One year after a game against the Atlanta Falcons (4-6) ruined their season, the Dallas Cowboys (5-5) were able to escape Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a 22-19 win over their NFC foe. Missed opportunities killed Dallas' ability to put the game out of reach on multiple occasions, but in the end, the Cowboys were able to do just enough to eek out the victory.

Led by fantastic performances by DeMarcus Lawrence and Leighton Vander Esch, the Cowboys defense put up an admirable performance, holding the Falcons offense under 20 points for just the third time this season. Another dominant performance from Ezekiel Elliott powered the offense to victory while Dak Prescott made some timely plays when it mattered most.

With the victory, the Cowboys' Thanksgiving Day game will be for a share of the NFC East lead against a team that will be without its starting quarterback. With that being said, let's take a look at a few things we gleaned from the Cowboys road victory.

Leighton Vander Esch is undoubtedly a Pro Bowl LB, could he be an All-Pro one?

It wasn't as clean as last week's performance, as he missed a couple tackles, but Vander Esch was excellent for the majority of Sunday's action. Finishing the day with eight tackles, a quarterback hit and an interception. Vander Esch was everywhere for the Cowboys defense, making plays against the run and pass.

LVE continues to make impact plays. Sets up the Zeke touchdown pic.twitter.com/GKp5uViVBz — Ian Wharton (@NFLFilmStudy) November 18, 2018

On the interception, Vander Esch benefited from being in the right place at the right time, as he was able to haul in a ball that bounced off Calvin Ridley's hands. His interception may have been his most noteworthy play, but it was certainly not his most impressive.

In fact, it wasn't even his best play in coverage. Vander Esch's pass breakup on third down inside the five-yard line forced Atlanta to settle for a field goal:

On this play, Vander Esch provides tight man coverage on Falcons tight end Austin Hooper to prevent the touchdown. Vander Esch did an excellent job of mirroring Hooper's pivot route, one of the most difficult routes to defend near the goal-line. He attacked the catch point to breakup the pass. Plays like these are where Vander Esch's length allows him to make plays where most linebackers would be just out of reach.

When he wasn't making plays in coverage, Vander Esch showcased impressive mental processing, also known as 'instincts,' to sniff out Atlanta's run concepts. Most notably, Vander Esch stymied a reverse to Falcons receiver Mark Hall, which would have gone for a huge gain if the Cowboys linebacker didn't make a fantastic play:

The Wolf Hunter shoots down The Track Meet #DALvsATL pic.twitter.com/tEyTIP4jn7 — mike fisher ✭ (@fishsports) November 18, 2018

Here, Vander Esch is able to diagnose the reverse and put himself in a position to make a play. Vander Esch did an excellent job of playing off the block and muddying the ball carrier's read on where he should go. Vander Esch initially looks to force the cut back but is able to cross Jake Matthews' face (No. 70) and make the tackle just as the ball carrier is looking to cut the ball upfield.

Last week, we tried to tell you that Vander Esch was the best rookie linebacker in football, and one of the most effective linebackers in the game regardless of experience. This week was another illustration of just that as Vander Esch continues to pad his Pro Bowl resume.

The only question that remains is: can Vander Esch make All Pro? If he continues to play like he has in the last two weeks, the answer to that question is an emphatic yes.

Zone read continues to be effective for Cowboys in the red zone

So far this year, Prescott has four rushing touchdowns - three of which have come on zone read concepts inside the red zone.

Inside zone read ends up as a 17-yard TD run for #Cowboys QB Dak Prescott pic.twitter.com/FchPvwBEga — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 14, 2018

The zone read is an effective concept inside the red zone because it gives the offense a numbers advantage within confined space, which is invaluable for an offense.

Against the Falcons, the Cowboys were able to use the zone read to get their first touchdown of the game:

On this play, the Cowboys are running an inside zone read, where the offensive line blocks as if it is an inside zone run to the right, leaving Falcons defensive end Vic Beasley unblocked. Once the ball is snapped, Prescott reads Beasley's movement through the mesh point.

If Beasley stays home to defend the quarterback keeper, Prescott would hand the ball off to Elliott. However, if Beasley collapses down on a potential Elliott run, Prescott would run the ball into the vacated area, which is exactly what he does here.

With Beasley following Elliott, Prescott leverages the fantastic blocks from Geoff Swaim and Tyron Smith to get beyond the line of scrimmage, where he's able to get by Falcons safety Damontee Kazee for the touchdown.

Any time you can get the 6-foot-2, 235-pound Prescott one-on-one against a 5-foot-10, 184-pound safety at the goal line, good things are going to happen for the offense.

Ezekiel Elliott is the engine that makes the Cowboys' offense go

With the Cowboys' playoff hopes hanging by a thread, Ezekiel Elliott found a great time to put together two of his best performances back-to-back. Elliott managed to one-up his 187-yard outing against the Philadelphia Eagles with an impressive 201 total yards against the Falcons, accumulating 122 rushing yards and a touchdown on 22 carries while reeling in seven catches for 79 receiving yards.

It was always easy for Elliott, allowing him to showcase his elite contact balance and ability to churn out dirty yards. The Ohio State product does an excellent job of limiting negative runs by fighting tooth and nail for every yard, continually falling forward as he's brought to the ground.

Moreover, Elliott demonstrated impressive patience to allow his blocks to develop, the vision to identify running lanes, and the burst to hit the running lanes before they closed up. Elliott makes quick cuts and runs powerfully, making him a nightmare to tackle in one-on-one situations.

Even when there's not a lot of running room, Elliott does an excellent job of navigating through tight spaces to maximize his yardage on a given run, even if it's only an additional yard or two. Every inch matters, especially for an offense that struggles to move the ball at times.

When it was easy, Elliott made the Falcons pay, as his biggest play of the day came on his 23-yard touchdown run, where he broke two tackles on his way to the end zone:

Here, Elliott is able to make it into the second level of the Falcons' defense untouched on account of his blocking up front. Zack Martin did an excellent job of pinning Terrell McClain (No. 99) inside while Cameron Fleming is able to get just enough of Beasley (No. 44) and Foyesade Oluokun (No. 54) with his combination block, which opened up a gaping hole for Elliott to run through.

From there, Elliott is able to bounce off Kazee's (No. 27) tackle attempt while running through an arm tackle before outpacing another Falcons defender to the end zone for the touchdown.

Thus far this season, Elliott's biggest impact in the passing game has been using screen concepts, and Sunday was no different as Elliott was able to get loose for a 34-yard gain:

Set up by the fantastic blocks by of Xavier Su'a-Filo, who peeled back to get just enough of Grady Jarrett (No. 97), and Zack Martin, who sealed off De'Vondre Campbell (No. 59), Elliott was able to scamper untouched for the big gain.

Altogether, Elliott accounted for 62.2 percent of the Cowboys' total offense, as he was able to carry the team when the rest of the offense wasn't clicking.

Twitter: @JohnOwning