Live from Indianapolis: Dallas Cowboys survive

Nick Harris for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram here in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium where the Dallas Cowboys just defeated the Colts 27 to 23. It was ugly, and we don't ask for it to be pretty necessarily, right? You just ask for the win in the win column. But I think you come out of this game not really learning a whole lot about the Cowboys other than they feel pretty similar to the team we've seen over the course of the first eight weeks of the season. You look back to the loss against the Cardinals a week ago, a second-half disaster, that eventually they had opportunities to win that game in the fourth quarter in overtime. They couldn't cash in. The only difference here in Indianapolis, they did cash in. Less than two minutes to go, they get the ball down by three, no timeouts. A big play to Ryan Flanoy, helps set up a Javonte Williams game-winning score. And then a Caleb Downs interception seals the game, makes it 27-23. Cowboys move to 4-5. But, you know, other than Downs having a great game, it was probably his best game as a pro. Quinton Williams had a great game. Ryan Flanoy had a good game. Other than that, you still feel a lot of those negatives that have really been hovering around the Cowboys over the course of this first half of the year. The indiscipline, those 15 penalties in this ballgame, the offense was stagnant. They only had three points in the second half going into that game-winning drive. It allowed the Colts to come back into the game and take the lead. And this is a Colts team that is in a fire sale mode. They have traded away two big pieces already in Quentin Nelson and DeForest Buckner. They're having conversations about their all-pro running back in Jonathan Taylor and their quarterback, Daniel Jones. Jones, this is a team that is trying to lose and rebuild for the future, and yet you almost let them win this ballgame, had it not been for a really well-executed two-minute drive, which you got to give them that. That's what Dak Prescott said after the game. He was saying the difference was today we closed, and we learned the lessons from those losses that we've had so far this season. We were able to find a way to finish the game and win. So that's all you can do if you are the Dallas Cowboys right now. I mean, well, you could have blown this team out like you should have, but if you find yourself in that situation, Find a way to win, move to four and five, but next week looms. The San Francisco 49ers, the NFC-leading 49ers have been having a fantastic season up in the Bay. I think we're going to find out pretty quick if the Cowboys have any shot of contending in this conference based on how well, or not so well, that game goes next Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium. But for now, from Indianapolis, Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram.