ARLINGTON, Texas 鈥 That's it, defense 鈥 just like that. If the Cowboys get that from their defense every week, there's always going to be a chance to win.
Make a few stops, get some sacks, five to be exact, and oh, how about some turnovers. The Cowboys had two, and wait, you mean they actually scored a defensive touchdown, too? OK, now they're just showing off.
And they did 鈥 this defense did show off and show a little. And when that happens, guess what, the Cowboys had their first real blowout win of the season.
To me, that's the 2025 version of complementary football. Hey defense, just be average and let the offense be great. Combine that together, and you'll get a few results like you did on Sunday.
And hopefully, some of the tongue-and-cheek references I'm making toward the defense are getting through. Let's be real honest about what we saw defensively.
No, it wasn't perfect at all. It's not exactly the standard for an NFL defense. They still give up a lot of yards, a decent amount of points and, at times, the pass rush and tackling is always good enough.
But every now and then, the defense got off the field. They mixed in a little more blitzing, a little more man coverage and the result was making Jayden Daniels uncomfortable. How many times have we said that this year about any quarterback?
Jalen Hurts, Russell Wilson, Caleb Williams, Jordan Love were all too comfortable. The Cowboys got after Justin Fields somewhat, and that's why they controlled that game against the Jets. But then just last week they let Bryce Young sit in the pocket and rely on his running game. What they should've done is got after him from start to finish.
Well, I appreciate a team that can learn from its mistakes. The Cowboys got after Daniels. In fact, it was a third-quarter blitz by Shemar James that led to a sack and fumble, and eventually knocked him out of the game. They blitzed the Commanders' backup Marcus Mariota enough, and it led to a pick-6 by none other than DaRon Bland, who now has six in his career.
For this defense, blitzing has to be the answer. Look what it led to: The Cowboys got four sacks, two turnovers and limited the Commanders to just 16 completions. That's the lowest among any opponent this year, which is somewhat surprising considering the Commanders were pretty much down most of the game, especially in the second half.
Now, the Cowboys weren't that great against the run. Washington had 136 rushing yards, which is actually the lowest Dallas has allowed since Week 3 in Chicago.
That's really my point to all of this 鈥 136 rushing yards isn't great, but it's better than we've seen. Allowing 22 points isn't great, but it's way better than we've seen.
Just 鈥 Be 鈥 Better 鈥 Than 鈥 What 鈥 We've 鈥 Seen! That's it. We don't need to see a version of the 1985 Bears or the 2000 Ravens. Or really anything close to one of the great defenses.
I'm not sure the Cowboys have to be a good defense. They just have to be pretty good at times because we know this offense is going to be pretty great most of the time.
Now, all this being said, the defense still needs to get better. There will be some games, especially when the weather turns and it gets colder and maybe harder to throw it around, when the offense might not give you a 40 burger. The defense has to find a way to create more stops, more sacks and more turnovers.
I'm not saying this will cut it every week, but it's certainly a great start.
I hope what's being translated in this piece is just how good the Cowboys offense has become. I'm saying all this about the defense to really say how magnificent the Cowboys offense is. It's absolutely rolling right now, and Dak Prescott IS the main reason for that. He's got more weapons than he knows what to do with. George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb are a nightmare to try to cover, and the way Jake Ferguson is taking advantage of his opportunities and Javonte Williams is running the ball, the offense is cooking with fish grease.
That's what I'm really saying 鈥 the reason the defense can get by with being "just OK" is because the offense has been "just awesome."
It might not be an ideal combination, but for this season, it might just be good enough.
It was more than enough on this day. And maybe just enough to turn this season around.
