Blogging The Boys
The Dallas Cowboys 44-22 win against the Washington Commanders provided a lot of reasons for optimism moving forward for the home team, now sitting at 3-3-1 and second place in the NFC East. Many of these reasons all flow together as, above all else, the Cowboys played complementary football to support another big offensive performance.
Now seven games into the season, the expectation that the Cowboys offense is going to remain a juggernaut is firmly in place. Dallas has scored at least 40 points in each of their home games, the run, pass, and play-action game all work, the offensive line is getting healthy again, and both CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens are consistent playmakers. Jake Ferguson already has a career high in touchdowns at tight end.
This expectation also exists on offense not just from the seven game sample size so far, but because of much deeper roots. Dak Prescott is playing at a MVP level as the engine for this entire offense, just like he did the last time he was fully healthy in 2023. The Cowboys have fielded top-scoring offenses in recent seasons similarly under Kellen Moore and Mike McCarthy.
The Cowboys having this potent of an offense shouldn’t come as a surprise, and certainly isn’t unprecedented. Where they have fallen short is supporting these offenses in the playoffs to make them count for more than just eventually empty stats. These 2025 Cowboys face a unique challenge in this way, because just making the playoffs remains an uphill battle thanks to the early hole their defense is mostly responsible for in letdown losses at the Bears and Panthers.
By surpassing the Commanders with not only a big game on offense but a completely revitalized performance on defense, week seven was a significant step towards having the playoff discussion going forward. If or when the Cowboys get there, these same reasons for the dominant win versus Washington may also be the exact reason they get there as one of the more viable Cowboys playoff teams in decades.
That reason is first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer. Not only is the way Schottenheimer has modernized the Cowboys offense to be more matchup oriented and multiple, a great sign for sustainability on this side of the ball, but he may have more positive influence on the defense than any Cowboys head coach in recent memory has – also evidenced against the Commanders. Jerry Jones told the media after the win that Schottenheimer worked with DC Matt Eberflus on the game plan against former Cowboys DC Dan Quinn’s team, while of course maintaining his play-calling and game-planning duties on offense.
All the Cowboys offense did was set a franchise record for consecutive games without a turnover at four under Schottenheimer’s guidance against the Commanders, while also seeing Prescott throw at least three touchdowns for the fourth game in a row, with Schotty apparently adding defensive responsibilities to his week of preparation off a spirit-breaking loss.
Schottenheimer having some apparent deference to Eberflus...
