The Dallas Cowboys were unable to win a major road game all last season. Critics will soon come out of hiding, but Dallas made a clear statement on Sunday with a 33-17 victory over the Cleveland Browns.

While Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Ezekiel Elliott stole the show in the first half, the offense couldn’t find a rhythm in the second half. Granted, the plays were a bit conservative when the Cowboys built a big lead, but Mike Zimmer’s defense was fantastic from start to finish.

The Browns managed just 10 points before scoring a touchdown in overtime in the final minute of regulation. Micah Parsons recorded a sack, deflected an intercepted pass and generated nearly double-digit pressure.

While Parsons ruined the game in the second quarter as the Cowboys asserted their dominance in enemy territory, the most important takeaway from the win is that Zimmer Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson was seeing ghosts.

It’s only one game and the fans in Cleveland have already seen enough of Watson. Towards the end of the second quarter, the first boos rang out at Huntington Bank Field!

Watson put up some awful numbers in the first half. He failed to complete a pass more than five yards on seven attempts, and he was 0-of-4 under pressure and 0-of-4 against the blitz. The only thing Watson did well was tackle. He tiptoed away from several sacks.

Zimmer had Watson figured out from the start. He finished the game with 24 of 45 passes (53.5% success rate) for 169 yards and a touchdown (while trailing 27-3) and two interceptions. He averaged 3.8 yards per attempt and achieved a passer rating of 51.1.

The Cowboys’ defense delivered a spectacular performance as a collective. Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, who recorded two sacks, shined on the edge, while Eric Kendricks and DeMarvion Overshown were masterful at linebacker, Trevon Diggs got in the game with a late interception, and rookie Caelan Carson could have had multiple interceptions.

Cowboys fans couldn’t have asked for a better sophomore performance from Zimmer. The defense sacked Watson six times and had five interceptions. Watson has had a few misses since signing a gigantic contract with the Browns, but this was by far the worst of them all.

The fact that Cleveland fans already want Jameis Winston (!) to run the offense is incredible. We can’t remember Dan Quinn ever having that kind of impact on an opposing fan base. Zimmer did it in one game.

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