Football
When and where: Week 7 at home on Monday Night Football; Week 12 in Dallas for Thanksgiving
Key additions: DC Christian Parker, S Jalen Thompson, EDGE Rashan Gary, LB Dee Winters, CB Cobie Durant
Key subtractions: DC Matt Eberflus, DT Osa Odighizuwa, S Kenneth Murray, LB Donovan Wilson
Last season: For the first time since 1969, a Cowboys game ended in a tie
The question for this team: Can the defense get out of its own way?
I would like to apologize to Brian Schottenheimer. Last year I said he was the Dave Campo of Jason Garretts. I was wrong. Brian Schottenheimer is the Jason Garrett of Wade Phillipses.
The Cowboys were entertainingly mediocre last year. They scored 37 or more points four times. Only the Rams gained more yards, and only 43 more, which is a Brandon Aubrey chip shot. Half their games were one score games; and their prime time games were either close, high scoring, or both.
The 2025 Cowboys were built to do one thing: move down the field almost at will and score a bunch of points. They did that. Actually they were built to do something else too: let the other team move the ball at will and score a bunch of points. And that they did. The Cowboys also gave up 37 or more points four times. They had the 3rd most yards given up. This meant that half their games were either close, high scoring, or both.
Are you not entertained? That’s what Jerry Jones cares about. And the 2025 Cowboys were entertaining. They didn’t keep the excitement to the field, the Micah Parsons trade was a treat for the haters.
What they were not was good. 7-9-1 wouldn’t have even won the NFC South, and the worst scoring defense in 2025 meant they did things like lose to the Cardinals, give up 3 TDs to Russell Wilson, and let JJ McCarthy look like a somewhat functioning QB.
For all the production the offense had, they went 1-7-1 when the defense gave up more than 28 points, and that win was against the Russell Wilson led Giants in overtime. Yes, it is hard to win when your defense can’t stop anyone, but the point here is 1) the Cowboys defense gave up over 28 points in half their games and 2) the high powered offense couldn’t get the job done when it mattered most.
The Cowboys beat up on bad teams: 44 points against the Commanders, 40 against the Giants, 37 against the Jets, 33 against the Raiders, but they also played terribly against some bad defenses: 14 points against the Bears, and 17 against the Giants and Cardinals.
And yet, this team might win the division. It is not saying much to say that the defense has improved, but it has, with at least five new starters and a half a dozen new faces in rotation roles, and they have a new set of coaches. Good they will not be, but “not horrible” is a step up.
This is far from a Super Bowl contending team, but a team with a good QB, a really good pair of WRs, a running game and a defense that isn’t tripping over itself is a team that can win double digit games.
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