ARLINGTON, Texas -- The highlight reel that coach Jason Garrett played during last week's team meeting was not designed to remind the Dallas Cowboys of what they could do. It was also a reminder of what they have been.

"Jason's message all week was kind of reestablish our DNA," tight end Jason Witten said. "Go find that."

If there was a win that summed up exactly how the Cowboys want to play, it was Sunday's 44-21 victory against the Los Angeles Rams (8-6).

When the Cowboys (7-7) have been their most successful under Garrett -- in 2014, in 2016 and in 2018 -- it has been with a formula everybody knows: run the ball, control the tempo of the game, cash in on scoring opportunities and play disciplined on defense. They did that with DeMarco Murray leading the NFL in rushing in 2014 and with Ezekiel Elliott leading it in 2016 and 2018.

Against the Rams, the Cowboys rolled up 475 total yards with a season-high 263 coming on the ground. Elliott (117 yards, two touchdowns) and Tony Pollard (131 yards, one touchdown) each had more than 100 yards rushing for the second time in a game this season. The Cowboys controlled the ball for 36 minutes and 6 seconds, a season high.

"We just played complementary football," quarterback Dak Prescott said. "We were good to each other."

Prescott, who was an efficient 15-of-23 for 212 yards, was talking about the offense and the defense.

Too often this season, when the offense was thriving, the defense wasn't. In consecutive losses to the Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears leading into the Los Angeles matchup, the offense scored a touchdown on its opening possession and saw the opponents score 25 and 24 unanswered points, respectively, against the defense.

In the 12-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints and the 13-9 loss to the New England Patriots, the Cowboys did next to nothing offensively no matter how much the defense kept them in the game.

Against the Rams, the offense scored on methodical drives -- 15 plays for 90 yards in the first quarter and 14 plays for 97 yards in the second quarter -- and they scored on big plays, including a 59-yard pass from Prescott to Tavon Austin.

"Our ability to run the ball, our ability to make timely throws and keep those drives alive are significant," Garrett said. "This game was all about controlling the line of scrimmage."

The defense held Los Angeles to five drives of three plays or fewer in 11 possessions. Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee had a critical interception that set up the killer touchdown late in the second quarter. In the third quarter, they forced a stop on fourth down. The run defense showed a 251-yard improvement from the divisional-round loss to the Rams to Sunday, giving up 22 yards on 14 carries, making Todd Gurley II (11 carries, 20 yards) a nonfactor.

"Stayed disciplined," defensive tackle Maliek Collins said. "[In January] we let the tempo get to us. [On Sunday, we] just played our game."

And this is how it has to continue for the Cowboys to have success. They can clinch a playoff spot with a road win Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET (Fox) against the Philadelphia Eagles (7-7).

"It's great to know that a single win gets us there [to the playoffs], but that's not our goal," Elliott said after his first 100-yard game since Nov. 4 and his sixth of the season. "Our goal isn't just to make the playoffs. So, we want to keep this thing rolling. We want to ride this momentum."

In the 37-10 thrashing of the Eagles at AT&T Stadium in October, Elliott had 111 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. The offense held the ball for 32:22, which is the Cowboys' third-best effort of the season. They converted on three of five red zone opportunities.

The defense created four takeaways against Philadelphia and did not allow a touchdown on two red zone drives. The Eagles converted just three of nine third-down tries. Before the Rams' win, that was the most dominating the Cowboys had been all season.

They know the formula. They have to do it against the Eagles with even more at stake.

"You're as good as your last game," Witten said. "You gotta go do it again. Philadelphia will be ready. They'll present big challenges."