The Indianapolis Colts had a chance to pull off a wild finish on Sunday, but Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys had the last word in a 27-23 Dallas win.
It was the Colts’ fifth straight loss, and the game never really settled into anything clean. Between the 23 penalties, four turnovers and a string of injuries, this one stayed messy from start to finish. Indianapolis did enough to hang around and even briefly grab the lead late, but the Cowboys answered when it mattered most.
Dallas struck first after opening the game with a drive that stayed alive on a 23-yard completion from Prescott to Ryan Flournoy on third-and-3. Brandon Aubrey finished it with a 45-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 11:45 left in the first quarter.
The Colts’ offense opened slowly, going three-and-out. But the defense handed them a short field when Laiatu Latu sacked Prescott and forced a fumble three plays into Dallas’ next possession.
Rookie defensive lineman Caden Curry recovered it, and Indianapolis turned that into points. Jonathan Taylor helped move the ball with 14 rushing yards, and rookie running back Seth McGowan punched in a two-yard touchdown for his first career score.
Spencer Shrader’s extra point made it 7-3 Colts with 6:13 left in the opening quarter.
Dallas answered with a long, methodical march in the second quarter. The Cowboys went 15 plays, covered 65 yards and burned 7:05 off the clock before Prescott found Jake Ferguson on a 10-yard touchdown catch in the back right corner of the end zone. Ferguson went up and took the ball away from Colts safety Cam Bynum, and Dallas moved back in front 10-7 with 14:08 left in the half.
After that, both teams went cold for a stretch. Seven straight punts followed - four by Indianapolis, three by Dallas - before the Cowboys found another big play just before halftime.
Prescott hit CeeDee Lamb for a 44-yard touchdown, and the coverage broke down when Charvarius Ward Sr. appeared to pass Lamb off to Hunter Wohler. That made it 17-7 Dallas with 21 seconds left in the first half.
The third quarter opened with more punting, then both kickers got involved. Shrader drilled a 47-yarder and Aubrey answered from 28 yards.
Then Indianapolis finally found a spark in the passing game. Jones got the ball out quickly to Ashton Dulin on a screen to the left, and Dulin slipped a tackle before racing 55 yards down the sideline for a touchdown.
Shrader’s extra point trimmed the deficit to 20-17 with 1:17 left in the quarter.
The fourth quarter turned into a sequence of swings. Prescott was hit while throwing and still got the ball downfield to Lamb, who caught it, got up untouched and sprinted into Colts territory before fumbling. Indianapolis recovered at its own 9-yard line.
The Colts then moved the ball enough to get back into range, helped by Dallas penalties of 40 and 15 yards on the drive, but Taylor was hit early on a carry and lost the ball. The Cowboys recovered.
Dallas went three-and-out, and the Colts came right back with another scoring drive. Shrader connected from 59 yards to tie it 20-20 with 5:56 remaining.
Prescott answered again, hitting Lamb for 31 yards to set Dallas up in good field position. Aubrey missed a 50-yard attempt with 3:30 left, leaving the game tied.
Indianapolis then put together one more drive, though a key moment slipped away on third-and-8 when Josh Downs dropped what might’ve been close to a first down with his brother Caleb in coverage. That forced another field goal, and Shrader converted from 50 yards to give the Colts a 23-20 lead with 1:37 to go.
That lead didn’t last. Dallas needed only four plays on its final march, including a 46-yard completion from Prescott to Flournoy down the right side. Javonte Williams finished it with a one-yard touchdown run, and the Cowboys went ahead 27-23 with 1:08 remaining.
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