Dak Prescott is 26; Amari Cooper a year younger. Ezekiel Elliot and Jaylon Smith are both 24 while Michael Gallup and Leighton Vander Esch are just 23. Tony Pollard’s only been legal drinking age for a mere 19 months.
The Dallas Cowboys’ rising stars may get all the attention, but for a few key plays during Week 15’s decisive 44-21 win over the Rams, it was two of the team’s elder statesmen who paved the way to victory. In doing so, Jason Witten and Sean Lee provided some much-needed inspiration to their younger teammates, and just may have fueled their respective units to the kind of postseason push that’s eluded both veterans for their careers.
Witten, who came out of retirement to play again this season, ended the afternoon as the Cowboys’ leading receiver in terms of targets and receptions. None, though, was bigger than the one-handed scoring grab to cap an impressive 15-play, 90-yard drive.
“Great, great, great play,” Prescott told reporters during his postgame press conference. “Not necessarily a great ball by me, but the defender undercut it. Jason did a great job of hauling it in and then getting in the end zone. Just showed up, did what Jason Witten does.”
But then he did something that Jason Witten never does.
“I feel like that’s my first touchdown spike in 16 years,” the 11-time Pro Bowl tight end admitted afterward at his locker . “Never been one to do that. I have to call and apologize to my granddad; he probably won’t be very pleased.”
The highlight-reel catch gave Dallas a 7-0 lead in a game they would never trail, and moved Witten to within striking distance of the team’s all-time touchdown leader.
“That’s just one of those plays,” Witten said. “Over the years, obviously a lot of tennis ball drills, you hope those pay off like that in those moments. I felt like our team needed a real spark, you know?”
It worked.
Linebacker Sean Lee was one of the Cowboys who took notice of the 37-year-old’s score and spike. Lee not only saw it, he took it as a personal challenge.
“I said, ‘I’d better pick my stuff up. I can’t let him one-up me,'” Lee told the press following the win. “That was an unbelievable catch. It really got us all fired up on the sideline. To see him doing what he’s doing, coming back and playing like he is, the leadership that he brings. He’s been an inspiration since I got here ten years ago and still is today.”
Lee, in his tenth year with the club, has been pressed into extra service lately due to the neck injury that has shelved younger phenom Leighton Vander Esch. A dicey proposition, considering the list of injuries that have plagued Lee throughout his career. In fact, Lee didn’t even practice last week leading up to the Rams tilt as he dealt with pectoral and thigh maladies.
“We had to see where I was today,” said the 33-year-old. “And I warmed up and felt good. And once the game got going, I felt really good. The trainers did an unbelievable job of keeping me out, making sure I was fresh, to give me the best shot.”
Lee would be charged with helping to lead a Cowboys defense that played soft in their previous two games, notably missing 19 tackles in Week 14 versus Chicago.
“Defensively, we needed to step up. And I needed to step up. We didn’t play like we wanted the last three games, and if we wanted to start getting wins, we needed to play right.”
Late in the second quarter, Lee did just about everything right when he picked off a Jared Goff pass as the Rams tried to get themselves into position for a score just before intermission.
Of the slithering return that ended just nine yards shy of the end zone, Lee- a running back in high school- laughed. “My high school coach was actually at the game, so I wanted to give him a little flashback, kind of what I did in high school.”
Cornerback Jourdan Lewis tried to help spring his teammate toward a score.
“I knew,” Lewis told reporters, “as soon as I looked in his eyes, he was ready to go. So I turned around and got me a block and understood that he was trying to take it the distance.”
“You know,” Lee continued, “it’s one of those things where you want to get as close as you can to help the offense. I would have liked to score, but I don’t think I’m fast enough to get in there.”
Lee’s effort made easy work for Prescott and the offense, as they scored their fourth touchdown of the half and gave Dallas a 28-7 lead and a big lift heading into the locker room.
“It was so awesome,” Prescott said of the performances by both Lee and Witten.
