FRISCO, Texas – Through the first nine weeks of the 2025 NFL season, the Cowboys allowed the fifth most rushing yards to running backs in the NFL and were the fourth-worst defense against the run in general.
Then at the trade deadline, Dallas traded for Quinnen Williams and the Pro Bowl defensive tackle has been the face of their turnaround. Since acquiring Williams, the Cowboys have allowed the third-lowest rushing yards to opponents in the league. So, how've they done it?
"Everybody executing," Williams said. "The coaches calling the plays, and the players on the field executing. Everybody's just doing their job to the best of their ability."
His fellow defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa agrees.
"Feel like we've been executing at a much higher level," Odighizuwa said. "Definitely feel like up front, we've been playing some of our best ball and being the d-line that we want to be. I feel like that's been very helpful."
Following the Cowboys' 31-28 win over the Chiefs on Thanksgiving, Odighizuwa said that he "didn't necessarily believe or accept what was being put on tape" from Dallas' defense at the beginning of the season. When head coach Brian Schottenheimer was spending time in defensive meeting rooms and reviewing the film with them, he felt the same way.
"Without a doubt," Schottenheimer said. "Why? The reason why is pretty simple, it was just us beating ourselves. You blow a coverage, you give up a big play. It's a zone drop and you don't get to your landmark, you give up a big play. You don't get a close call or you don't communicate a change of strength motion with fast motions, and you hurt yourself."
"So absolutely, I think that we all knew we could change it. What was frustrating early on quite frankly was it was different things each week."
Now, the Cowboys have won three straight games and have positioned themselves for a potential playoff run at 6-5-1. Dallas' defense leads the league in fewest yards allowed to running backs over the last three weeks with just 117 on 36 carries. As a unit, their confidence is only continuing to grow.
"I think it's getting better week in and week out by the good things we've been doing as a unit," Williams said. "We still have a lot of things to clean up, a lot of things to get better in, but I think we're going in the right direction to be the defense that we want to be. We got a long way to go, but everybody's up for the task to achieve the goal that we want to achieve."
At the same time, Williams doesn't believe that he himself has been the sole reason why the Cowboys have improved so much since his arrival.
"One person can't change [everything], one person can't fake the game for wins or losses, it's a team effort, it's a unit effort especially on defense. We all lose together, we all win together."
Another aspect that's helped is, as Odighizuwa put it, "the cavalry has come back," speaking about Williams, the addition of Logan Wilson, and the return of DeMarvion Overshown and Shavon Revel. Still, Williams' presence can't be denied.
"Honestly, it's just great to have a dawg out there, you know what I mean?" Odighizuwa said. "He elevates the whole defense."
On Thursday, the Cowboys' run defense will go up against what could be their biggest test yet in Detroit's dynamic backfield that features Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.
"They have a dominant offensive line, they have a dominant run game, and they got one of the best running backs of all time to me, because he came from [Alabama] also," Williams said. "So going against an explosive guy like the two that they have, and especially Jahmyr, is definitely a great challenge."
What makes it more challenging is how successful Detroit is mixing up what they do on the ground while not changing much in their formations.
"This is one of those games where you've just got to play your fundamentals," Odighizuwa said. "They do a lot of different stuff out of the same looks. It's one of those where I write a ton of notes, and I just don't have a ton of good information to use. I'm just going to go ahead and look at the guy in front of me and just play my keys true."
Last season, the Lions blew out the Cowboys 47-9 in Week 6. Nobody wants to lose like that, and it still sits with Dallas as they prepare to travel up north with the goal of avenging their loss and extending their winning streak.
"I feel like we didn't do a good job last year of stopping the run, which is honestly – when you don't stop the run, it's a hard day on defense, it's going to be a long one," Odighizuwa said. "So I think just coming in with the mentality that stopping the run first is gonna be the best way for us to have the type of game that we want to have on defense."
