‘Just another day of being a Dallas Cowboy’: Ring of Honor news, getting win No. 7

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — About 90 minutes before the Dallas Cowboys were set to kick off against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy was getting set for the customary game-day routine of meeting with the game officials.

That’s when Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson showed up in his locker room for a surprise visit.

“I love doing everything in front of cameras the whole time,” McCarthy joked. “But it was just awesome seeing them two together.”

Jones and Johnson started to gain traction Sunday when they walked into the stadium together. Any time the two Hall of Famers are seen together, speculation usually follows. Much of that speculation — joking or serious — usually boils down to the one question: When will Jones do the inevitable and put Johnson, the leader of the Cowboys’ 90s dynasty, into the franchise’s Ring of Honor?

Jones finally provided an answer.

For a variety of reasons, few people knew of the timing of events until the plans were already in motion. Jones said a big reason for making the announcement Sunday was in coordination with the Fox NFL Sunday crew, of which Johnson has been a longtime member. Less than an hour before kickoff, the Cowboys announced that Jones and Johnson would be holding a joint news conference in the press room down in the basement of the stadium.

First, Jones and Johnson appeared together on the Fox broadcast 15 minutes before the game began to make the announcement. Then, with the Cowboys’ offense going three-and-out on its first possession on the TV in the press room, they shared stories about each other, ranging from when they were “young boys together” at Arkansas to “literally climb on a rocket” with their partnership launching a dynasty in Dallas.

Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson news conference going on as Cowboys vs. Panthers gets started pic.twitter.com/Oorj35cNvB

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) November 19, 2023

“People don’t realize the relationship,” Johnson said. “Back then, Jerry and I talked every day. Every single day, I would be in his office and we talked about it here recently, we never really had a disagreement, and that’s surprising to a lot of people, but we were always on the same page.

“Probably some of the tension happened there at the end of my career, as far as with the Cowboys, when we were so busy going different directions, we didn’t talk as much. But my feelings for Jerry never changed. This may be strange, but I love the guy. He is a big, big part — maybe the biggest part — of my entire career. I’m very appreciative of that.”

The Ring of Honor announcement upstaged the primary purpose of Jones and the Cowboys being in Charlotte, which was to win a football game. Given that one situation featured a heavily favored Dallas team going against a slumping, banged-up one-win team, while the other was a resolution to a decade-plus in-house drama, it’s understandable why the latter would steal the headlines.

However, it was less than two months ago that the heavily favored Cowboys lost to a subpar NFC opponent on the road against the Cardinals. That’s another reason Dallas opted to not give a heads up to the coaches and players. It wanted the football side of the operation focused on beating the Panthers.

The team held up its end of the bargain.

It was a relatively low-event game, with neither team really popping off for many big plays or providing game-changing moments through the first three quarters. It never felt like the Panthers had much chance of winning, but the Cowboys played with their food long enough to keep the appearance of a close game on the scoreboard.

Finally, on the third play of the fourth quarter, the Cowboys started breaking down the door.

Dak Prescott opened the final stanza with consecutive completions to CeeDee Lamb and then Tony Pollard took a handoff just outside the red zone. Pollard, who hadn’t scored a touchdown since the first week of the season, bulldozed his way 21 yards into the end zone to give the Cowboys a 24-10 lead.

“That juices you up right there,” Zack Martin said. “We got a run called, we got some double teams going with (Hunter) Luepke leading up in the hole. (Pollard) ran over about three of four guys to get in there so it was pretty cool to see.”

From there, the Cowboys simply tucked the Panthers into bed. On the next play, DaRon Bland returned his record-breaking fourth interception for a touchdown. The Cowboys recovered a Panthers fumble on the ensuing drive and added a field goal. By the time there were less than six minutes left in the game, Cooper Rush was at quarterback behind a fresh set of backup offensive linemen with Rico Dowdle running the ball.

“I feel like we came here and did what we needed to do,” McCarthy said. “It’s important to get the seventh win. We won by three scores. I was glad to get some (backup) guys some playing time in the fourth quarter. Overall, it was a healthy victory for us.”

The Cowboys face the challenge of a short week, playing on Thanksgiving, but their soft stretch continues as the Washington Commanders roll into town. At 4-7, the Commanders are slightly better in the standings than the Cowboys’ past two opponents. Washington lost 31-19 Sunday to the New York Giants — the same Giants the Cowboys beat 49-17 a week ago.

