The Dallas Cowboys never do anything easy.

In a game that was supposed to be about honoring the death defensive end Marshawn Kneeland in attitude and spirit, the Cowboys began the 33-16 blowout of the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium with a little controversy and drama by benching star receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens for the opening series for disciplinary reasons.

They missed some things, per a source.

Neither Lamb nor Pickens would address what rule they broke after the game.

Coach Brian Schottenheimer simply said they missed some things. He informed them of his decision before the game.

Not showing up from meetings, practice or missing a curfew was not on the bingo card when it came to things the Cowboys wanted to do honor Kneeland, who took his own life with a single gun shot wound less than two weeks ago.

Kneeland was the epitome of giving 100-percent, all-out effort to everything he did.

The Cowboys have endured a painful and emotional time since his death, which was during the bye week and came after disastrous losses to the Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals.

They hoped to bounce back against the Raiders and honor Kneeland with their play.

“So proud of these guys,” Schottenheimer said. “I mean, the way that they grieved, cried, laughed, but they wanted to honor him, and we’re not done honoring. He’s a part of our family forever, but it’s been tough, man. I mean, these past 11 days have been really tough, and I’m proud of those guys because just the way they played today, they played with Marshawn’s [Kneeland] play style.”

While things didn’t start so great, the Cowboys (4-5-1) got well mentally and physically against the Raiders with unleashing 24 straight unanswered points to turn a 6-2 deficit to 24-6 in the second quarter. It was 31-9 in third quarter and suddenly football for the Cowboys was fun again.

Pickens and Lamb, who set the initial negative tone to force Schottenheimer to discipline them as an example to the team, got things started and in that order.

Quarterback Dak Prescott began what was a near perfect performance by feeding Pickens and when the Raiders adjusted, he found Lamb wide open in the back of the end zone for an 18-yard score.

Prescott completed 25-of-33 passes (75.8%) for 268 yards and touchdowns to four different receivers, Lamb, tight end Jake Ferguson, Pickens and Ryan Flournoy

Schottenheimer gave them both Lamb and Pickens a hug on the bench after the initial score and the party was on.

“Made a coach’s decision. There were some things that were missed, and so had a conversation with those guys, and that was easy,” Schottenheimer said. But, I mean, you look at the energy those guys play with. They jump started the offense when they got back in there. They didn’t hang their heads. They didn’t do any of that stuff, and that’s why I love those guys, man.

“Yeah, I told them I love them, man. It’s what we do. I mean, the role of me as a leader for this football team is to have relationships. I’ve talked to you guys about that for a long time, like I’m going to be able to have hard conversations with those guys, or any of our players, but I also want to know that when there’s decisions that are made, I love them and I appreciate them. I appreciate the way they play. I mean, literally, they jump started us in the latter part of that second drive and beyond. And that’s what great players do.”

The biggest gift was a 37-yard catch and run by Pickens that ended with him getting an excessive celebration flag after jumping on the base of the goal post.

So much for discipline.

Sometimes you got let Pickens be Pickens and he was downright uncoverable against the Raiders, catching 9 passes for 144 yards and the touchdown.

“Yeah, and then you bring him over, you talk to him” Schottenheimer said. “You try to play on the edge and not go over the edge, and he’s kind of right here often. That’s why I think he’s such a great player. But I’ll say it again, I love him. I really do. I love the young man. I tell him that all the time.”

Prescott said there is a balancing act with Pickens and he’s knows it.

“He’s a wonderful, kind guy,” Prescott said. “Special, individual, elite has a great feel for the game, loves the game, plays the game like a kid. When you watch him play, the energy, the celebrations, that’s contagious. Luckily, we got a kicker who can make it. I know Schott [Brian Schottenheimer] is probably not happy about it, but when you get a kicker that can bail you out, it’s one thing, but the discipline, there is a part of that that we’ve all got to tighten up. And GP [George Pickens] knows that, obviously he responded to it, responded to the discipline by the way that he came out, and the intensity he played with and the effort he had. But he’s a special individual and you said there’s a balance to it.”

The good news is the Cowboys defense, which ranks 31st in the league and had been on pace to be one of the worst in franchise history, showed signs of life against the hapless Raiders, who lost their fourth straight game to drop to 2-8 season.

Struggling teams have actually gotten healthy against the Cowboys defense in prior games. See the Arizona Cardinals, who were unstoppable in a 27-17 victory the last time Dallas took the field but has been blown out in their next two game by the scores of 44-22 and 41-22 to the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, respectively.

The Cowboys defense, fueled by the addition of defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, wasn’t the get-right unit for the quarterback Geno Smith and the Raiders offense.

Williams, acquired in a trade with the New York Jets during the bye week, had 1.5 of the team’s four sacks. He had multiple tackles for losses for a Cowboys defense that recorded an interception by Markquese Bell and a safety by rookie defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku.

Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty, the team’s 2025 first-round pick, was held to 6 yards on 7 carries. Smith completed 27 of 42 passes for 238 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The Cowboys’ new-look defense had him under duress all night.

“Yeah, Quinnen was really good,” Schottenheimer said. “He’s a really good football player. We should keep him.”

The unit was also buoyed by the season debuts linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and cornerback Shavon Revel, who both had been sidelined since the offseason rehabbing knee injuries, the returns of safeties Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker from injuries and the addition of linebacker Logan Wilson, also acquired in a bye week trade from the Cincinnati Bengals.

Bigger tests await before knowing if the Cowboys can still salvage their season and playoff hopes.

They face the Philadelphia Eagles (8-2), Kansas City Chiefs (5-5) and Detroit Lions (6-4) in an 12-day span over the next three weeks.

“Yeah, why not? And I know I’ve been saying that, I’ll probably keep saying that, why not?,” Prescott said. And it’s more about we’re in control, right? We’re in control, and life’s going to throw things at us, and it threw us a hell of a curve ball this past week. And how are we going to respond? That’s what I was telling the team, right? To have a testimony we’ve got to go through a test. And this is a big test to our brotherhood and who we are, and to this organization, to us individually. Let’s have pride and let’s honor our brother. And if we can continue to do that, move forward carrying that light and play the way that we did tonight, why not?”

They will never truly get over the loss of Kneeland.

But for one night, all is well again.

And it showed in the jubilant but emotional post-game locker room.

“We started talking about Marshawn [Kneeland] and how proud he would be with the way we played the game,” Schottenheimer said. “And then I tried to compose myself, which I did, and we did our normal celebration because that’s what we do,” And again, just the heart of this team, man, and how about the defense? Just really, really proud of that group and what they’ve had to be go through. And it was pretty cool to see those guys really step up in the fire that they played.”