The Dallas Cowboys remain two games away from the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East after routing the Indianapolis Colts; Before the explosion in the fourth quarter, there were only two points between the teams, and the hosts left 33 points unanswered.
The Dallas Cowboys scored 33 unanswered points in the fourth quarter as they thrashed the Indianapolis Colts 54-19 on Sunday, with four rushes resulting in touchdowns and three touchdowns by Duck Prescott on an impressive night for playoff contenders.
Matt Ryan’s first interception came on a pass to former Indy first-rounder Malik Hooker, and Prescott followed up with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Michael Gallup to give the Cowboys a 21–13 halftime lead.
Gallup caught a touchdown twice during the night and C.D. Lamb another when he rolled over safety Rodney McLeod Jr. and stayed on his feet.
Ryan, who threw two touchdown passes, then made his second and third interceptions and lost a fumble during a nightmarish finish for the Colts (4-8-1), who fell to 1-3 under interim coach Jeff Saturday and lost sixth time in seven games generally.
Ryan has 18 plays (13 steals, 5 losses) this season and leads the NFL by three more than Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen.
The Cowboys’ highest-scoring quarter (9-3) since at least 1991 was only the third time in NFL history that a team scored a whopping 33 points in a fourth.
After Gallup’s second touchdown, Hooker caught tight end Moe Ali-Cox’s fumble and went down the right sideline untouched for a 34-19 lead early in the fourth.
Hooker, who drafted the Colts 15th overall five years ago, suffered four seasons with the Colts with injuries before signing with the Cowboys during training camp last year.
Tony Pollard, Ezekiel Elliott and rookie Malik Davis all scored heavily after Indy’s last three losses in the fourth.
