Five takeaways from dominant Dallas Cowboys win over New York Jets
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 the 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:
Brian Schottenheimer’s culture shines
The Cowboys were down five 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.
“This was a coaching staff win today,” owner Jerry Jones said. “I haven’t been a part of a team Band-Aided up as much as we were to come play this game. Of course, Dak [Prescott] played outstanding. But this was done by a lot of guys we weren’t counting on playing. I can tell you firsthand, that’s coaching.”
Schottenheimer emphasized building “an elite culture” since the day he was hired as the head coach in January, and the Cowboys rallying around the banged up lineup 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 with a sack of his own on the next play. Later in the quarter, Houston added to his team-high sack total in a split sack with Kenny Clark.
“Today, we got those opportunities,” Clark said. “And we took advantage of them.”
After recording just five 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 past 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 who 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 46-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 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.
“Super proud of him,” Prescott said. “Second year, very, very hungry. He’s not afraid to tell you how much he wants it. ... He wants to be great. Every opportunity he gets, he wants to make the most of it. And today was an example of just that.”
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 on Sunday felt more like what we saw in the preseason than any semblance 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 allowed only one sack, but they generated a quality rushing effort from Williams, who finished with 135 yards. 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 Prescott for avoiding pressure.
“It’s credit to these coaches. It’s credit to the players,” Prescott said. “It’s credit to the organization. There’s not many teams that can put four guys that don’t start into the game and feel confident about going and winning a game on the road, especially against one of the more premier interior defensive linemen and good rushers as well.”
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 Sunday’s, looking for any negatives is nitpicking, but the Cowboys’ run defense struggles are worth highlighting.
Jets running back Breece Hall consistently found big gains between the tackles, finishing with 113 yards at 8.1 yards per carry. Granted, the Jets went away from the run pretty much entirely in the second half, so the total rushing yards don’t look like an eyesore, but the yards per carry certainly does.
While the run defense has improved this season 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 the Cowboys on Sunday, but keep an eye on the issue when the Cowboys take on talented runners later in the season such as Las Vegas’ Ashton Jeanty, Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs and Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley.
This story was originally published October 5, 2025 at 3:15 PM.
