ARLINGTON, Texas – The Cowboys lost a unique dimension in their passing game when tight end Blake Jarwin tore his ACL in a Week 1 loss to the Rams.
In Sunday's surreal 40-39 comeback win over the Falcons at AT&T Stadium, Dalton Schultz answered the call with a career-high nine catches for 88 yards and his first NFL touchdown catch.
Schultz didn't start the game – the Cowboys opened with a three-receiver, two-running-back set featuring Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard – but he led the team in receptions, catching nine of 10 targets from quarterback Dak Prescott.
Schultz had one catch for 11 yards and two drops in the opener after Jarwin got hurt.
"After last week, it was my duty for myself and my team to get back in there and have a really good work week of practice," he said. "I felt like I did that and I came out and I did what I was supposed to do."
It wasn't a clean start for the Cowboys or Schultz this Sunday. He had one of three first-quarter fumbles that directly led to Atlanta points – in his case, a 27-yard field goal for a shocking 20-0 Falcons lead.
But the offense seemed to settle down after that, using tempo and a quick passing game to offset the absence of starting tackles Tyron Smith (inactive; neck) and La'el Collins (Reserve/Injured; hip) Sunday.
Trailing 29-10 at the start of the third quarter, Prescott drove the offense 74 yards to the end zone in just 2:37. An 18-yard completion to Schultz set up Prescott's 2-yard touchdown run.
Midway through the fourth, Schultz had three catches on a 75-yard drive, including a 10-yard touchdown down the seam between two defenders.
It was the start of 16 unanswered points by Dallas to steal the game and avoid what would've been an 0-2 start for the first time since 2010.
During training camp, Schultz spoke about an increased comfort level with the offense and timing with Prescott entering his third season out of Stanford.
He showed it Sunday, winning against man coverage looks. And with Jarwin expected to miss the rest of the season following knee surgery, they'll need even more from the 2018 fourth-round pick.
"I'm not the game planner, so obviously we'll attack however we want to attack that week. But when my name's called I'm always ready for it," Schultz said.
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