In what was a pivotal game for the Dallas Cowboys at a fork in the road in the 2025 season, they let their league-worst defense dictate a 44-24 rout from the Denver Broncos on Sunday afternoon.
The loss puts Dallas back below .500 at 3-4-1 with one game to go before the bye week, with the NFL trade deadline on Nov. 4. The Broncos improved to 6-2.
Here are five takeaways from the demoralizing loss at Empower Field at Mile High:
Run defense issues mount
In a game where you would’ve expected more issues with the pass defense with three safeties out (don’t worry, we’ll get to that, too), it was the run defense that struggled even more against the Broncos.
On the Broncos’ first scoring drive, Broncos running back RJ Harvey found a hole on the left side paved by right guard Quinn Meinerz and ran into the end zone from 40 yards out. It was the first of five runs given up by the Dallas defense for more than 10 yards, as the Broncos finished with 179 total rushing yards.
Whether it was Sam Williams failing to contain the edge, linebackers and safeties failing to fill their run lanes or Osa Odighizuwa and Kenny Clark not clogging lanes, the run defense was atrocious from top to bottom once again.
Cowboys might need their safeties after all
The Cowboys’ safety group hasn’t been good all season, whether it’s fully healthy or not. But with the defense missing their top three safeties due to injury, Sunday’s performance was easily the worst from the starting group all season.
With starters Malik Hooker (toe) and Donovan Wilson (elbow/shoulder) out along with the primary backup Juanyeh Thomas (migraines), the Cowboys turned to Markquese Bell and undrafted rookie Alijah Clark. The Broncos took advantage of the inexperience on the back end and found five pass completions of 15 yards or more.
Even though the outlook was bleak when the starting group was healthy early in the season, it is indeed the Cowboys’ best option. Maybe that’s where Jerry Jones decides to swing if he makes a move before the NFL trade deadline.
Pass rush vanishes back into the dark
After the Cowboys sent more pressure looks last week than in any other game this season, defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus held back from putting pressure on second-year quarterback Bo Nix, and it resulted in a plethora of clean pockets for Denver throughout the day.
The advantage was so clear for the Broncos up front that Nix wasn’t even hit by a pass rusher until the fourth quarter. The game ended with the Cowboys failing to sack the quarterback for the second time this season.
It seems as though Dallas can really only get home when it sends more than four rushers. But when your secondary needs as many bodies as possible to find any rhythm — even though that didn’t work either — sometimes all you can do is send four.
In all, this Cowboys defense is a multi-layered issue. It’s going to take some major rebuilding to get that ship back on track.
Cowboys rob Brandon Aubrey of history
Coming into the game against the Broncos, the talk all week was about if Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey could find an NFL record-setting field goal in the thin Denver air. Literally, it was all week, as head coach Brian Schottenheimer was asked about it in every single press conference leading up to the game.
In the second quarter, the Cowboys had a fourth down at their own 48-yard line, which would have set up a shot at a 69-yard field goal for Aubrey to cut the Broncos’ lead to one possession. Instead of giving him the shot, they decided to punt.
Later in the first half, the offense was hovering around midfield in the final minute of the second quarter before Prescott threw an interception to Texas product Jahdae Barron on a ball intended for Jake Ferguson.
Aubrey ended the day with just one attempt that he nailed through from 24 yards away.
A trade isn’t worth it at this point
Before the game, Jerry Jones spoke to Kristi Scales of 105.3 The Fan and said that the team is looking hard at making a trade before the deadline on Nov. 4 to improve the defensive side of the ball.
“In general, we are looking hard at how to improve,” Jones said. “We’re looking hard at the deadline coming up. It’s a time for movement. If something’s available there, we certainly have the availability with the picks and the cap room that we have now.”
After this loss and a continuation of awful defensive play, is it even worth it to trade valuable draft capital (four first-round picks in the next two years) for one or two players when this issue goes much deeper? It’s hard to imagine how it could be. Instead, figure out who is worth keeping in the second half of the season for the future, and replace the pieces that aren’t in the offseason.