The Dallas Cowboys were severely wounded heading into MetLife Stadium to face the winless New York Jets, but you wouldn't have known it with Brian Schottenheimer and his staff putting together a serious game plan.
The Cowboys would hang 37 points on the hapless Jets, as Dak Prescott was without CeeDee Lamb, KaVontae Turpin, and four of his starting five offensive linemen, with Tyler Smith, Tyler Booker, Tyler Guyton, and Cooper Beebe all out.
Is that good? It seems good.
But what can't be overshadowed is the work Schotty, offensive coordinator Klayton Adams, and offensive line coach Conor Riley did to have the unit function at a high level despite the injuries.
And for owner Jerry Jones, that was the reason Dallas won.
“We have never been that short-handed in my time with the Cowboys when we were playing anyone relative to what we had thought would be out there,” Jerry said on 105.3 The Fan. “Those coaches really had to prepare. They knew that. The players prepared in a way that allowed them to really step up.
"It was unquestionably the coaching that, in my mind, was the overriding reason that we played as well with the situation we were in.”
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Prescott had "backups" in front of him, but we know that Brock Hoffman and TJ Bass aren't considered that and could very well be starting elsewhere in the league.
But young tackle Nate Thomas played 100 percent of the offensive snaps (60), and other tackle Hakeen Adeniji played 90 percent of the snaps (54), and neither looked out of place stepping in. Oh, and don't forget about guard Trevon Keegan either (six snaps).
For most, that's coaching with Schottenheimer, Adams, and Riley being at the forefront of that. Dak, missing four starting linemen, was sacked just once, and even last week against the Green Bay Packers, still missing a couple of starters, was also only sacked once.
So, while many laud Prescott for the win, and rightly so, don't forget to give the offensive line and the coaching staff their flowers for helping him put on a show at MetLife.
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