FRISCO, Texas – Prior to the start of the season we were asked to identify the Dallas Cowboys most important game of 2025.
My choice was the season opener against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, a likely barometer of just where this team is, so young, and under the jurisdiction of first-time head coach Brian Schottenheimer.
There were some choosing the Oct. 19 game against the Wasington Commanders, that game likely a good indicator of what might take place in the NFC East where many were predicting the Cowboys would finish in third place, some even figuring the Giants would leap them, plummeting the Cowboys into the basement if conceding the division title to the Eagles.
And others selected Thanksgiving Day against the Kansas City Chiefs, the one-time Cowboys rival Cotton Bowl partners when in 1960 it was the NFL expansion Cowboys and the upstart AFL Dallas Texans sharing the stadium before they moved in 1963 to Kansas City and became the Chiefs.
But now, heading into Game 8 of the 2025 season, let me amend my choice to Sunday, 3:25 p.m. a Mile High against the 5-2 Denver Broncos, winners of four straight and currently first place in the AFC West.
Quite possibly most pivotal of the season now.
Yes, to me vitally important if the eighth game of a season can be labeled pivotal. And look, not saying a "must win" since there will be nine more to be played. Why last year five teams qualified for the 14-team NFL playoffs no better than 10-7, and in 2023, three more at 10-7 and two at no more than 9-8.
But here is my thinking. The Cowboys are 3-3-1, good enough for second place in the NFC East, a half-game ahead of the Washington Commanders, who the Cowboys just crushed 44-22 this past Sunday, along with just having one more loss than the 5-2 first place Philadelphia Eagles. So, sort of right in the race.
Yet here is why so pivotal. The Cowboys are coming off a victory in a topsy-turvy season so far, one that's been lose one, win one, lose one, tie one, lose one, win one. Like, how about ending this teeter-totter season, as head coach Briabn Schottenheimr suggested earlier in the week, and of all things, win TWO in a row.
And the Cowboys have failed to do so over the past nine games, having to go back to Dec. 22 of last season to find the last time the Cowboys have won consecutive games, beating Carolina and Tampa Bay for their last back-to-backs. In fact, we must go back to 2023 to find the last time the Cowboys have strung together more than two consecutive wins, actually winning five straight from Nov. 12 through Dec. 10 during that eventual 12-5 season.
So, winning two straight is not asking a whole lot, especially if this team has any designs of challenging for one of those seven NFC playoff spots, and here is another chance this season coming off that Wasington victory.
Even sez Dak Prescott, "Every win builds confidence, and for us right now is getting a streak going. It's about winning a couple in a row, a few in a row. You can't start that if you can't win this one right here, the second one.
"So, it's not necessarily about who (the Broncos) are, it's about who we are, our standards, our expectations and knowing we can go out there and start this streak, and this is our opportunity."
Now we understand from a numerical standpoint of what this victory would mean to the Cowboys. They would inch above .500 for the first time all season, pulling to 4-3-1. That's a start. But then let's move beyond that.
Next up is a Nov. 3 home game against the 2-5 Cardinals on their bye this week, a game obviously the Cowboys would be favored to win at home, for whatever that's worth. Do so, and that would mean they would have the possibility – if they can help themselves – of standing 5-3-1 if they can win those two straight heading into their bye the following week, which includes the Nov. 4 trade deadline.
Do that and increase their potential playoff hopes just might create a higher incentive to pull off a trade for a necessary piece, for sure on defense, and you can name the position depending on available opportunity, cost and salary cap implications now and into future seasons.
Win those two straight would also raise the possibility of winning three straight when emerging from the bye heading to Vegas to face the currently 2-5 Raiders now in their bye week before they must play Jacksonville and Denver prior to the Cowboys on Nov. 17.
Go ahead, dream a little of the favorable odds of possibility being 6-3-1 heading into that grueling streak of six consecutive games against 2024 playoffs teams, starting with the Eagles on Nov. 23, then Kansas City on Thanksgiving, followed by Lions, Vikings, Chargers and Commanders, those teams now 25-18, but not as daunting a task as seemed back when the schedule came out in May. Still.
Just sayin', no guarantees for sure
But from a common-sense standpoint beating the Broncos on the road, where they certainly arrive 5½-point underdogs, would give this Cowboys team a huge boost in confidence winning consecutive games.
"It's huge for us at this juncture of the season,' says Pro Bowl guard Tyler Smith. "Just being consistent. It would help us at least with an opportunity to string together some wins.
"Build some confidence."
Bingo, to me that would be the greatest benefit of at least winning two straight and getting on an emotional roll. And not as if they have conquered anything but at least producing a feeling more is possible.
Look, we know what this NFL No. 1 offense is capable of nearly every week, save that Bears game. Now it's what can this defense do for you.
Last week, a step in the right direction. But just a step. And while the Broncos produced that record 33-point fourth quarter explosion to beat the Giants, 33-32, this offense the Cowboys will face at a Mile High hasn't scored more than 28 points (twice) in the other six games. And while a whole lot is being made of second year quarterback Bo Nix, more known for coming up with big plays and critical times, but if you look at his bare numbers, well, meh.
Nix completes just 62.5 percent of his passes, and at a rate of 6.1 yards an attempt, despite the deep threat of Courtland Sutton, who averages 14.2 yards a catch. And his QB rating is a middling 87.3, yet all good enough to win these past four games.
To me, this game comes down to these teams' strengths, the Cowboys offense vs. the Denver defense.
Broncos DC Vance Joseph knows what he's up against facing Dak, who has been on a roll, only the sixth NFL quarterback to throw at least three touchdown passes without an interception in now four consecutive games, and maybe the scariest number is his 120-plus QB rating in those four games. Dak needs one more of those performances to tie Russell Wilson's NFL record of five straight.
"He is playing at a high level," Joseph said. "He's putting those guys in the best plays. He's taking care of football and scoring points at high volume. He's playing really good football. That's all I can say.
"When you watch it, it's what an NFL quarterback should look like. The ball is out quick. He's not taking sacks. He's keeping plays alive. He is taking care of the football. That's what it is. He's playing great."
But then the Cowboys need great to continually compensating for a defense that has been at best shaky. Now, better last week holding the Commanders offense to just 20 points. But can those guys do that again on the road against a Denver offense capable of that 33-point fourth-quarter explosion after being shut out for the first three.
"It all starts with the urgency and preparation and stacking another win and good defensive performance," says veteran DT Kenny Clark, who actually took a few snaps at defensive end against Washington, showing he can be a load rushing the quarterback from the outside.
Can this defense hold the Broncos to a reasonable number of points and duplicate the pressure they placed on Jayden Daniels and eventually Marcus Mariota that produced four sacks, six QB pressures, one interception, one sack-fumble-recovery and seven TFLs.
All that is needed to finally help win two straight, maybe even more being on the road against a team with a winning record.
"Just being more consistent executing on the defensive side of the ball," reasoned the needs of COO Stephen Jones. "We've made some steps, and we have to keep getting better. Obviously not good enough.
"I believe the confidence is coming together, the energy is coming together."
Now can the wins. Can they come together at least back-to back weeks for starters.
Because in the truest sense of these Three Dog Night words, "One is the loneliest number that you'll evert do."
Amen to that.
