Dak Prescott passed for 335 yards and CeeDee Lamb caught 10 passes for 195 yards before the Dallas defense made the decisive play to help the Cowboys escape Indianapolis with a 27-23 victory on Sunday.
Cowboys rookie safety Caleb Downs intercepted Daniel Jones with 35 seconds left to seal the win for Dallas.
Dallas outgained the Colts 508-271 but the self-inflicted wounds kept things close until the final drive.
Trailing by three with 97 seconds on the clock, the Cowboys required less than 30 seconds to go 65 yards to take the lead.
Prescott went deep for wide receiver Ryan Flournoy on first down. Flournoy pulled the ball in as Sauce Gardner grabbed his left arm to place the ball at the Colts’ 19. Javonte Williams plowed to the 11 and a penalty on defensive tackle Grover Stewart set up the Cowboys with first-and-goal at the 6. Williams scored from 1 yard out to give Dallas a 27-23 lead with 1:08 remaining.
Williams had 101 yards on 20 carries and Tyler Goodson picked up 77 yards on 12 attempts for the Cowboys. Dallas rushed for 179 yards and averaged 5.3 yards per carry.
The Cowboys were penalized 14 times for 153 yards.
Indianapolis led for the first time on Spencer Shrader’s 50-yard field goal with 1:37 to play.
It was a 20-20 game when the Colts got the ball back with 3:30 remaining. Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey’s go-ahead field-goal try sailed wide left. Long snapper Trent Sieg skipped the ball to holder Bryan Anger, slowing Aubrey before he made contact with the 50-yard attempt.
Shrader tied the game at 20 with a career-long 59-yard field goal with 5:56 to go, saving a Colts drive that stalled after Seth McGowan’s 36-yard run.
Indianapolis tried zone and man coverage but no combination of defensive backs proved to be a match for Lamb, even as the teams traded giveaways in the fourth quarter.
Lamb caught a first down near the Colts’ sideline in front of rookie cornerback Kenneth Harris at the Indy 38. Harris watched as Lamb went to the ground and got both arms under Prescott’s throw, but didn’t touch him down. Lamb shot up, cut toward midfield and crossed the 15 as Colts linebacker Austin Ajiake dove to trip Lamb up from behind. As Lamb went down, he lost the ball and was initially ruled down before a successful challenge by the Colts gave Indianapolis the ball back down 20-17 near the 11-minute mark.
A 40-yard defensive pass interference flag on DaRon Bland — his team-leading sixth penalty of the season — set the Colts up at the Dallas 35, and 15 more yards on a personal foul thrown against Dee Winters advanced the ball to the 18.
Dallas came up with the takeaway on first down. Quinnen Williams engulfed Jonathan Taylor behind the line of scrimmage, wrapping him up two yards into the backfield, and the ball squirted out at the 20. Shemar James scooped it up to get Dallas another possession.
The first offensive play over 50 yards this season came at an ideal time for the Colts. Down 20-10 in the third, Jones flipped a short toss to speedy wide receiver Ashton Dulin with tight end Tyler Warren ahead of him to block. Dulin, primarily a special teams player with track speed, corralled the pass at the Colts’ 45 and exploded down the left sideline to the end zone for a 55-yard touchdown.
Colts cornerback Charvarius Ward left the game with a left hamstring injury with five minutes to play in the third quarter, but was able to return. Ward was assigned primary coverage of Lamb and went to the sideline after allowing a Lamb catch on a quick out to Prescott’s right.
Even with only 114 total yards at the time, the Colts climbed within a touchdown on Shrader’s 47-yard field goal with 6:12 left in the third. The 11-play drive covered only 29 yards, but Indy closed to a 17-10 deficit.
Prescott threw touchdown passes to Lamb and tight end Jake Ferguson in the second quarter. Ferguson was helped off the field in the third quarter with a left knee injury.
Taylor, the subject of trade rumors for weeks, had 13 carries for 46 yards. He caught five passes for 18 yards.
Wide receiver George Pickens and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. were inactive for the Cowboys. Safety P.J. Locke left the game in the fourth quarter after a collision with McGowan. Locke spent last week in concussion protocol before being cleared on Friday.