Javonte Williams scored 11 touchdowns in his four seasons in Denver. He has his seventh in his eighth game with the Cowboys, with his 1-yard run coming against his former team.
Williams’ touchdown has the Cowboys within 14-10 of the Broncos.
Dallas got to the 1-yard line on its first drive but settled for a chip-shot field goal of 24 yards from Brandon Aubrey. After back-to-back punts, the Cowboys again drove to the 1.
Williams capped off an 11-play, 59-yard drive.
He has seven carries for 25 yards.
Dak Prescott has completed 8 of 14 passes for 90 yards.
The Cowboys have seven players out of their secondary, including cornerback Trevon Diggs and safeties Malik Hooker, Donovan Wilson and Juanyeh Thomas.
They are playing short-handed and look like it.
The Cowboys have allowed four plays of at least 20 yards, including two touchdowns. The Broncos lead 14-3.
Troy Franklin has the latest explosive play for Denver, scoring on a 25-yard reception. He was wide open. Running back RJ Harvey scored the team’s first touchdown on a 40-yard run.
Bo Nix threw an interception on the Broncos’ first drive, but the team has had a five-play, 74-yard touchdown drive and a four-play, 62-yard touchdown drive since.
Nix is 5-of-7 for 88 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The Broncos have rushed for another 71 yards.
The Broncos got good news and better news after the Cowboys kicked an opening field goal.
RJ Harvey ran 40 yards to the end zone, giving the Broncos a 7-3 lead. It was the longest run for the team since Melvin Gordon went 47 yards against the Chiefs in Week 18 of the 2021 season.
The Cowboys had the Broncos stopped on third-and-7, but defensive lineman James Houston was offsides. Bo Nix threw a 26-yard pass to Troy Franklin on the next play.
Two plays later, Harvey gave Denver the lead.
The Broncos then got cornerback Pat Surtain back on their next defensive series. The team had listed him as questionable to return with a lower-leg injury. The defending defensive player of the year missed one play.
The Broncos didn’t start off any better than last week when they fell behind the Giants 13-0 at halftime and 19-0 in the fourth quarter before a furious comeback. Bo Nix threw an interception on his second pass, and the Cowboys marched right down the field for a field goal.
To add injury to insult, Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain left the game with a lower leg injury on the Cowboys’ first drive. Surtain was covering George Pickens in the end zone on a second-and-goal from the 1 when his right leg landed awkwardly.
He walked off on his own but appeared in pain as he got to the sideline medical tent.
The Broncos list him as questionable to return.
The Cowboys were held to only three points after the eight-play, 46-yard drive, including a 29-yard reception by CeeDee Lamb to the Denver 3. Brandon Aubrey kicked a 24-yard field goal.
The Cowboys were set up with good field position after rookie cornerback Trikweze Bridges picked Nix, who threw behind an open Pat Bryant at the Dallas 40. Bridges returned it 8 yards.
At a time when players throughout the league are clamoring for high-quality grass fields, the teams that have spent the money to ensure quality playing surfaces deserve to be praised for it.
The Broncos, under current ownership, have been committed to protecting the players, and protecting their investment, by spending the money necessary to provide the best possible field. And by ignoring revenue opportunities that would degrade the surface.
In the first season of the Walton-Penner ownership of the team, they spent $400,000 to re-sod the field for the regular-season finale. Starting in the second season, the Broncos decided to stop hosting college or high-school games at their home stadium.
Soon, we’re told, the team will perform a proactive replacement of the sod at the venue.
Other owners should be taking note. Other owners should be following suit. It’s not good enough to change the grass once the current grass is shot. The goal should be to replace the surface before it needs to be replaced.
