INDIANAPOLIS — This week was a bit worrisome for Caleb Downs, until it wasn't. The rookie 11th-overall pick suffered a concussion in the Dallas Cowboys loss to the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday, placing him in the NFL concussion protocol and threatening to rob of him what will be a rare opportunity to face his older brother, Josh Downs, at the professional level.
He was able to clear concussion protocol though, and the Downs versus Downs game was on, and very entertaining, at that. In the end, the younger Downs got the win and the best of the matchup in a 27-23 victory at LucasOil Stadium.
"I mean, honestly, we needed to win as a team. That's the biggest thing," Caleb Downs said after the game. " And it was a surreal feeling going out there and lining up in front of him, like, it's me and him, the whole game. So I was just thankful for the situation.
"He definitely got me on some of the plays that they missed him on, but I'm just thankful that he's healthy, I'm healthy, and thankful that my family could be here."
It'll definitely make for bragging rights over Thanksgiving dinner, including the fact Caleb Downs was able to seal the game for the Cowboys with an interception, the first of his young NFL career, on the Colts final drive of the game with everything on the line.
"I'm just playing ball," he said of the play. "I'm just playing ball and anybody can say what they want to say, but I'm just fighting to be my best self. At the end of the day, the Lord created the opportunity, and I'm just thankful for the situation that He put me in, and I was just relying on his strength the whole game."
And then came the smile as the relived the moment that gave the Cowboys a much-needed fourth win.
"It was a surreal feeling, honestly, to have it because I saw the play coming and I saw their setup and I was like, 'Oh, it's coming right here. I know it. I gotta house it. I gotta make the money.' And then I was about to get up, they kept pushing me back on the ground. So I'm like, 'Alright, well, it is what it is.'"
Downs had the best game of his rookie season, even prior to the interception, building upon what has quietly been one of the better campaigns of any NFL player in 2026. It helped to contribute to what wound up being the single most complete outing by the Cowboys defense this season — multiple takeaways, critical stops to force punts time and time again, and multiple sacks on Daniel Jones as well, when the pressure alone wasn't forcing him into poor decisions.
That's something Downs knows he and Dallas can build on going forward.
"I've been saying it all year, and I'm glad that we finally finished the game today, but at the end of the day, we got to play like it's on us every play," he said. "We've got to play like our defense is the last stand, that there's no offense, that is just us, and we're playing separate games; and that's what we have to do. And people can say whatever they want, but when we play well, we're a good football team."
