ARLINGTON, Texas -- After the game, Dez Bryant couldn’t stop talking about Josh Norman. With a crowd of reporters around Ezekiel Elliott, he wanted to make sure he had the full attention of the cameras and microphones, so he waited for the rookie running back to finish.

First Bryant said the Washington Redskins need to get their money back from Norman, who was signed to a $75 million contract in the offseason. Then he called Norman “soft.” Then he said Norman wasn’t a lockdown corner because he “can’t even play man-to-man,” Bryant said. “Bail technique. That’s not man-to-man. It’s like you scared.” Then he said Norman was lucky.

“Yes, I am being extremely disrespectful to him because he disrespected me first, talking about how he was going to throw up the X,” Bryant said. “OK. OK. Go look at the film, man.”

At least Bryant waited until after the Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Redskins 31-26 on Thursday to have his war of words with Norman. A couple of years ago, it might have been a little different.

“I would’ve beat him up right on the field,” Bryant said. “Straight up.”

So, that’s at least some progress.

Dez Bryant's 26-yard reception in front of Kendall Fuller put the Cowboys in position to seal Thursday's victory. Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire

About the only time Bryant got caught up in the emotions of the game against Norman came after a 13-yard catch early in the fourth quarter. Norman had a hold of his leg and wouldn’t let him get up. They exchanged some words and teammates stepped in.

On the next play, Dak Prescott scored on a 6-yard touchdown run to increase the Cowboys' lead to 24-12 with 10:49 to play.

Bryant caught three of his five passes against Norman, but it was Bryant’s fifth catch that was the most important to the Cowboys even if it came against Kendall Fuller. On third-and-9 from the Washington 27 and the Cowboys' lead down to five points, Bryant lined up in the slot in a three-receiver set.

Feeling some pressure, Prescott rolled to his right. The quarterback could have used his legs to pick up a first down, as he had done plenty of times throughout the game. Even if he didn’t pick up the first down, the Cowboys were sufficiently in Dan Bailey’s field goal range.

Instead he threw the ball to Bryant.

“Saw Dez one-on-one with his guy in the back,” Prescott said. “That’s a guy [Bryant], I’ve said it over and over again since the beginning of the year, I’ll take him one-on-one against anybody.”

Bryant reached up for the pass over Fuller and came down with the 26-yard completion for his fifth catch of the day.

“I kept my eyes on him the whole time,” Bryant said of his quarterback. “I followed him and he knew I was going to be over that way and we connected very well. Got the pass down. We both knew it was important and we executed the play.”

On the next play, Elliott scored on a 1-yard run for a 31-19 lead.

As key as the 13-yarder was, especially against Norman, the 26-yarder was the game clincher and showed Bryant’s growth as a receiver.

In his past four games, Bryant has 22 catches for 400 yards and four touchdowns. Bryant feels like it could have been more. He turned around Norman on a deep route in the first half, but Prescott did not see the play develop.

“Man, he got lucky, put it that way,” Bryant said.

In the past, Bryant would have been thrown off his game by Norman. He would have made it about him. Maybe he would have exhausted himself so much he would have needed intravenous fluids. Maybe he would have been drawn into a penalty or two.

“You are going to play against certain guys that are going to try to get you off your game and distract you,” coach Jason Garrett said. “I keep using the word focus, but I thought he was focused throughout this ballgame. He was locked in on what he needed to do to have success. When the opportunities were there, he cashed in on them and made a lot of big plays.”