Sports

The Cowboys traded for defensive tackle Quinnen Williams during their bye week, so it took a while for him to make his first appearance in their uniform.

It turned out to be worth the wait. Williams had 1.5 sacks and five hits on Raiders quarterback Geno Smith during the Cowboys' 33-16 win in Las Vegas on Monday night.

Williams teamed up with Kenny Clark to sack Smith one play after Dak Prescott lost a fumble inside the Dallas 20-yard line in the first quarter and that helped hold the Raider to a field goal. He had another sack to help force a punt in the second quarter and said after the game that he wants to keep making that kind of impact for his new team.

"I want to keep stacking these, man," Williams said, via the team's website. "I want to keep stacking these performances, and I want to keep getting better week in and week out. And it's just the main goal, man, to keep getting better, keep stacking up the good things, fix the bad things, and win football games."

Defense has not been a strength for the Cowboys this season and Williams shrugged off the suggestion that his arrival changed everything by saying football is not golf or tennis. The Cowboys got several other players back from injury as well and their Week 12 game against the Eagles will show whether Monday night was more about them or about facing the Raiders.

Cowboys owner and General Manager Jerry Jones was in awe of the way wide receiver George Pickens played on Monday night.

Pickens had nine catches for 144 yards and a touchdown as the Cowboys beat the Raiders 33-16, and Jones said what Pickens did was a work of artistry.

"Pickens was — I've never seen a performance like that. It was poetic the way that he was making those moves out there. It was like he was in an opera or something out there. A ballet," Jones said.

Pickens is in the final year of his contract and becomes an unrestricted free agent in March, and every positive word Jones says about him is adding to his leverage in negotiating a new deal. Jones sounds like he's going to be willing to open up the checkbook for Pickens, although if Jones talks bigger than he acts when it comes to player contracts, it wouldn't be the first time.

At the start of the game, both Pickens and the Cowboys' other top receiver, CeeDee Lamb, were on the sideline. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer hinted that it was a benching for missing a meeting or practice but did not give any details. Jones said he was proud of both Pickens and Lamb for the way they responded.

Raiders quarterback Geno Smith said the issue during Monday night's 33-16 loss to the Cowboys wasn't Chip Kelly's play calling, but Smith's own execution.

"I don't think there was any issue with the play calling. The plays were there, guys were open," Smith said when asked about play calling after the game.

Smith then said the blame should always be on him, although he said it in a way that suggests he thinks reporters often blame him even when it's not his fault.

"You guys watch the film, I know we've got a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks who like to watch film and take screenshots and see where guys were open, so I'm sure you guys will see where the guys were open," Smith said. "I've just got to play better. I keep saying this. If something don't look right out there, blame it on me. If it don't look right, blame it on me. That's all you can do, blame it on me. If your kids mess up at school, blame it on me. Car break down on the way to work? Blame it on me."

There's plenty of blame to go around for the Raiders' 2-8 record, but Smith definitely deserves a lot of it. There's been no indication that head coach Pete Carroll is considering benching Smith for backup Kenny Pickett, but something has to change in Las Vegas, and Smith acknowledges he's a big part of it.