The Dallas Cowboys beat the Detroit Lions 10-6 on Sunday to improve to a 5-2 record.  A win is a win in the NFL and it shouldn't be taken any lightly.

But there's no way of saying Dak Prescott's welcome-back party was close to being spoiled time and time again.

After all, the Cowboys weren't able to exploit a Lions defense that arrived at AT&T Stadium as the worst unit in the NFL, allowing 6.5 yards per play over the first six weeks of the season.

Several times, Dallas showed it could move the football with ease. There's no better example of that than an 11-play drive for 54 yards and a touchdown that put it 17-6 and pretty much sealed the game.

But mostly, early down penalties and some bad decisions kept leading to wasted opportunities, complicating this game even more than necessary.

Take the third offensive drive of the game for the Cowboys as an example. Terence Steele opened things up with a false start on the first play and an illegal block in the back a play later suddenly made it 2nd and 20. Dallas ended up punting.

Drive-killing penalties like those were a common theme throughout the game.

On top of it all, the offensive line – particularly both starting tackles – had a rough afternoon against Aidan Hutchinson's defensive line. The running game couldn't get going for most of the day, resulting in several short drives that kept the Cowboys from scoring.

The Cowboys' offense even wasted a starting field position at the Lions' 41-yard line after an impressive KaVontae Turpin punt return.

But the Cowboys' defense showed up… AGAIN.

I won't lie. I was concerned about facing a Lions' offense that dominates the running game. But Dan Quinn's defense was up for the task as they shut out the Lions in the second half.

Sam Williams had the best game of his career up to now with two sacks, two quarterback hits, two tackles for loss, and a game-sealing forced fumble and recovery.

Meanwhile, DeMarcus Lawrence showed up with a forced fumble with the Lions knocking on the door. By the way, shoutout to Micah Parsons for looking like The Flash out there. He set up Lawrence for that forced fumble by making a super human recovery the play before.

Jourdan Lewis and Trevon Diggs each recorded an interception. Jared Goff was sacked five times total.

Throughout the game, Anthony Barr and Leighton Vander Esch were keys to stopping the running game by shining in the second level even if they won't pop out of the page when looking at the stat sheet.

This defense had to prove the Cowboys had a physical unit that could shut down a strong, tough-to-tackle attack. They did so on Sunday. Give Quinn yet another cookie because he keeps winning ball games for Dallas.

Featured image via Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports