When “they” say good teams are supposed to dominate bad teams, the Cowboys’ recent win over the Cleveland Browns is what “they” are talking about. One of our favorite measures of a team’s performance (outside of outscoring opponents) is the Toxic Differential — the sum of turnover differential and big play differential.

More simply put, it is the measure of getting more takeaways and giving fewer giveaways combined with the ability to make and prevent big plays (pass plays of 25-plus yards and runs of 10-plus yards).

The Cowboys are five points above the closest competitor heading into Week 10. To put this in perspective, the team that has led the league in Toxic Differential has represented the NFC in the last four Super Bowls. Carolina did it in 2015, Seattle in both 2013 and 2014 and San Francisco in 2012.

The Cowboys went into the Cleveland Dawg Pound as 7.5-point favorites, and after a shaky first couple of plays proceeded to spay the Browns’ defense and neuter their offense.

The Browns opened with a 16-yard completion and followed it with the game’s first Toxic Event, a 44-yard pass over the top to RB Isaiah Crowell that quickly got them in scoring range. They never threatened again.

A Toxic Event is a term developed by former Ravens coach Brian Billick that is a pass play of over 25 yards, a run over 10 yards or a turnover. His theory, which has been proven valid over the years, is that teams with the best Toxic Differential throughout a season will end up as the best of the best by year’s end.

What we do here at Cowboys Wire is attempt to use Toxic Events to tell the story of each game, and over the past three seasons, time and time again the Toxic Differential has done just that. For our ledger, we alter the formula a bit.

We subscribe the the NFL’s definition of a big passing play being 20 yards or more. We also count special teams scores as well as fourth down attempts as Toxic Events. The story it told of the Cowboys domination over the Browns, though, was uncanny.

Dallas won the Toxic Differential by a +10 margin. Having 10 points more than an opponent, even against the team with the worst record, is insane.

Here are the Toxic Event plays from the game:

______Toxic Event Ledger_______

TEAM QTR TOXIC EVENT LEDGER TYPE CLE 1 1-10-CLV 41 (14:27) (No Huddle, Shotgun) C.Kessler pass deep middle to I.Crowell to DAL 15 for 44 yards CLE +1 PASS > 20 DAL 1 1-10-CLV 38 (8:14) E.Elliott right tackle to CLV 28 for 10 yards EVEN RUN > 10 DAL 1 2-8-CLV 26 (6:53) (Shotgun) D.Prescott pass deep right to J.Witten for 26 yards, TOUCHDOWN DAL +1 PASS > 20 CLE 1 4-1-DAL 45 (1:17) C.Kessler up the middle to DAL 42 for 3 yards EVEN 4 DOWN DAL 2 2-5-CLV 49 (13:29) A.Morris right tackle to CLV 36 for 13 yards DAL +1 RUN > 10 DAL 2 1-10-CLV 10 (10:09) E.Elliott right tackle for 10 yards, TOUCHDOWN DAL +2 RUN > 10 DAL 2 1-10-DAL 33 (6:29) E.Elliott left tackle ran ob at DAL 45 for 12 yards DAL +3 RUN > 10 DAL 2 1-10-CLV 25 (3:05) E.Elliott left end to CLV 10 for 15 yards DAL +4 RUN > 10 DAL 3 1-10-DAL 25 (15:00) D.Prescott pass short right to J.Witten to CLV 40 for 35 yards DAL +5 PASS > 20 DAL 3 2-9-DAL 37 (6:32) (Shotgun) D.Prescott scrambles left guard to 50 for 13 yards DAL +6 RUN > 10 DAL 3 2-11-CLV 41 (4:04) (Shotgun) D.Prescott pass short left to J.Witten to CLV 14 for 27 yards DAL +7 PASS > 20 DAL 3 2-10-CLV 14 (3:16) (Shotgun) E.Elliott left end to CLV 4 for 10 yards DAL +8 RUN > 10 DAL 4 4-1-CLV 34 (3:53) A.Morris right guard to CLV 33 for 1 yard (D.Davis) DAL +9 4 DOWN DAL 4 4-1-CLV 24 (1:13) M.Sanchez pass short right to G.Swaim to CLV 16 for 8 yard DAL +10 4 DOWN

Dallas had an unbelievable seven plays of 10 yards or more on the ground, and added insult to injury by converting two fourth downs when running out the clock.

When the Cowboys were heading to play San Francisco in Week 4, they ranked just 22nd in the league in Toxic Differential. They were +2 in turnover differential, but -5 in big plays. That’s laughable considering where the Cowboys are now.

The Steelers, Dallas’s Week 10 opponents, are -1 in this category, or, right around the same level the Browns were before Week 9. The Cowboys have a chance to dominate another opponent weak in this area.