FRISCO, Texas – As the Cowboys head on the road to New York to play the Jets in Week 5, they do so "banged up," says head coach Brian Schottenheimer, with 12 players listed as limited or non-participants in practice this week.
Nonetheless, they'll have to play at noon on Sunday to try and get back in the win column after a 40-40 tie against the Packers in Week 4. It's a return to New York for Schottenheimer, who spent six years as the offensive coordinator for the Jets, as well as several other coaches and players like Aaron Whitecotton and Solomon Thomas.
What'll the Cowboys need to do to pick up their second win of the season, and first on the road in 2025? Let's break it down in this week's Here We Goooo:
Move the ball between the tackles
One of the reasons that Dallas' passing game and Dak Prescott is getting off to such a hot start this season is because of the running game. The Cowboys have had a stronger rushing attack than many, including myself, expected, and they're leaning on it to open up the entire play book for Brian Schottenheimer, Klayton Adams and company.
Against the Jets they'll have a chance to really establish themselves up front early, especially between the tackles. New York is allowing the second most yards in the NFL on rushes between the tackles (318) and the fifth-most yards per carry in that area (5.0).
The Cowboys offense has picked up 237 yards on 56 carries between their tackles, good for ninth-best in the league. They're averaging 4.2 yards per carry and have scored four of their rushing touchdowns on such carries as well, which is tied for the most in that area in the league.
Where the Cowboys may run into trouble with this on Sunday is their blockers up front. They'll already be without Cooper Beebe and Tyler Booker, but Tyler Guyton is working through overcoming a concussion and Tyler Smith has a knee injury bothering him. Should Dallas go down two more of their starters and be without four up front, they'll need a special game from their depth in order to keep things going well on the ground.
While the Jets defense has had their fair share of struggles stopping the run in 2025, they have playmakers on the line of scrimmage who can change that, especially if a majority of the starters are out up front. Namely big defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, who leads the NFL in run stuffs with nine through four games. Regardless of who plays on the offensive line for the Cowboys, they'll have their hands full. If they can do just enough though, it can really wear the defense out and allow the rest of the offense to flourish.
Know where Garrett Wilson is at all times
When the Jets move the ball through the air, it's no secret at all who they're trying to go to. Garrett Wilson, who just got a four-year, $130 million extension this offseason. New York has targeted him 32.5% of the time this season, the highest target rate of his career through the first four games of the season.
Wilson also has the highest catch percentage (71.1%), receiving yards (311), touchdowns (3) and separation (3.5 yards) through the first four games of a season in his career too. Even amidst the Jets struggles, Wilson is doing what he's normally done, and better than he ever has too.
Primarily, the Jets have lined Wilson up in the slot this season (39.3% of the time, the highest in his career) and as a result, he's not seeing as much press coverage. He'll face a Cowboys defense that has given up 9.7 yards per target to receivers that line up the slot, the second most in the NFL.
While 246 of Wilson's receiving production have come in the short-to-intermediate game (0-19 yards), he's also a threat for the big play too, and the Cowboys defense has been prone to giving those up although they did a better job against it last week. The Cowboys' secondary, which looks to be on track to be fully healthy again, needs to make sure they have no communication issues against Wilson.
Don't let Justin Fields find green grass
In today's NFL, it's becoming increasingly more important for quarterbacks to have the ability to scramble outside of the pocket and turn up field to pick up yardage when necessary. A majority of those quarterbacks can usually get you just enough or what you need in those situations, but Jets QB Justin Fields is in a class of his own.
Only three quarterbacks in NFL history have rushed for 1,000 yards in a season. Michael Vick, Lamar Jackson and Justin Fields back in 2022. He ran for 1,143 yards and eight rushing touchdowns that year, helping the Bears become the best rushing offense in the league under first-year head coach Matt Eberflus, who now faces his former quarterback in Chicago as the defensive coordinator with the Cowboys.
So far in 2025, things have been no different for Fields. He has the second most rushing yards for a quarterback with 178, one yard behind Jalen Hurts. Fields has clocked in at 15 miles per hour or faster on 75% of his rushes this season, with a max speed of 20.17 MPH and an average of 15.9 MPH on each of his rushes. Safe to say it's not easy to bring him down when he finds open space.
Fields is the only quarterback in the league this year to have carried the ball on both designed runs and scrambles this season, with 11 a piece. Designed runs haven't been very successful, with 54 yards gained on those 11 carries, but the other 11 scrambles have gone for 117 yards and two touchdowns.
The Cowboys defense has given up the sixth most rushing yards to quarterbacks through the first four games of the year (122) as well as two rushing touchdowns. The two touchdowns as well as 107 of the rushing yards have come on 12 scrambles they've faced. Fields has scrambles on a league-high 14.5% of his dropbacks this season, so Dallas' defense has to account for the threat of Fields' legs at all times on Sunday. The good news is, Matt Eberflus is familiar with Fields' game, and the Cowboys hope they can use that familiarity better than they did against Caleb Williams in Week 3.
