Whether you wanted to define the Dallas Cowboys' recent offensive struggles as going through a slump or simply not playing up to their ability, everyone can agree those issues were put in the rearview following Sunday night's nuclear explosion in the 56-14 dismantling of the Washington Football Team.
After the beatdown, quarterback Dak Prescott noted that he never called the Cowboys' previous struggles a "slump" but did have a quip for those of us who had.
"I think it'd be hard for you to say that now," he said, via the team’s official website.
Whether or not the exact word was "slump," it was clear things for the Dallas offense weren't clicking. Since Prescott returned from his calf injury in Week 9, the Cowboys offense had been an inconsistent operation highlighted by turnovers, untimely penalties, drops and missed blocks. It was an offense that you could tell had the weapons to be explosive but kept shooting itself in the foot.
"I wouldn't say that I was in a slump. I wouldn't say that," he said. "Now, I would also agree I wasn't playing my best ball. But at the same time I've just continued to work and continue to work at the things that I know, trust the guys around me, trust the receivers and I just think that's a process of that."
On Sunday night, the Cowboys resolved the errors, the self-inflicted wounds ceased, and the explosion erupted from AT&T Stadium.
Prescott tossed for 330 yards and four TDs before taking a seat late in the third quarter of the blowout. The QB earned his first game with three-plus passing TDs since injuring his calf. He also became the second player in NFL history to throw a TD to an RB, TE, WR and OL in a single game, and the first to do so in a regular-season game -- Rams HOFer Kurt Warner did so in the 1999 NFC Divisional Round win versus Minnesota.
Dak earned 322 passing yards and four passing TDs in the first half. He's the third QB since 2000 to have 300-plus pass yards and four or more pass TDs in the first half of a prime-time game (Aaron Rodgers, Week 10 vs. CHI, 2014; Brett Favre, Week 16 at OAK, 2003).
It was a teamwide explosion for the Cowboys.
Amari Cooper, Dalton Schultz and Malik Turner all had 80-plus receiving yards and one receiving TD (CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup both had 50-plus receiving yards) as the Cowboys put up 497 total yards of offense and 28 first downs.
Putting it together in a prime-time showcase underscored what the Cowboys offense, defense and special teams can be when they all play lights out in the same game. It's scary good.
But for Prescott and the rest of the NFC East champs, they have bigger fish to fry starting in a few weeks.
"I don't know if we're in the world or in the business of trying to send messages," Prescott said, "more than we're just trying to get better day in and day out, game after game and make sure we're playing our best ball as I continue to say and peaking at the right time heading into this tournament."
