ARLINGTON -- Dez Bryant got to throw up the X a couple of times Monday night.

And that's exactly what he is as the Cowboys head into the postseason as the top seed in the NFC -- the X factor in any championship equation. Bryant caught two touchdown passes and threw another against the Detroit Lions, powering the Cowboys to a franchise-record-tying 13th victory by a 42-21 count.

Rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott have been the names on the marquee for the stunning and surprising success of the NFC East champion Cowboys this season. Prescott ranks in the top three in the NFL in passing, and Elliott leads the league in rushing. Both were elected to the Pro Bowl and, heading into the final weekend of the season, both loom as NFL MVP candidates.

Bryant has been relatively quiet for two years now. He missed seven games with foot injuries in 2015 and three more this season with a hairline fracture in his knee. He hasn't been to the Pro Bowl since 2014 and has had only four 100-yard performances in the 19 games he has played over these last two seasons.

When you start ticking off the elite receivers in the game today, Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham, Julio Jones, Larry Fitzgerald and A.J. Green immediately come to mind. Bryant is an afterthought. He lacks the 300-yard games of Jones this season, the 200-yard games of Beckham and those double-digit reception games of Brown and Fitzgerald. In three of his games this season, Bryant was held to just a single catch.

Bryant entered Monday night 90th in the NFL in receptions, 50th in yards and 20th in touchdowns. But then he wheels out a game like he had against the Lions to remind everyone the impact player he can be with two plays that would fit on any "Best of Dez" highlight reel.

With the Cowboys trailing 21-14 at the Detroit 25 at the close of the first half, Prescott lofted a pass down the home sideline to Bryant with Lions cornerback Johnson Bademosi draped on him. Bryant reached out with one hand and stabbed the ball, pulling it to his chest for a touchdown. That made the penalty flag for defensive pass interference inconsequential.

Then in the third quarter, with the Cowboys up 28-21 at the Detroit 10, Prescott flipped the ball to Bryant on an apparent end-around toward the left sideline. But as the Lions strung him out to the boundary, the left-handed Bryant lobbed a pass to an uncovered Jason Witten in the end zone for a touchdown. And this time Witten threw up the X in tribute to Bryant and the first pass, first completion and first touchdown throw of his career.

Bryant finished off his night in the fourth quarter with a 19-yard touchdown reception, this time down the right sideline against the coverage of Nevin Lawson to close out the scoring.

Bryant still lacks the quantity. His four catches for 70 yards against the Lions aren't going to command a revote for the Pro Bowl. But it's his quality that the Cowboys will need in January and February. The big plays in big moments -- like his 50-yard touchdown reception in November at Pittsburgh.

This is no longer the Tony Romo-to-Dez Bryant Cowboys. When the two of them were last healthy, Bryant produced a spectacular 88-catch, 1,320-yard, 16-touchdown season in 2014. Bryant was Romo's go-to guy, his game breaker. Romo was going to get the ball to Dez regardless of the coverage.

But Prescott isn't Romo. He takes what the defense gives him. He spreads the ball around, so Dez isn't going to automatically get his 10-12 passes per game. Witten is going to get some. So is Cole Beasley. And Terrance Williams. Prescott will even work a Brice Butler or a Gavin Escobar into the mix. He forces the ball to no one, which is why he doesn't commit turnovers -- just two in his last 210 passes and only four on the season.

This is now a run-first offense with Prescott only throwing 20 passes in the rout of the Lions. Just five of them were in the direction of Bryant, and he caught four of them for 70 yards.

But it's the plays Bryant makes, not necessarily the balls that he catches. Those are the contributions the Cowboys need from Bryant in the postseason when defenses stack to stop Elliott and widen the rush to contain Prescott. Bryant can take over a game. We've seen that in 2013 and 2014. He did it again Monday night against the Detroit.

If Bryant plays like that in the postseason, he'll be the X factor in the Dak-Zeke Show.

Scoring touch

Dez Bryant had two touchdown receptions Monday and passed Michael Irvin for second place on the Cowboys' all-time list:

Listen to Rick Gosselin at 10:50 a.m. Tuesdays on Sportsradio 1310 AM/96.7 FM The Ticket with Norm Hitzges and Donovan Lewis, and follow @RickGosselinDMN on Twitter.