Well, don’t count out the Dallas Cowboys just yet.
On Sunday, they made their first of two trips to MetLife Stadium for an interconference clash with the New York Jets and came away with a resounding 37-22 victory.
Dak Prescott threw for four touchdowns, Javonte Williams added 135 yards and a TD on the ground, and unheralded surprise star Ryan Flournoy exploded for 114 receiving yards. Jake Ferguson hauled in two of Prescott’s four TDs for his first multiscore game of his career.
There were a lot of positives to take away from a Cowboys win that gets them firmly back on track at 2-2-1 after a roller-coaster few weeks.
Here are five takeaways from the win:
Schottenheimer culture shines in Week 5
The Cowboys were down seven starters and a handful of backups and lost a starting linebacker in the first half, but it somehow never mattered.
The Cowboys allowed an opening drive field goal by the Jets (0-5), and then they dominated from then on out. The offense was fully operating the run and pass, the defense didn’t allow any big pass gains for the first time all season, and multiple playmakers showed up to carry Dallas to its easiest victory so far in the Brian Schottenheimer era.
Schottenheimer emphasized building “an elite culture” since the day he was hired as the head coach in January, and the rallying around the banged up Cowboys in Week 5 has to be attributed to what he has built in the locker room. In other years, all of those negatives working against the Cowboys would have spelled disaster.
On Sunday, it somehow did the exact opposite.
Pass rush finally comes alive
The Cowboys’ offensive line was the one missing four of five starters, but it was the Jets’ offensive line that couldn’t stand firm Sunday afternoon.
Dallas’ pass rushers generated pressure early and often to affect Jets quarterback Justin Fields’ offensive operation, and then they started to get home. Osa Odighizuwa had a big sack to force a third-and-long in the second quarter, and then James Houston followed it up with a sack of his own on the very next play. Later in the quarter, Houston added to his team-high sack total in a split sack with Kenny Clark.
After recording just four sacks in the first four games, the Cowboys defensive front finally came alive with five Sunday against a Jets franchise that has invested first-round picks on their offensive line in each of the last two drafts.
Ryan Flournoy bursts onto the scene
Who had this on their bingo card?
With the Cowboys down CeeDee Lamb and KaVontae Turpin in their receiving corps, it wasn’t George Pickens that stepped up. It wasn’t Jalen Tolbert. It was Ryan Flournoy.
The 2024 sixth-round pick out of Southeast Missouri State — yes, that is a real school that plays football — exploded in the first half for five receptions for 104 yards to help set up multiple Cowboys scores. His career-long 40-yard reception in the second quarter saw him break multiple tackles and get Dallas into the red zone on a touchdown-scoring drive.
He added a reception for 10 yards in the second half, but he didn’t even need to. The damage was already done. In one half, he eclipsed his season total as a rookie in 2024 (102 yards) and offered a heap of optimism about the state of the room behind Lamb and Pickens.
Lamb could make his return against the Panthers next week, but it won’t be without one more reliable pass catcher proven to exist in that wide receiver room.
Makeshift offensive line stands firm
The starting offensive line grouping on Sunday felt more like what we saw in the preseason than any resemblance of what we have seen in the regular season.
Nate Thomas made his first career start at left tackle for Tyler Guyton (concussion), Hakeem Adeniji made his first start with the team for Tyler Smith (knee) at left guard, Brock Hoffman made his third straight start in place of Cooper Beebe (ankle) at center and T.J. Bass made his second consecutive start at right guard for Tyler Booker (ankle).
Despite being down the four starters, the Cowboys not only did not allow any sacks, but they generated a quality rushing effort from Javonte Williams who finished with 135 yards on the day. A lot of credit has to be given to offensive coordinator Klayton Adams and offensive line coach Conor Riley for their efforts in keeping a clean backfield, but also to Dak Prescott for avoiding pressure throughout the day.
It wasn’t perfect for the unit, as Prescott took a couple of big shots, but it’s more than what you could ask for against a talented Jets defensive front.
Just keep an eye on the run defense
In a dominating win like it was for the Cowboys, looking for any negatives is nitpicking, but the run defense struggles on Sunday are worth highlighting.
Jets running back Breece Hall consistently found big gains between the tackles as he finished with 8.1 yards per carry on 109 yards. Granted, the Jets went away from the run pretty much entirely in the second half, so the total rushing yards doesn’t look like an eyesore, but the yards per carry certainly does.
While the run defense has been improved in 2025 with the addition of Kenny Clark at defensive tackle, there are still some warts for a unit that entered the game 19th in the NFL in rush yards allowed.
It didn’t even come close to costing them on Sunday, but keep an eye on the issue when the Cowboys take on talented runners later in the season such as Ashton Jeanty, Jahmyr Gibbs, Saquon Barkley and others.