"It's sort of identity now, but it's becoming the standard," Jones said of their suddenly stingy rush defense. "I mean, last week we had 19 and this week we had 25 or whatever, so that's good, but still we set the standard before at 19, so the lower and lower, that's what we're chasing."
"The standard we're just all trying to figure out, just keep updating the standard every week. We're just all getting to know each other better, getting to know how we play, and each week you just see us coming together with more and more chemistry, and that's just how it's going to keep going."
Jones speaks softly and deeply anyway, but the way he said that — not boastful, very matter-of-factly — speaks to where they're heading.
Things are obviously different, owing in part to all the new players. And the fact that they're still learning each other makes the work that much more impressive.
"Yeah, I'm proud of the guys," linebacker Christian Rozeboom said, who led the team in tackles for the second week in a row. "I think the game plan was there, and we just made plays, and it's just fun to see guys fly around, and we're just having fun out there.
"We believe in each other and at the end of the day, 27 points isn't where we want to be point-wise, but winning at the end of the day is all that matters to me."
The Panthers stopped the Cowboys for losses five times on the day, with the continued pressure from up front making things easier all the way back.
"I think it was in every snap, good and bad," Moehrig said. "Just overcoming adversity, handling the things that went well. That's our number one thing, stopping the run, and if we make them one dimensional and we can get we can get our guys out on the field in packages on the field that give offense a hard time."