a fever of 102 degrees over the weekend but managed to finish the game with two tackles and a sack. “As long as I’m breathing and I got two legs that can move,” he said, “I’ll be out there.” Donovan Wilson also had a touch of the seasonal bug working its way through the Dallas roster, but he logged five tackles and forced a fumble.
McCarthy was intent on keeping his normal game-day routine despite being just four days removed from emergency appendix surgery. But he did take extra precautions on the sideline and might have been moving a little slowly when he had to be sure officials saw him throw a red challenge flag. “Really, I just wanted to do my part. I just wanted to make sure that I was prepared as I normally am,” McCarthy said.
The Eagles wide receiver cracked about the 33-year-old cornerback’s age at the beginning of the game. Bad move. “It lit a fire in me a little bit,” Gilmore said. “I was mad. I was going to show him. That’s the only thing I could do, is just show him that I’m still here. I think I did that today.” Gilmore was the heartbeat of a Cowboys defense that kept Philly’s offense out of the end zone for the first time in 110 regular-season games.
