No one will accuse the Dallas Cowboys’ 27-23 victory against the hapless Indianapolis Colts of being pretty. But at the end the season, they don’t say, how they look they just say how many.

And for a desperate and depleted Cowboys team, the final result is all that matters.

It allowed the Cowboys to move to 4-5 on the season and stay connected to the NFC-East leading New York Giants in the race for the division crown. The Giants are 5-2-1 after beating the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

The Cowboys bounced back from last week’s unconscionable loss to the lowly Arizona Cardinals (3-6), which was the first time in franchise history the Cowboys lost a game in which they led by 14 or more points in the fourth quarter, after almost duplicating the same deplorable mess against the 2-7 Colts.

Dallas led 17-7 and 20-10 before allowing the Colts to rally to take a 23-20 lead with 1 minute, 37 left.

But that was before quarterback Dak Prescott engineered the 28th game-winning drive of his career, sparked by a 46-yard pass to Ryan Flournoy. Javonte Williams put the Cowboys back in front with a 1-yard run.

“It’s to win, try to win any way we can,” Prescott said. “Yeah, at the end of the day, it’s to win. That’s all that I’m trying to do, that’s all that we can control. Individually, it’s doing your part, trying to be efficient, disciplined, and getting a win. When you’re not as clean as you want to be, disciplined as you want to be, you make it tougher on yourself, and sometimes you can overcome it, sometimes you can’t. Tonight, we did. Today, we did.

“Yeah, don’t want them all to be this close, don’t want it like that, but I’ve said it before, if I can get the ball in my hands with an opportunity to win the game, I’ll take it that way. And so, if they all have to come down to that, I’m fine with it.” 

Prescott completed 21-of-34 passes for 335 yards, two touchdowns and a 114.2 passer rating. Williams had 20 carries for 101 yards.

And receiver CeeDee Lamb had the second best game of his career statistically with 10 catches for 195 yards and a touchdown.

Rookie safety Caleb Downs sealed the victory with an interception on the Colts final series to cap his best game of the season and win the family showdown with his brother, Colts receiver Josh Downs. Caleb Downs has a sack and a pass deflection on the game.

“I mean honestly, we needed to win as a team,” Downs said. “That’s the that’s the biggest thing. It was a surreal feeling going out there and lining up in front of him. It’s me and him the whole game, so I was just thankful for the situation. He definitely got me on some of the plays that they missed him on but I mean, just thankful to come out healthy and thankful that my family could be here.”

And the Cowboys defense arguably had its best game of the season, forcing five three and outs to go long Downs’ interception, a forced fumble from Quinnen Williams and two sacks.

The Cowboys overcame the absences of receiver George Pickens, cornerback Joey Porter and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, who were all out with injuries.

They also overcome many self-inflicted wounds, including a whopping 14 penalties for 153 yards. The most bizarre was flag on Overshown for running on the field in a warmup suit to celebrate with his teammates following the Williams’ forced fumble in the fourth quarter.

This is what referee Clay Martin said to the hilarity of everyone at the stadium and watching on television: “After the play, unsportsmanlike conduct by Dallas. We had a non-uniform player in blue sweats and a stocking cap come onto the field to celebrate. That’s a 15-yard penalty.”

And then there was Lamb. His great day was offset by two offensive pass interference penalties, a called back touchdown when he didn’t get both feet down and a fumble following a reception.

“I think I had like three penalties alone in the second half and a fumble,” Lamb said. “So like personally, I’ve got to take a real good look. Obviously, the numbers look crazy, but could have been more. And I’m always thinking about the could have been. So, as for me as a leader on this offense, feel like I got to be better in some realms. Ended the game with a W, but it was cool.”

Prescott was also had sacked three times, including a sack fumble that led to a Colts touchdown. He was not happy with the penalties and miscues. The win doesn’t mask it all.

“I was upset. I didn’t know what exactly what it was for,” Prescott said of the Overshown penalty. “I thought it was because we had the whole 40 guys come from the sideline. I didn’t realize it was just (DeMarvion) Overshown. So yeah, at the end of the day, it’s about being disciplined, though. Whether it’s Overshown, and I know he’s upset at himself about it, or whether it’s us on offense and holding penalty, or holding calls, or CeeDee (Lamb) and the offensive pass interference, or the fumble, we’ve got to be accountable to every one of these mistakes individually. I can’t sit up here and be accountable for those guys. Those guys got to be accountable for their mistakes, and we’ve got to get back into the building and approach it with that mindset of: I need to be better for the for the unit and for the team, and if we will, everything will be fine.”

The Cowboys survived it all and got the win.

They will not apologize for winning but they know they have a lot to clean up if they hope to truly dig themselves out of the bad start and make something of their season.

The mission continues next Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, who have the NFL’s best record at 7-1 and who own the Cowboys of late with a four-game win streak in the series.

The Cowboys will be in must-win desperation mode for the rest of the season.

“Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, it is. I mean, our record – we’ve done it to ourselves,” Prescott said. We put ourselves in this position. It is what it is. I mean, at this point, just, thank God for the opportunity that we have to fight out of this hole that we put ourselves in. Understanding the Giants did win today, so it’s not like they’re making it easier for us. So at this point, simple as that. Yeah, it’s a must win. Every game’s a must win, and I hope every, as I said, man, woman, in that building, support staff, coaches, everybody has this mindset. Just how can they better the team.”