There isn’t much to learn about the Cowboys from the past two weeks, but credit to the players and coaches for handling their business on the field and stacking up valuable wins in the standings. They showed the ability to maintain focus, regardless of the level of competition and, on Sunday, regardless of the extracurriculars going on in the background.

“I didn’t know the (Ring of Honor) news until (after the game),” Prescott said. “I saw him in the locker room, and cameras. Just another day of being a Dallas Cowboy.”

RED MORE

After routing Panthers, Cowboys’ focus turns to Commanders

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — By the time coach Mike McCarthy got onto the Dallas Cowboys’ American Airlines charter flight back to Dallas early Sunday evening, he was no longer thinking about the 33-10 win against the Carolina Panthers.

The coach’s mind was on the Cowboys’ next opponent for a Thursday showdown on Thanksgiving, the Washington Commanders.

“A lot of good to come out of this and, frankly, we’re not going to spend a whole lot of time [on it],” McCarthy said after the game. “We’ll be watching Washington on the way home. Sorry, I’m not here to go ticky-tack with you on stats today. I apologize because my mind’s already on the next one.”

The coaches actually started looking at Washington late last week, but that is something normal, considering the quick turnaround for the annual holiday game. McCarthy has altered the practice schedule, as the Cowboys play three games in a 12-day period, moving to walkthroughs for Wednesday practices and cutting some reps out of Thursday’s practice.

“I feel like we came here and did what we needed to do,” McCarthy said.

It wasn’t always pretty, but DaRon Bland’s pick-six, seven sacks from the defense (including 2.5 from Micah Parsons) and Tony Pollard’s 21-yard touchdown run in which he ran over former Cowboys safety Xavier Woods at the 5-yard line were the highlights.

If there was a tight moment Sunday, it came after the Panthers cut the gap to 17-10 on a 17-play, 70-yard drive that ate up 8 minutes and 58 seconds. But then the Cowboys answered with a 75-yard scoring drive that ended with Pollard’s first touchdown since the season opener.

“To say it was clean and it was exactly what we wanted to do, I can’t say that,” quarterback Dak Prescott said.

But it was a win, and Prescott’s attention will turn to Washington on Monday. He watched the Panthers’ game on the plane ride home to see the good and the bad.

“It’s a factor of needing to clear my head,” Prescott said. “When you’re watching film, you want to make sure that you’re really into it.”

While the Commanders (4-7) are coming off a 31-19 loss to a New York Giants team the Cowboys obliterated 42-17 two week ago, there is a bigger picture the Cowboys keep in mind: the Philadelphia Eagles.

A loss on “Monday Night Football” to the Kansas City Chiefs would mean the Eagles would have just a one-game lead on the Cowboys. The Eagles beat Dallas 28-23 in Philadelphia, and the rematch at AT&T Stadium comes Dec. 10.

“Always paying attention to something like that,” wide receiver CeeDee Lamb said. “I mean, it’s just part of the NFL, right? It’s all a race to the end.”

The Commanders travel to Dallas for the Week 12 matchup (4:30 p.m. ET, CBS). Despite their struggling record, three of their four wins have come on the road. Before Sunday’s three-interception performance against the Giants, Sam Howell was one of the hotter quarterbacks in the NFL (three straight 300-yard passing games). Even in the loss Sunday, Washington managed to run for 174 yards, and the run defense has been the one hiccup the Cowboys have had this season.

“Division opponent, had beat us the last time we played them, so focus will be high,” Prescott said. “Damn sure from my part. I know, the rest of the guys, that will be my job as a leader is making sure guys understand that. Once again, looking on paper, their record, lesser opponent, but we’ve got to come in, division opponent, be who we are. Take care of business on Thanksgiving, and then we can enjoy our holidays the right way.”

The Cowboys are just 4-6 in their past 10 Thanksgiving Day games, but they are also in the midst of a 12-game winning streak at AT&T Stadium, their longest at home since winning 18 straight from 1979 to 1981.

After the Commanders’ game, the Cowboys play the Seattle Seahawks at home on Nov. 30 for “Thursday Night Football,” then comes the rematch against the Eagles.

Being 9-3 is almost a must.

“Having a little bit of an odd schedule, it’s going to help being at home, and taking the travel out of it,” Prescott said. “It’s about us winning and about us focusing on our job, what we’ve got to do and just continuing to build off of the last couple of games.”