My top 10 Whitt-y observations from Cowboys 31, Redskins 21:
10. If you know me, you know I tend to be skeptical, bordering on chronic curmudgeonly. But aside from late, meaningless touchdowns allowed by the defense in each of the first two games there’s really nothing to whine about. So far.
9. Two weeks in a row, the Cowboys have fallen behind 7-0, and they’ve responded with five consecutive scoring drives. Said Dak Prescott, whose interception set up Washington’s first score, “Nobody blinks. Nobody worries about nothing.”
8. Prescott was again Daktastic. He completed 18 consecutive passes and threw three more touchdowns. His touchdown to Devin Smith shut up the loquacious Josh Norman. He now has seven touchdowns, most through two games for a Cowboys quarterback since Dandy Don Meredith in 1966. How’s this for a start? 51 of 62 passing for 674 yards, with seven TDs, one interception and a 142.8 passer rating, plus nine rushes for 81 yards.
7. It’s not just Dak’s accuracy. I mean, the long throw to Smith was majestic and the quick out to Jason Witten for a touchdown led the tight end perfectly. But what I see in Prescott’s improvement are his play fakes. His exaggerated ball-handling is causing pause for linebackers, allowing bigger holes over the middle. And his decision on a zone read led to his 42-yard run, the longest ever by a Cowboys quarterback.
6. For all he’s done as a Cowboy, Sunday’s touchdown by Amari Cooper was his first on the road. His first seven scores came in Arlington.
5. In what sounds like an old Emmitt Smith stat, the Cowboys are 17-3 when Zeke Elliott rushes for 100 yards. The Cabo kid had 111 and the clinching score against the ’Skins.
4. The Cowboys’ offense has already scored nine touchdowns. That didn’t occur last season until the second quarter of Week 6. Their 66 points are the most through two games since 2007, in which they ultimately went 13-3.
3. Watching the Cowboys roll on the road against a division rival made me remember when the sight of them running onto the field in blue jerseys made us all cringe. The dreaded “blue jersey jinx” was a thing in the 1970s and early 80s. Not anymore.
2. In their last 10 regular-season games, Cowboys are an NFL-best 9-1. Only loss in the stretch was an ugly 23-0 shutout after they had clinched the NFC East last December.
1. Okay, for a smidge of reality. Yes, the Cowboys are 2-0 in the division with a radically improved quarterback, explosive offense, suitable defense and … They have yet to play an opponent with a win. The Giants are 0-2. The Redskins are 0-2. And next Sunday, the Dolphins flop into AT&T Stadium at 0-2 by the tune of 102-10. Cowboys could be favored by 20-plus points. In an NFL game. Unfathomable. By the end of the season wins over the Giants, Redskins and Dolphins will likely not look too impressive. And it will get tougher. The Cowboys, remember, are playing a first-place schedule. But 3-0 with some eye-popping offensive numbers looks like a done deal.
