Cowboys' Bryant Again Has Big Game Coming Off Emotional Day
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ARLINGTON (AP) — Dez Bryant tried to find a path to his locker through the phalanx of reporters and cameramen, warning them that the interview would be short if anyone asked about the death of his father.
A day after attending his dad's funeral in the East Texas town where the Dallas receiver grew up, Bryant had his first two-touchdown game since his All-Pro season of 2014 in the Cowboys' ninth straight victory, 27-17 over the Baltimore Ravens.
So there was plenty to talk about Sunday.
"I'm just glad that when he had to deal with such a tough personal tragedy, I'm glad that he had the team and had his playing to go to, and that's what he did," owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. "We never pick our time to lose our moms and dads. Dez would be the first, I'm sure, to agree that having his team around him was a welcome situation."
Getting plenty of single coverage even though the Ravens were missing key cornerback Jimmy Smith because of a back injury, Bryant's physical style was on display with both scores. They capped drives of 92 and 88 yards to start the second half and help the Cowboys (9-1) break a 10-10 tie.
The first was a fade where he blocked out Shareece Wright to make the catch with Wright trying to grab his arms from behind. On the second, Bryant ran through a tackle from Tavon Young and stretched across the goal line.
With five touchdowns, Bryant already has two more than his career low from an injury-plagued 2015 season. He has also surpassed last year's career-worst 401 yards. He has 478 despite missing three games with a knee injury.
"We've got a lot of guys who ... love to see each other succeed," said Bryant, who had six catches for 80 yards. "When you got that, everybody is going to smile, everybody is ready to go, everybody wants to play. That's what's going on around here and we're going to keep it that way."
It was the second straight week that Bryant was playing on raw emotion . In last week's 35-30 win over Pittsburgh, he had a 50-yard touchdown and his third 100-yard game of the season a day after his father died.
"Been a challenging week for him and he's done a great job maintaining his focus come Sunday afternoon," coach Jason Garrett said. "When you leave him out there by himself, there's not many guys in this league who can guard him."
The Ravens (5-5) chose to stop rookie NFL rushing leader Ezekiel Elliott first, holding him to 26 yards in the first half after he didn't get a touch in the second quarter. But the key sequence for the offense came in that quarter — without Elliott, and with a boost from Bryant.
The Cowboys converted a first-and-30 with rookie Dak Prescott's 12-yard scramble and a 12-yard pass to Bryant followed by a 41-yarder to Brice Butler. Dallas pulled even at 7-7 two plays later on a touchdown throw to Cole Beasley.
"It probably wasn't the best decision if you look back at it right now, but you've also got to stop the run," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said of the coverage calls against Bryant. "That's the issue that they present to you as an offense."
Dallas set a regular-season franchise record with the ninth straight win, a year after the absences of quarterback Tony Romo and Bryant played a big role in a 4-12 record a season after the Cowboys won the NFC East at 12-4.
Romo missed the first nine games after breaking a bone in his back in the preseason, but the surprising Prescott got the Cowboys on a roll. The win over the Ravens was the first with Romo as Prescott's backup. And the result looked similar to the previous eight wins.
"We've got to keep going," Bryant said. "That's the goal. It's cool. We've just got to keep going."
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