Ashton Dulin’s 55-yard touchdown was Indianapolis’ immediate answer to Dallas’ 20-10 lead. With 1:17 left in the third quarter, Daniel Jones found the receiver on a short pass, and Dulin broke loose for a score that cut the Cowboys’ advantage to 20-17 before Dallas could build on it.
The Cowboys eventually escaped Lucas Oil Stadium with a 27-23 victory Sunday, but Dulin’s score exposed the weakness in their two-score advantage: Dallas had built the lead without fully controlling the game. Indianapolis needed that sudden touchdown, then two long field goals from Spencer Shrader, to turn the deficit into a 23-20 lead.
Dallas helped by losing two fumbles, failing too often on third down and punting when a takeaway had finally given the offense a chance to run some time off.
Dulin’s touchdown was the Colts’ sharpest answer because it came from an offense that had spent most of the day moving in short pieces. Indianapolis finished with 271 total yards and 166 net passing yards. Before Dulin’s catch, the Colts had produced a 47-yard field goal from Shrader but no comparable offensive burst after halftime.
Dulin’s 55 yards accounted for much of Indianapolis’ limited passing production and changed the game with one play.
That was enough to change the scoreboard, but Indianapolis also kept finding ways to make Dallas pay for a game that should have been less delicate. The Colts’ first touchdown came after Laiatu Latu strip-sacked Dak Prescott. Caden Curry recovered, returned the fumble, and the Indianapolis possession began at the Dallas 19.
Dallas answered with a 15-play, 65-yard touchdown drive, overcoming three penalties that erased first downs before Jake Ferguson caught the 10-yard touchdown pass on fourth down.
It was an excellent response, though it also showed the Cowboys were repeatedly making the hard version of the afternoon for themselves. Dallas had the better offensive performance by a wide margin: 508 total yards, 179 rushing yards and 329 net passing yards. Prescott threw two touchdown passes without an interception, while CeeDee Lamb produced 195 receiving yards and a touchdown on 10 catches.
Yet Dallas converted only 5 of 16 third downs, leaving too many drives dependent on big plays or fourth-down precision.
Lamb supplied one of those big plays early in the fourth quarter, catching a 48-yard pass that carried Dallas to the Indianapolis 13. The drive seemed positioned to restore the two-score cushion. Instead, replay reversed the initial down-by-contact ruling, and the Colts took possession at their own 9 after Lamb fumbled as he went down.
Lamb’s production was extraordinary; the turnover still erased the immediate value of his largest catch.
Indianapolis then handed Dallas a chance to correct the mistake. Quinnen Williams forced Jonathan Taylor to fumble, and Shemar James recovered for the Cowboys at the Dallas 19. The recovery did not give Dallas a short field. James returned the ball to the Dallas 30, and a 15-yard Dallas penalty was enforced there. The offense gained 24 yards on four plays and punted.
