Both CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup made their cases as to why they can carry the Cowboys where they want to go. With an OBJ meeting looming, Sunday's game couldn't have been timed better.
ARLINGTON, Texas - As if the last few weeks hadn't presented plenty of signs that the Cowboys' offense was on the brink of an explosion, look no further than their 54-19 smackdown on Sunday night of a Colts team that simply had no answer other than to be overwhelmed.
Like a volcano that hasn't erupted in hundreds of years, the Cowboys found every way imaginable to score against a Colts' defense that many considered to be the strength of their team, pouring on all the offensive lava they could on national television.
It was a living, breathing representation of what had been brewing all season under the surface for a Cowboys' team that is finally healthy - and potentially on the brink of adding yet another offensive piece to the rotation of characters.
And while the defense perhaps had more of the highlight reel plays, when it comes to the offense look no further than the two guys who combined for three touchdowns and 114 receiving yards in CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup.
Since the return of Dak Prescott both had begun to catch fire in recent weeks, but all culminated on Sunday with Lamb snagging 71 yards on five catches and a touchdown that involved a nifty barrel roll move to stay on his feet.
As for Gallup, he recorded his third career multi-score game since the 2020 season when he did it against the Philadelphia Eagles. The best part of not only the Cowboys' offensive onslaught, but Gallup and Lamb's big night in particular?
The Cowboys are on track to have their long-awaited meeting with free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. on Monday before meeting with Prescott and the team's leadership council on Tuesday. Lamb, playing his best football of the season, had a very simple pitch when asked after the game why Beckham should join the Cowboys.
"We're winning, look at us," Lamb said with a smile. "I mean put yourself in this offense and just envision it. We're distributing the ball very well and I'm sure as hell he would love it here."
For the Cowboys, a team that has quickly gone from being built strictly around their defense out of necessity at the beginning of the season, to now both the offense and defense being able to complement one another, the intrigue and widely candid pursuit of OBJ should not come as a surprise.
The Cowboys are a star-driven franchise and they always have been. Beckham is as big of a star as the league has seen over the last decade. But is it possible the Cowboys have at least one star receiver, if not two incredibly capable ones in Lamb and Gallup?
Sure, but if you're trying to win a Super Bowl like owner/general manager Jerry Jones is, then you take every swing within your power to make that happen.
"I want this to work," Jones said. "I want it to work. But that means I'm going to be trying to make it work. So I'm going to be looking for a reason to do, not reasons not to do."
It's a risk regardless for the Cowboys to sign Beckham, and Jones admitted as much after Sunday night's win. It's no secret that Beckham is now at the age of 30 and coming off his second ACL surgery. But with the star receiver coming to town after already meeting with other clubs in recent days, the clock is ticking for all parties involved.
Though it's not as if the Cowboys don't already have an example of a talented receiver in Gallup making his way back from ACL surgery, only to flourish later in the season after finding his footing. Or have a budding, homegrown superstar in Lamb that is blossoming into a No. 1 guy.
"My knee has been feeling great," Gallup said. "It took me a while. A couple of weeks ago I wouldn't have felt great until Thursday. Now it's like you can come in on Tuesday or Wednesday and start feeling good."
"I've been ready for this opportunity," Lamb said of the No. 1 role. "All my life I've always looked at myself as 'the guy.' Whether it's running the ball, catching the ball, doing whatever I had to do offensively to help our guys score points. And that's really all I'm here for."
The pieces are already in place for the Cowboys to not just contend, but clearly dominate at a high-level with what they have already. But it's a story as old as time - those who take the biggest risk tend to be rewarded the biggest.
The Cowboys begin the real exploration of that starting Monday, but they won't forget who got them there to begin with.
