Former Cowboys stars Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Tom Gilbert, Connelly Lemuelu and Kulikefu Finefeuiaki took it personally against their former club to inspire a tremendous response after the Dolphins had been thrashed 66-0 last week by Cronulla.
The Dolphins moved to fifth and 26 points on the NRL ladder with their 11th win of the season in front of 35,213 fans at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.
With a bye next week they will need to win two of their remaining six games to finish inside the top eight.
"I thought we showed our character," Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf said.
"We knew that we had to make a statement after last week about who we are as a group. We looked nervous at the start but to settle down and win tough like we did, I am really proud of the group."
Tabuai-Fidow left the Cowboys to join the Dolphins when North Queensland decided they would back Scott Drinkwater as their preferred fullback.
The magical No.1, known as "Hammer", came back to haunt the eighth-placed Cowboys in a dazzling display, but he wasn't the only one.
Dolphins forwards Gilbert and Finefeuiaki ripped and tore into the fray in powerhouse performances.
Cowboys co-captain and half Tom Dearden, returning from a 10-week ankle injury absence, took control in the early stages to score a try and set one up to give the visitors a 10-0 lead.
"At 10-0 up with a fair bit of control we put some healing in the opposition by a fair bit of stuff that was pretty stupid," Cowboys coach Todd Payten said.
"It was self-inflicted and really disappointing because we missed a golden opportunity."
The Dolphins were their own worst enemy with errors to start the match but Tabuai-Fidow was on fire and his involvements were sublime.
Dearden announced his return with a slick show-and-go to slice past flimsy defence by Jeremy Marshall-King.
Dearden conjured an old fashioned run-around and then pinpoint grubber for Jeremiah Nanai to score his 50th try in his 90th match, the fastest a forward has done so in the NRL era.
Dolphins winger Jamayne Isaako tiptoed down the sideline with a phenomenal finish and then landed the conversion in a sensational piece of play that highlighted why fans regard him as their best ever signing.
Dolphins utility Kurt Donoghoe, the Fijian five-eighth, put rampaging veteran Felise Kaufusi through a tiny hole in a wonderful piece of ball-playing to give the Dolphins a 12-10 lead at halftime.
Tabuai-Fidow was provider for Isaako after the break, who finished again with an acrobatic display an Olympic gymnast would have been proud of.
Donoghoe, who was one of his side's best, tipped barnstorming Gilbert into a hole for the next try to extend the margin to 14.
Drinkwater gave the Cowboys a late sniff when he scored but tries to Dolphins forwards Max Plath and Connelly Lemuelu sealed the deal.
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