All it took for the Dallas Cowboys' offense to get on track was a matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars' No. 1-ranked defense.

Wait ... what?

The Cowboys (3-3) stole the Jaguars' (3-3) lunch money, shoes and backpack as they put their most complete game together since Week 14 of 2017 -- a 30-10 win over the New York Giants. Considering the level of competition, Sunday was much more impressive.

The Cowboys' offense saved its best performance of the season for its toughest opponent, finishing with 40 points and 378 total yards, averaging 5.3 yards per play. The defense wasn't too shabby either, allowing just seven points, 204 total yards and 4.3 yards per play while forcing two turnovers.

Without further ado, let's discuss what we learned from the Cowboys' 40-7 drumming of the Jaguars:

Offense fueled by Dak Prescott's legs

A higher frequency of play-action certainly helped, but Dak Prescott's legs were the real catalysts to the offense's big day, as he finished with 11 carries for 82 yards and a touchdown.

Prescott was effective on designed runs and in scramble situations, consistently making Jacksonville pay for not allocating a player to spy on him.

Prescott did an excellent job of extending plays and scrambling for yards with his legs. At 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds, Prescott has the strength to absorb contact and athleticism to accumulate big gains on the ground. While he was effective through the air, Prescott did an excellent job of making the defense pay when Dallas receivers couldn't get open:

Above, the Cowboys are in an empty set using 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end, three wide receivers). After the ball is snapped, Prescott takes a quick drop and steps up in the pocket as he scans the defense. Once the pocket starts to condense, Prescott does an effective job of escaping to his left (check out the block by right tackle La'el Collins) to find the open space and scramble for a 28-yard gain.

When he wasn't using his legs to scramble, Prescott sliced and diced the top-ranked Jaguars defense on designed runs. Prescott has been potent on designed runs this season, entering Sunday with a 91-percent success rate, the most effective of which has been the zone read -- the same play that resulted in his 17-yard touchdown run:

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

On the above play, the Cowboys line up with 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends, two wide receivers) in a 3x1 set (Geoff Swaim, Michael Gallup and Tavon Austin to the right of the formation with Blake Jarwin to the left) against Jacksonville's three-safety nickel defense (four defensive linemen, two linebackers, five defensive backs) and run an inside zone-read concept.

After the ball is snapped, Prescott reads the unblocked defensive end to determine whether he's going to keep the ball or give it to Ezekiel Elliott. If the unblocked player stays home to honor the QB keeper, Elliott would get the ball on a simple inside zone.

But because the unblocked player crashes to stop Elliott, Prescott keeps the ball at the mesh point and follows Swaim's arc block into space. Thanks to key second-level blocks from Swaim, Jarwin and Tyron Smith, Prescott is able to prance into the end zone.

The biggest benefit of the zone read is that it evens up the numbers for the offense in the running game. On a typical run where the QB isn't involved, the defense has an 11-on-10 advantage.

However, the zone read can flip that advantage in the offense's favor by A) introducing the QB as a running threat, making it 11 on 11, and B) reading the unblocked backside contain defender (typically a defensive end or outside linebacker), making it 11 on 10. Moreover, because there is an unblocked defender, the offensive line is able to get more blocks and double teams than it typically would on a zone read.

Simple math that paid off in a huge way for the Cowboys' offense.

Cole Beasley can still make defenses pay

On a day when the Cowboys could do no wrong, Cole Beasley may have done the most right, accumulating 101 yards and two touchdowns on nine catches (11 targets).

Beasley did an excellent job of recreating 2015 training camp in routinely beating Tyler Patmon (a former Cowboy), using his elusive movement to create separation throughout the game:

Above, Beasley is lined up in the slot to the right of the formation across from Patmon, who is aligned with inside leverage. After the ball is snapped, Beasley uses a single-move space release to generate separation from Patmon and give Prescott an easy throwing window, as Beasley breaks inside on his dig route.

