Dallas Cowboys offer a bounce back beatdown victory

Dallas Cowboys got large contributions from their special teams and coaching

Last, but CERTAINLY NOT LEAST, the Cowboys punt return unit seems to have new life. The Cowboys have three blocked punts this year. During the Jason Garrett era, the Cowboys had one total blocked punt. Dorance Armstrong blew the doors off of AT&T stadium with a blocked punt that Nahshon Wright recovered to make up for the punt block fiasco last weekend and put the Cowboys up 36-3. This play put the nail in the coffin before the clock even hit halftime.

The Cowboys also saw some great coaching decisions on Sunday. What stood out to me was Mike McCarthy properly utilizing his timeouts to go for the kill shot. With a 28-3 lead and 0:55 left in the half, McCarthy used his timeouts and forced the Falcons to run plays. He trusted his defense and this ultimately led to the punt block touchdown to ice this game.

Immediately after the punt block, the Cowboys were up 34-3 pending an extra point. The Falcons got penalized and McCarthy chose to take the penalty there and go for the two-point conversion. Going up 36-3 here had no bearing on the outcome, but it had everything to do with showcasing that this team is going to stay aggressive no matter what and take advantage. This type of decision echoes throughout the locker room and gets everyone on board.

The Cowboys won on Sunday, but I think more importantly they sent a reverberating message across the NFL. The Falcons were a Wild Card team when Sunday started. This demolition derby, which felt similar to Alabama playing New Mexico State on Saturday, was loud and clear.

The Cowboys bounced back and delivered a beatdown in a way that good teams do when they hit a road bump. Good teams turn things around quickly and that is what we saw. This is a Cowboys team playing together, opportunistic, and aggressive. That is the recipe needed when they take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium next Sunday.