“Two guys that embody everything about the Dallas Cowboys and what that team’s about. I don’t know if I’ve been more excited about a play in a football game than I was when Sean Lee intercepted that ball. He’s been trying to get that pick on me for a long time in practice. He did two years ago, and it’s been a constant battle with me and him there, and he was able to get that interception, had a great return. I didn’t necessarily see the interception, but I look up and see him making people miss. Hey, there’s another fullback if we need it. It was great. And then Witten with the catch, as I said, those are two guys who embody everything that the star means.”
Coach Jason Garrett echoed that sentiment in his press conference after the game:
“They’re great football players, and they’ve been great football players for this franchise for a long time. They’re guys that we rely on to play at a very high level, and also to have a really positive impact on our team. And they do that every day. They’re ready for their opportunities, and they cash in on them. Witt was very productive early on in the ballgame, caught a lot of different balls, and just made a hell of a play on that touchdown. Dak had to drive the ball a little bit, and kind of put it a little bit behind, but Witt reaches back and makes the play and allows us to cash in on that drive: convert a third down, score a touchdown after we had a good drive. That’s big. That’s big early on in the game. And then obviously, we’re up by a couple scores prior to the half, and then Sean makes that big-time play. Sean’s been a ball guy ever since he’s been here. He’s made a number of those kinds of plays throughout his career. If you think about both those guys, they represent everything you want in your organization, everything you want in terms of their preparation, their love of the game, their willingness to put team first, and then their performance. How much they love it, how much they care about it. I think that was reflected in their performances today.”
“I’m happy for Sean,” Lewis added. “He’s going out there balling. He’s fought his butt off to get back out there on the field and you can see he’s a big help out there. He’s our captain, and you can see that he’s a big contributor when he’s out there.”
Lee also added a sack later in the game, marking the first time he’s ever recorded a sack and an interception in the same game.
“He’s the General,” fellow linebacker Jaylon Smith commented. “He’s a guy that, when he’s healthy, he can still play. It doesn’t matter how old he is, as long as as his body will let him, he’ll prevail. He’s grown to this point, so hats off to him. Yeah, he had a day.”
Lee, the team’s second-round draft pick in 2010 out of Penn State, contemplated retiring after last season’s postseason exit, due in large part to the toll that injuries have taken over a career in which he has never played all 16 games in a season. He returned in 2019, however, and has embraced his new role as a situational player and mentor to the younger members of the defense.
“I came back because I love this organization and I love my teammates. Both have stuck with me during a lot of tough times, through a lot of injuries, and through a lot of missed games. Coming back, my goal was just to help any way I can, wherever that was positionally, however many snaps that was, I just wanted to help us win. So having us win is big, but I want to continue to help and continue to help us get to that ultimate goal.”
That ultimate goal still seems a long way off for a team that, despite being 7-7, is still in play for the NFC East title. Consecutive losses to New England, Buffalo, and Chicago had made things tense in Dallas as the head coach faced daily questions about his job security and the players were accused of quitting on the season heading into Sunday’s meeting with the Rams.
“It’s been a long three weeks,” Witten said. “You play three games in eleven days and you come up short in all three of them, you want to get it going… Now it gets down to all the marbles here next week.”
Dallas and Philadelphia will meet next Sunday in a late-December game that should decide the division champion. It’s just like old times. So maybe it’s not surprising that it was the Cowboys’ old guys that helped put the team in that position once again. It’s certainly not surprising that after perhaps the biggest moment for each of them this season, both Lee and Witten spent more time talking about the other’s performance than they did their own.
“For us old guys to have a couple plays that can help the team win? It’s special,” Witten reflected. “It’s a funny game, you know? It builds relationships, and you have them for the rest of your life. But we know where we’re at in our career. We’ve always prided ourselves on the film work and preparation. Games like this is why you do all that work, to have just a few moments where you can turn back that clock. I was happy as hell for Sean. He needed a game like that. He’s one of the good guys. He deserves it.”
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