It's typically difficult for a receiver to get open on an inside breaking route when the cornerback is playing inside leverage. But Beasley did an excellent job of selling the out at the top of his route by dropping his weight, leaning and peeking to the outside, forcing Patmon to honor the potential out route and lose his inside leverage. Since Patmon no longer has inside leverage, Beasley easily runs away from the Jaguars cornerback and makes a leaping grab for the first down.

The Jaguars also tried to defend Beasley with outside leverage, but it yielded similar results:

On the above play, Beasley is once again lined up in the slot to the right of the formation with All-Pro cornerback A.J. Bouye, who is playing outside leverage from off coverage, across from him in man coverage.

Once the ball is snapped, Beasley quickly eats up the cushion in front of Bouye and, once he clears the linebacker, quickly stems inside and runs away from him. Bouye was unable to inhibit Beasley at the top of his route, on the slant, giving Prescott an easy throw for the first down.

Beasley has been outspoken in his defense of himself and the Cowboys' wide receiver room during the season's first five weeks, and he backed those words up against Jacksonville. Beasley used his elite route-running ability and ball skills to dominate against the best secondary in the NFL.

David Irving, Maliek Collins make impactin their return to the lineup

The Cowboys' defensive tackles have been far from problematic this season.

Antwaun Woods has been excellent against the run. Daniel Ross has routinely provided two-to-three splash plays per game. And Tyrone Crawford has performed admirably at a position he wasn't expecting to play in the offseason. Having said all that, it was evident that something was missing at defensive tackle.

Enter David Irving and Maliek Collins.

It's not a coincidence the defensive tackles were able to apply pressure more consistently at the same time Irving and Collins returned to the lineup, as both provide Dallas with a pass-rush ability that is absent in every other defensive tackle not named Tyrone Crawford.

On his first play from scrimmage, Irving made his presence felt (first play in the video below):

Welcome back David Irving. Big addition to a Cowboys DL already playing well. #JAXvsDAL pic.twitter.com/vcsa2NiLFq — Josh Cohen (@JCohen_NFL) October 14, 2018

On this play, Irving is aligned with an outside shade over the Jaguars' right guard. Once the ball is snapped, Irving explodes out of his stance and attacks the outside edge of the right guard, employing a beautifully timed speed cross-chop-to-rip move to defeat the guard's hands. From there, Irving utilizes the proper footwork to flip his hips and flatten toward the quarterback. He doesn't get the sack, but he does force the incompletion and registers the quarterback hit.

It's rare to see a 6-7, 300-pound defensive tackle flip his hips and flatten to the quarterback that fluidly -- Irving is an unusual talent and the sky truly is the limit for him on the football field. He has the potential to be one of the best defensive tackles in football.

While Irving was disruptive and effective, he wasn't the only returning defensive tackle who played well, as Collins also provided Dallas with some positive pass-rush snaps:

Above, Collins is lined up with an outside shade over the Jaguars' left guard while Randy Gregory has a tight outside shade over the left tackle, which is a big indicator to Jacksonville that Dallas is going to run a stunt with Collins and Gregory.

After the ball is snapped, Collins and Gregory mimic initial movements of a stunt with Collins attacking upfield and Gregory veering inside.

But... it's a trap!

Once Collins starts upfield and Gregory starts to veer inside, the left guard turns his eyes toward Gregory, putting himself in poor position to defend the inside spin from Collins, who is able to keep his balance and maintain momentum through the spin before corralling Bortles for the sack.

With Irving and Collins back in the lineup, the Cowboys may have one of the better defensive lines in football.

BONUS

OH MY GOSH pic.twitter.com/oiZzQjRgxf — Bobby Belt (@BobbyBeltTX) October 14, 2018

The "Billionaire Strut" needs to be the Cowboys' signature celebration moving forward. That's what happens when you put up 40 points on the most talented defense in football. I don't make the rules.

John Owning writes about NFL player evaluation for SportsDayDFW.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnOwning.