ARLINGTON, Texas – Amari Cooper says the realization came during his first practice as a Cowboy.

On October 21, Dallas lost to the Redskins because of a lack of goals, and gave up their first-round pick in 2019 to Oakland less than 24 hours later. Cooper's owner, Jerry Jones, insisted that it could be the missing piece of a 3-4 Cowboys team that has not yet been mathematically eliminated from the playoff race.

Cooper arrived in Dallas with quarterback Dak Prescott. His first impression?

"I love her delivery," Cooper said Thursday after the Cowans' 31-23 win over Washington. "I love her way of throwing the ball – it's an easy ball to catch in. We're on the same page."

On Thanksgiving, this page showed eight catches for 180 yards and two 40- and 90-yard touchdowns. Prescott found Cooper on roads that were not the first glance of the game. Cooper traveled his roads so that bitter defenders fell, then he ran 35 yards after the restart for his first score and 69 on the second.

After his third consecutive win in Dallas, Jones said he was "exalted".

A bit like the general manager felt on Oct. 22, a day after the loss of the Redskins, when he had acquired Cooper.

"I can not tell you what a holiday I had, internally, in my mind, when we finished," Jones said. "We needed him, we needed a receiver of this stature."

Let's see how Dallas improved with Cooper.

A Cowboys team averaging 20 points before Cooper's arrival has averaged 26.7 in the last three games. A seven-game winning straight team has now three ranks in a row. Ezekiel Elliott, who totaled 42 yards from the fray in Washington, scored 143 (and two celebrations of the Salvation Army's kettle) at Thanksgiving in her third consecutive 100-yard game.

The Dallas defense gives its momentum as regularly as its attack.

The Cowboys limited Adrian Peterson to 35 rushing yards after hitting him 99 yards last month. They intercepted three passes from Colt McCoy.

"These shifts, one could say, made the difference in the game," Jones said.

Cornerback Jourdan Lewis added, "It's amazing when everyone is cohesive."

It's also fun, the players said. They celebrate the touchdowns, Cooper queuing for a free kick from Markelle Fultz (he thanks his teammates for catching up with him without notice) and Elliott hoists Prescott in a red pot of the Salvation Army ("He I had once in the air, I said I just had to own it now, "said Prescott, who also had no notice.)

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In attack and defense, the Cowboys are young and fast.

The semi-finalists are struggling to escape rookie Leighton Vander Esch, who led the team with nine tackles and a pass bypass, and linebacker Jaylon Smith, who scored a sack in the first quarter and six tackles.

Like Elliott, Cooper runs "as fast as it should," Prescott said. "When they have to turn it on, you see how fast it is and that's how it does it."

This is precisely how Cooper created the longest touchdown pass of Prescott's career on Thursday. That's the way he's racked up the most yards by a Cowboys catcher since Dez Bryant had nine assists for 224 in 2012.

"He's a first receiver," said Prescott. "He does everything … (and) it makes him dangerous."

This danger has plunged the Cowboys into the playoff race, now atop the NFC East at 6-4. During Thanksgiving meals with their families, the players will enjoy it.

Then, the D race that triumphed against Peterson will focus his attention on the dynamic game makers Saints Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram. A decisive pass that sent McCoy three times and a cover team that chose three more will try to understand how anyone is supposed to disrupt this year Drew Brees, favorite of the championship MVP, making 76.4% of the passes for 3,135 yards, 29 touchdowns. and only two interceptions in 2018.

The Saints, who defeated the defending Super Bowl Eagles 48-7 on Sunday, went 10-1 with a 31-17 Thanksgiving victory over Atlanta. The Cowboys welcome New Orleans next Thursday.

The challenge will be stiff. But with Cooper, Prescott and Elliott, they will try to keep pace with a Saints team with an average of 37.2 points per game.

"These three guys can carry the mail," Jones said. "I really thought that Amari could make a difference and give us, if you will, a punch in this offense.

"They started, they have good relationships.

"I think Amari can play an important role for a long time, he found his home."

Follow Jori Epstein on Twitter @JoriEpstein.