FRISCO, Texas – You know, this might seem crazy after a nearly unprecedented 40-40 tie Sunday night with the previously thought-to-be-untouchable Green Bay Packers.
But here is what thought leaving AT&T Stadium around 2 Monday morning came to me:These kids just might be all right, credit to The Who for plastering that line into my brain many moons ago.
Look, well aware the Packers scored 40 points against this defense. Well aware while the Cowboys did score 40 points in this game, the second time in their first four, they left four points on the field in overtime with a first-and-goal opportunity at the 5-yard line, resigning to kick a chip-shot field goal.
But sensed some optimism gurgling up out of the tie, though creating a measure of despair, abolishing the thrill of a victory on the brink.
The kids, relative to the NFL, stepped up in so many instances when likely least expected, considering the quality of the opponent, 93,000-plus populating the stadium and the glare of national TV shining brightly.
Man, were you keeping an eye on No. 41? That's Donovan Ezeiruaku, second-round draft choice. Just his fourth NFL game, playing a career-high 40 snaps at defensive end. Suggest learning to pronounce his name: ezz-AH-rah-koo. Me learning to spell his name. Five tackles, one for a loss, and though penalized 15 yards after dropping Matthew Golden for that minus-7 when he used his hand to further stamp the Packers receiver into the ground.
Hey, 33 years ago Charles Haley would have been applauded for being a tough guy, owner Jerry Jones during Tuesday's 105.3 The Fan segment saying, "Forty-one is playing lights out … getting better by the game."
At linebacker, Marist Luifau, in his second season, made his first start of 2025, adding speed and coverage ability to the defense. And certainly you felt his impact on that special teams tackle. Golden certainly did. Never returned another kick.
There has been second-year corner Reddy Steward playing well in the slot on the nickel, Marshawn Kneeland making his first start of the season and rookie linebacker Shemar James making his NFL debut.
The offensive line, starting backup Brock Hoffman at center and T.J. Bass at guard against that Packers front, held some breaths pregame but nevertheless the Cowboys scored 40 while holding Green Bay to but one Micah Parsons sack, one TFL and just five QB hits. Oh, and did you notice the Cowboys playing second-year offensive tackle Nate Thomas at right and left tackle? Those were his first 17 NFL snaps and his first game tackle snaps since 2023 at Louisiana, his name never needing to be mentioned.
And keep an eye on second-year receiver Ryan Flournoy, who has two catches each in the past two games, both on Sunday for first downs.
See what we're talking about? The young kids giving hope.
• Fourth Down: There has been much ado over head coach Brian Schottenheimer's overtime decision to kick the field goal on fourth-and-goal at the 4-yard line. Like most with the choice, he decided to take the field goal to force the Packers to at least score to tie the game up. No sense betting the game on one play, knowing if he didn't score a touchdown the percentages of Green Bay winning with but a field goal would have soared. Plus, he might have realized on the first three plays that the Cowboys had netted just 1 yard, the blocking on all three breaking down. Something about bird in hand, you know.
• Your Take: Great our podcast teammate Bill Jones shows up on Monday for Mick Shots with a glass halfway full of water. Does that mean the glass is half full of water or half empty after the tie, which was something commonplace early in this franchise's history when there was no such thing as overtime. The Cowboys finished their first five seasons with a tie in four of them, and six in the first 10. So heard some suggest the Cowboys very well could have turned that OT win and OT tie into losses, leaving them 0-4. But then the Cowboys are probably kicking themselves thinking they very well could have been 3-1, knowing they had the chance to beat the Eagles and the Packers. I'm thinking at least 2-2 would be fair.
• Beware The Jets: Sure, the Jets are 0-4 for the first time since the 2-14 season of 2020 when losing their first 13 games. How bad is that? Only one other time have the Jets opened a season losing five straight, dropping eight games to start the 1-15 season of 1996. As like to say, the more an NFL teams loses, the closer they are to winning in this parity of the league. The Jetsare due; just don't let it be you.
• 70 minutes: No kin to 60 Minutes but appears 70 minutes of football, thanks to the 10 extra ones in overtime Sunday against the Packers, might have taken a physical toll on the Cowboys. Wednesday's injury report listed seven Cowboys player as DNP – Did Not Practice. And from a practical standpoint, we certainly knew guys such as CeeDee Lamb, Tyler Booker, Malik Hooker and Miles Sanders would miss the Jets game. But now KaVontae Turpin (foot) could be out a couple of weeks and who knows if tackle Tyler Guyton can make it through concussion protocol in time. There seems to be hope for Tyler Smith (knee) to possibly play. And all this does not take into account starting center Cooper Beebe already on IR.
• Jet Streams: Wonder if the Jets are making a big deal of their former defensive tackle Solomon Thomas returning to MetLife Stadium after playing the past three years with them …Figured it was time for the Cowboys to activate the 21-day practice period for wide receiverJonathan Mingo and cornerback Caelen Carson after having served their mandatory four-game stay on injured reserve, both listed Wednesday with Limited practice participation … Hoping to run into Jets head coach Aaron Glenn, one of my favorite former Cowboys players (2005-06), Bill Parcells bringing in the veteran corner … Here's an interesting stat: The Cowboys rank second in the NFL in two-minute offense, having scored 20 points on drives starting with two-minutes or less in either half or overtime. Only Denver has scored more (21 points.)
So much has been made of Parsons saying after the game he was disappointed Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wasn't the first person to call him after the trade went down with the Packers. He found out from his agent, though expected the man who drafted him would have informed him by calling him into the office.
So, for the last word on the subject, and this week's last one, here is Jerry's rebuttal to that disappointment.
"I really don't want to respond to that at all, in deference to you very much," Jones said to the 105.3 The Fan host who asked him about it. "But that phone call thing got stopped when he told me to take his number off my dial. It was 'Don't call him anymore.'
"So I quit those calls."
End of story.
