The Cowboys’ offense is once again one of the top units in the NFL, second overall at 30.5 points per game through four weeks, but coaches know it takes both sides of the ball. The defense remains a bottom-five unit in yards- and points-allowed. The biggest driver of the offensive success has b een the chemistry between Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and George Pickens. While Prescott and Lamb’s connection led the way on Sunday, coach Schottenheimer credits Pickens’ success last season for forcing defenses to take him away and leave Lamb with 1-on-1 matchups, which he has beaten consistently. “It was pretty amazing just watching the film and seeing the timing and the trust and the rhythm. And I think it was really the throw over the top of Jalen Pitre on their boundary about the fourth or fifth last play of the game, was incredible. You know, just the touch and the trust to throw it to the field over the top of him on the deep out was incredible. And then, you know, they made the last, last touchdown look easy. A lot of time and energy spent together, you know, working on those things and those details, and CeeDee’s playing incredible right now,” Schottenheimer said. “You know, Houston, they have a very good defense and they got two really good corners. And there were a couple other plays where, you know, he got loose, and he was on the backside of a read. But, no, I mean, George Pickens is really good. And they had a plan to take him away and did a nice job of taking him away. Although if we hit the double move in the fourth quarter, we need to protect a little bit better. You add another 60 yards to George’s total. But, you know, again, like I said last night, that’s the beauty of our offense. You know, we’ve got two elite number one receivers. And if you want to focus on taking one away, the other one’s going to probably have a day. Maybe not like CeeDee did yesterday because that’s unusual.” Second-year right guard Tyler Booker said the entire offense sacrifices for each other because they take joy in the group’s success. “I feel like the bond that we share as an offense, everybody wanting to see each other win, that’s what drives us and helps us make some of the special plays happen that do happen. So just love that we have for one another and also that continuity that we’ve built. This is the second year under Coach (Klayton) Adams as our (offensive coordinator). Everybody’s back. All the starters are back. And we’re just gonna continue to add and grow as the season goes along,” Booker said. “We’re the best two-minute team in the league. And we had an opportunity to go prove it. And we did.” The Cowboys only had six points headed into halftime, after Brandon Aubrey had two field goals blocked in the final six minutes of the second quarter. Schottenheimer said the biggest difference in the second half was the play of the offensive line and the tempo the offense played with. “I thought the pass protection got better. I thought our ability to stay on the field wore down a very, very talented front, very explosive front. They actually hurt us in the first half more inside than they did on the edges. And that’s not to take anything away from, you know, (Danielle) Hunter and (Will) Anderson. But you know they got some of their push inside early on. But I thought the pass protection was really, really good. There was some scheme things. But for the most part I just thought that, you know, you saw Dak playing quick and confident with his eyes and doing a nice job, you know, finding 88,” Schottenheimer said. “When you go fast, you know, some people get very aggressive defensively. Some people get very passive, if you will. But I do think the bigger reason for us playing faster was we felt like they were tired, you know, and that’s real. I mean, they had to play defense for 35 minutes-plus, whatever it was. And, you know, when you have a team like that that’s that talented, and they’re on the ropes, you’d like to continue to go fast to make them have to stay out there. And you’re aware when 51 is not out there. And so you take advantage of situations like that because, you know, he’s coming back in at any minute, and you don’t want to miss an out to maybe throw a big play or something like that.” The Cowboys line should be getting stronger. They opened the 21-day window for starting guard Tyler Smith to practice. Smith is returning from a thumb injury that cost him the first month of the season. The Cowboys scored four red zone touchdowns in the second half, three by running back Javonte Williams. Schottenheimer said Williams has a nose for the end zone. “We were very comfortable that if we have to throw it in, we’re going to throw it in. If we can run it in, we will. But I do think that the nose that Javonte has down there is something that he’s shown, you know, this year and last year. And, you know, you get down inside that area, you don’t need to block the run. Perfect. Because he has a unique way of kind of getting skinny and turning into shoulders and finding a way to get in the end zone. And that’s one of the things we loved about him coming out of Denver,” Schottenheimer said. The Cowboys will play their third game in 12 days, when they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday. “The biggest challenge of the short week is like, you don’t have as much time to get your body back, but, we had a couple of games last year, so I’m just going to rely on that routine that for me last year. And then also game planning wise, you’re going to have to rely on a lot of what you did, the week before the previous weeks or stuff that you’re just really comfortable with. So just being able to go on and execute, it’s all about and who’s got the better football players at the end of the day and not too much time for X’s and O’s,” Booker said. Schottenheimer was criticized for his end-of-game decision-making against Baltimore, notably failing to score a touchdown from the 1-yard line and failing to run out the clock to prevent Baltimore from having a final drive. Lamb made sure to defend his coach after the game. “I just want [Schottenheimer] to know that I got his back. I’m with him. I’m one of his strongest soldiers. It’s just going to battle with each other. I feel like once you have that confidence and know who you’re going to battle with, just shoot your gun, and I feel like he shot it,” Lamb said. Schottenheimer made it known he appreciated Lamb’s support on Monday. “At the end of the day, you know, I think in terms of how we build this brotherhood, it’s: be you. And whatever your beliefs are, whether it’s spiritually, whether it’s, you know, politically, we don’t care. But when you’re in the room together, when you’re on the field together, it’s one heartbeat. And that’s what’s so special about this group is they do. You know, CeeDee has my back; I have CeeDee’s back. I have Caleb Downs back. He has my back. And that’s how you want to be built,” Schottenheimer said. ...read more read less