The Dallas Cowboys were decimated by injuries coming into Week 5, and after being favored all week, the Jets ended up being a two-point favorite by kickoff. That proved to be a mistake as Dallas handled New York with relative ease.
So, who were the biggest stars for the Cowboys in Week 5? And what players need to step up over the new few weeks? Here are the biggest winners and losers after a huge win for Dallas.
Cowboys' winners and losers from Week 5 win vs. the Jets
Winner: Dak Prescott, QB
You couldn’t have asked for a better performance from Dak Prescott. Without four starting offensive linemen and CeeDee Lamb out, Prescott averaged 8.2 yards per passing attempt and threw four touchdowns against the Jets. Dallas scored 37 points, and for all intents and purposes, the game was over by halftime.
Prescott is playing the best football of his career and he is completely in charge of this offense. And while their overall record is just 2-2-1, Dallas has managed to survive despite 54 percent of their starting offense on the injury report.
If Prescott can continue to play at this level for the rest of the season, he will be a legitimate MVP candidate and Dallas will have a chance in almost every game. Hats off to Prescott, who continues to improve each and every week.
Winner: Ryan Flournoy, WR
Raise your hands if you had Ryan Flournoy leading the Cowboys in receiving yards on Sunday (no one should have their hands up right now). Flournoy had over 100 yards in the first half, and he looked like a player who could find himself in the starting lineup sooner rather than later, even when Lamb is healthy.
Flournoy finished the game with six catches for 114 yards on just nine targets and made several big plays after the catch. And that was a huge surprise given that he had just 137 career yards coming into this game. It’s only one performance, but this is exactly what they needed with Lamb, KaVontae Turpin and Jonathan Mingo all out in Week 5.
Winner: Cowboys' pass rush
Dallas has been searching for answers all year when it comes to their pass rush, but they had success on Sunday. They sacked Justin Fields five times and pressured him throughout the day. And it wasn’t just one single player applying the pressure. Eight players recorded a QB hit on Fields, including five by Dante Fowler Jr.
James Houston recorded another sack, and it sure seems like he deserves more snaps. Sam Williams even got into the action after a few mental mistakes earlier in the contest. Dallas still has a lot of work to do with their pass rush, but this was a very encouraging outing.
Loser: Jalen Tolbert, WR
Everything set up for Tolbert to have a big day on Sunday with CeeDee Lamb out and Sauce Gardner following George Pickens. Tolbert made a huge play in overtime against the Packers to help set up the team’s final score and the hope was that his positive momentum would transfer over to Week 5.
Instead, Tolbert saw just one target on Sunday and did not catch a single pass. The most action Tolbert had was on the final onside kick of the game, where he fielded the kick. It was another reminder of how up-and-down Tolbert can be and with Flournoy popping off on Sunday, his position on the depth chart continues to fall.
Loser: Safety Play
The Cowboys were without Malik Hooker (toe), who was placed on the injured reserve list earlier this week and it showed. Donovan Wilson struggled once again and even left the game late with an injury. Juanyeh Thomas got the start and while he wasn’t awful, he was a bit of a liability in the secondary.
Dallas could really benefit from solid safety play, but they haven’t gotten much of it in the first five games of the season. The hope is that Hooker can return in a few weeks, but this could be a shaky unit for the next few weeks. We’ll see if Thomas and Wilson can stabilize the unit, but this was not a strong performance by this unit in Week 5.
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