The best Cowboys players from Week 12, according to PFF

The Cowboys are flying high right now after blasting the doors off the Commanders on Thanksgiving. Dak Prescott had another incredible performance, DaRon Bland made history, and plenty of other players made big plays too. Here are some of the top players from the game, according to Pro Football Focus.

The Texas Coast offense was impossible to stop Just how good was this Cowboys offense? They had 25 fewer plays than the Commanders for the day and still finished with 431 total yards, outgaining Washington by 55 yards. They averaged a ridiculous 8.6 yards per play and, most importantly, went a perfect three for three (100%) in the red zone.

QB Dak Prescott - 97.0

As the kids say, Dak Prescott was on one in this game. He hit 331 passing yards and four touchdowns, finishing with five big time throws and zero turnover worthy plays. Prescott completed 68.8% of his passes, and that was with two drops, a pass that was batted down at the line of scrimmage, and his early miss to CeeDee Lamb. Prescott’s 97.0 grade is the highest for any quarterback since 2007.

Dak Prescott had the highest single game grade by a QB since 2007 pic.twitter.com/XOxbHMAcZf

— PFF November 24, 2023 LT Tyron Smith - 86.5

It’s strange to say but at age 32, Tyron Smith is playing some of the best football of his career. He gave up two pressures on the day, but was otherwise locking up edge rushers consistently. Smith also dominated in the run game, finishing with a team high 90.0 run blocking grade.

LG Tyler Smith - 76.2

Tyler Smith has been playing great this year, giving the Cowboys an elite tackle/guard combo on the left side of that line. As far as pass protection goes, this was one of Smith’s worst games of the year, giving up three pressures and a hit. Still, Smith was making waves in run blocking, which is why his grade is as high as it is.

WR CeeDee Lamb - 74.8

It was a quiet night for CeeDee Lamb, relative to his recent string of production, but still a good game. He finished with four catches on nine targets for 53 yards and a touchdown. Lamb also made a ridiculous toe-tap catch for a two point conversion. All four of his receptions went for a first down or touchdown, the most on the team.

C Tyler Biadasz - 72.6

Tyler Biadasz has been having an uneven season after making the Pro Bowl last year, but this was one of his better games of the year. Biadasz gave up one pressure on the day and was a reliable force in the running game, finishing right behind the two Smith’s in run blocking grade.

DaRon Bland makes history The defense didn’t have their best performance, giving up 23 first downs and 376 yards of offense, but they limited Washington to just 10 points all day. And, of course, DaRon Bland made history with his fifth pick-six of the season. This is something no other defender in the history of the sport has ever accomplished and, as Jim Nantz pointed out on the broadcast, doesn’t even earn the asterisk of having done so in a 17-game season. Bland did this in just 11 games, truly an elite achievement.

iDL Osa Odighizuwa - 88.3

Osa Odighizuwa is having a breakout season, and this might have been his best game of the year. He finished with seven pressures, second-most on the team, and was a monster in the run game. Odighizuwa tallied five tackles, all of them run stops, and had the highest run defense grade of the game.

EDGE Micah Parsons - 85.0

Micah Parsons may not have taken the energy powder that made him vomit on the sidelines a few days ago, but he still put up big numbers. The star pass rusher tallied nine pressures and came away with 1.5 sacks, upping his season total to 11.5 with six games left in the season; he has yet to hit 14+ sacks in a season, but seems to be well on his way there.

S Juanyeh Thomas - 81.8

The absence of Jayron Kearse, who missed this game with an injury, meant a bigger workload for Juanyeh Thomas. That’s ultimately a good thing, as Thomas has been impressive in his limited snaps this year, and that continued on Thursday. Thomas gave up four completions on five targets, but three of those were recorded as stops. Thomas also had a pass breakup, which helped him finish with the best coverage grade on the day.

EDGE Dorance Armstrong - 80.7

Every now and then, Dorance Armstrong has a game like this to remind everyone of just how good he is. Armstrong had a pressure, a hit, two tackles, and a run stop on the day. His contributions in all aspects of the game led to him having the second-highest grade in both pass rush and run defense areas.

CB DaRon Bland - 78.8

DaRon Bland made history and thrust himself to the forefront of the Defensive Player of the Year conversation, but he’s only the fifth best grade on defense? That’s because Bland struggled in coverage most of the night, giving up completions on nine of his 12 targets for a total of 122 yards and six first downs. Of course, he made up for it all with this one historic play:

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— SportsCenter November 24, 2023