Tim Cowlishaw: QB Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense keeps clearing all obstacles in their path

Tim Cowlishaw, The Seattle Times on Oct 5, 2025

Published in Football

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — We talk about people or things passing the eye test as if seeing is supposed to be synonymous with believing. In the case Sunday of Cowboys 37, Jets 22 at MetLife Stadium, where a sizable Dallas crowd showed up and most of the New York fan base left early, it’s a lot easier to ride with the Cowboys’ offense in this one.

I know the defense turned the game around. Linebacker Marist Liufau’s strip of running back Breece Hall as he was blowing through another hole and close to making it a 10-10 game two minutes before halftime was the play of the day. But it was actually the offense’s answer to that takeaway (91-yard and 67-yard touchdown drives before halftime) that made it the turning point.

The defense made the stop, then the offense supplied the lightning strikes.

Before the Cowboys got that fumble, the defense had found a new liability, which was a struggle to stop the run. Hall was running through massive holes and finished with 113 yards on 14 carries. The Cowboys play Rico Dowdle in Carolina next week — another revenge game for an opponent? — and he just ran for 206 yards Sunday against the Dolphins. So while the turnover was big and Dallas’ five sacks of Justin Fields allowed the team to double its season total, I’m going to hold off on any Doomsday labels just yet.

But facing a Jets’ team that is still capable of good defense at least in spurts, the Cowboys lit up the scoreboard. This is the third time in four games the Cowboys have had 37 points after four quarters, and the first time they didn’t have to keep playing into overtime with that total.

And that’s in spite of the following:

No CeeDee Lamb. No Tyler Booker. No Tyler Smith. No Tyler Guyton (did you even know Dallas had that many Tylers on the O-line?). No Connor Beebe.

George Pickens, who made clear against Green Bay he’s Dak’s top receiving weapon while Lamb is out with an ankle injury, was covered up by Jets’ 6-3 All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner. That meant Dak would have to spend most of the day looking elsewhere, and even return man/backup receiver KaVontae Turpin was sidelined for this one.

Behind four backups on the line, Prescott threw for 237 yards and four touchdowns and, mysteriously, outgained Fields on the ground, 28 rushing yards to 26, in pacing the Cowboys’ to one of their more comfortable wins against the Jets.

“I think we’re spoiled, I think he’s one of the best players in the league,’’ Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said of his quarterback. “He’s certainly one of the best teammates and leaders I’ve ever been around. The guys believe in him, and he’s playing with a ton of confidence right now.’’

The best example of the latter came when Dak was asked about losing a 24-22 game here in 2019.

“That was a young Dak and not this team,’’ he said. “Everything’s different. Each year, each team is different. I mean credit to the front office for getting these [linemen] but they don’t see themselves as backups and they shouldn’t. They’ve just been waiting on their opportunity.’’

Their readiness is in the stats. Dak was sacked once for a loss of a yard while Fields took five sacks for 49 yards in losses. Javonte Williams became the first Cowboy since DeMarco Murray in his magical 2014 season to rush for more than 100 yards before halftime. Nope, Zeke never did it. If there were truly four starters missing up front, the Jets never found a way to prove it.

The Cowboys came into this game leading the league in total offense and fifth in points per game. With 416 yards, they will maintain that top spot or be right there with Buffalo, and the club will probably move up in the points totals. It’s a unit that’s figuring things out. Just imagine Lamb back on the field opposite Pickens. Consider the offensive line goes at least nine deep right now. Williams was sixth in the league in rushing after four games and certainly won’t be dropping after gaining 135 yards on 16 carries.

His biggest run came 29 seconds before halftime with Dallas out of timeouts. He took a handoff from Dak, a play mostly meant to run out the clock and take a 16-3 lead to the half, and burst through a hole and raced toward the end zone where he was finally shoved out at the one after a 66-yard gain. Dak’s touchdown pass to Jake Ferguson on the next snap gave Dallas an improbable 20-point halftime cushion.

“Javonte had the huge run, and he knows he cannot get tackled in bounds,’’ Schottenheimer said. “So he’s trying to score but you saw him kind of veer to the left, saying, ‘OK, if I can’t get here, I’ve got to get out of bounds because of the situation on the clock.’‘’

Clock management. Game management. Injury replacement management. The Cowboys’ offense had all of it and more in beating up the Jets Sunday afternoon. The defense played a strong hand, too, but let’s see that happen a couple more times from a unit that ranked No. 32 in September before we think of this as any kind of balanced football team.

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