It’s week 7 of the NFL season and the 3-3 Washington Commanders will be facing a 2-3-1 Cowboys team on the road at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX this Sunday at 4:25 pm EDT. The Cowboys have had a wild
ride of a season so far, beating the Jets and Giants, losing to the Eagles, Bears, and Panthers, and tying the Packers in a spectacular 80-point overtime game.
On offense, the Cowboys are coached by OC and run-game designer Klayton Adams, as well as HC and playcaller Brian Schottenheimer. Klayton Adams may be the most impactful hire by the Cowboys to fly under the radar of most fans. Adams was previously the OL coach of the Arizona Cardinals and coached the Cardinals up to the 4th-most rushing yards in 2023 and 7th-most rushing yards in 2024. Since Adams’ departure, the Cardinals have dropped to the 15th-most rushing yards in the NFL so far this season despite mostly the same personnel and coaching staff. The combo of Adams and Schottenheimer have designed an offense in Dallas that utilizes a lot of play action, a lot of pre-snap motion, heavy use of tempo, and a very conscious effort to ensure run and pass plays start with the same looks. The result has been an offense that has generated the most yards and 3rd-most points in the NFL despite an injured CeeDee Lamb (who should return for this game), injuries to each of the interior offensive line starters, and a RB room that many considered the worst in the NFL prior to week 1.
On defense, the Cowboys are coached by DC Matt Eberflus, former HC of the Chicago Bears and former DC of the Colts. As with each of his prior two stops, Eberflus primarily runs a Cover 2 zone defense that rushes 4 and has the 12-lowest blitz rate in the league. The result has been the NFL’s worst defense by yards allowed and 2nd-worst defense by points allowed through 6 weeks. Although this style of defense might be expected to defend the pass better than the run due to dropping 7 back into coverage, the Cowboys have actually allowed the most passing yards to opponents, but only the 3rd-most rushing yards. In addition to poor play, the Cowboys defense has been characterized by sloppy play, allowing the most penalty yards to opponents in the NFL.
I asked David Halprin of Blogging the Boys five questions to better understand the state of the Cowboys and what to look for in this game.
1) Tell us about the new coaching staff on the offensive side of the ball, particularly OC Klayton Adams and HC Brian Schottenheimer. How do they have the offense functioning at such a high level despite injuries to CeeDee Lamb, numerous injuries along the offensive line, and what many thought was a reclamation project RB room?
That’s the really positive side of what is happening in Dallas right now. As you mentioned, the team has been without some of its top players on that side of the ball and are still rolling. Klayton Adams has been a real key to the success based on his ability to get the running game going to complement what Dak Prescott does in the passing game. Adams gets his linemen on the move in the run game, with one or two guys pulling on a substantial number of runs. He uses zone and gap runs, counters etc., but his real trick seems to be his ability to get linemen to use the correct angles and paths to make plays works. This isn’t always easy to do, the difference between sealing an edge or just missing and letting a player blow up the run is pretty small. Adams is masterful at getting his linemen (and TEs, WRs, etc.) to the right spot and use leverage to create lanes.
Overall, Brian Schottenheimer does a good job of play-calling and utilizing a run/pass mix that generally works for each game. The Cowboys also disguise their run/pass options well with their pre-snap lineup by cutting down receiver splits and being able to run or pass out of the formation. Schottenheimer has spent a few years coordinating the Cowboys offense with Dak Prescott so he knows exactly what Prescott does best and he utilizes that instead of forcing things. Prescott’s passing success certainly opens up the run game. We also shouldn’t discount the work Javonte Willaims is doing. He looks to be back to health and is a runner who always falls forward for extra yards and can bounce off contact. With everything working in harmony, and Prescott dealing at a very high level, they can withstand all of the injury issues they’ve had in 2025.
2) On the other side of the ball, what has been the impression of DC Matt Eberflus and how much of the poor defensive performance has been due to coaching, players, or factors outside of control (like injuries)?
This side is the exact opposite of the offense, except for the injuries part. Most Cowboys fans were positive about the return of Matt Eberflus as DC because of the good work he had done previously in Dallas, and his work in Indianapolis as a DC that led to the Chicago HC job. Needless to say, that has changed. Eberflus runs a pretty rigid scheme that rushes four and sits back in zone coverage. That’s a simplification, but it’s not too far off. There are many people who think the Cowboys defense is built for more man-press coverage, and that the pass rush could use more variety and occasional blitzing. This is where the players vs. scheme debate is happening. Certainly guys like CBs Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland are not having great seasons, and many feel they want more man coverage. The linebackers are bad, they can’t cover and they are not exactly stalwarts against the run. The safeties feel lost out there as busted coverages are the norm.
Certainly injuries have played a role. Our secondary has been either injured or on-the-mend constantly, so getting any kind of continuity back there has been tough. Without Micah Parsons, the pass rush has not produced enough to help cover for the back-end problems. So basically you can call out the players, Matt Eberflus, and somewhat injuries for a defense that is as bad as it gets.
3) George Pickens has been playing at a very high level with the Cowboys. What have you seen from him, why is he doing so much better in Dallas than Pittsburgh, and what is the chance he’s still on the team next year?
We’ll take what he’s doing first. Pickens is a beast on contested balls deep. His body control, wide catch radius with long arms, and stellar concentration on the ball is remarkable. He either catches them or he gets pass interference called on the defense. He is one of the best I’ve seen in this area. He is also doing work on slants and crosses etc. that would normally be going to CeeDee Lamb. He is acting as a true WR1 right now and flourishing.
As for the difference between now and Pittsburgh I can’t say. As for the behavior issues, one factor may just be time. He’s only been here a short while so things have been calm in this honeymoon phase. We’ll see down the line. As for the production disparity (especially in TDs), he’s playing with Dak Prescott who is a much better QB than what they’ve had in Pittsburgh recently. He’s actually getting crisp passes that reward his work.
As for next year, it is really a big unknown. If the team didn’t already have CeeDee Lamb it would be a no-brainer. You sign Pickens to be your WR1 going forward. But with Lamb already here on a big contract, paying another top-tier contract to a WR might not be the best use of resources. The franchise tag is also another route they could go, although Pickens and his agent probably wouldn’t like that. I can’t make an accurate prediction right now on how this will end up.
4) Who is one Cowboys player on offense and one player on defense that Washington fans probably don’t know much about, but should?
Honestly, this is a pretty shallow pool to choose from. On offense the Cowboys are relying on their stars and on defense it’s just about all bad. But I will persevere nevertheless. On offense let’s talk more about Javonte Williams, a player who has kind of been forgotten about for the past few years. Williams was the 35th overall pick in the 2021 draft and was a draft prospect with high potential. His first year in Denver was pretty solid in a time-share, then early in 2022 he had the severe knee injury. He hadn’t look like the same player since, until he came to Dallas this offseason. He is healthy and re-born. Williams is a back that kind of does it all. He has good vision and his ability to bounce off tackles or push the pile forward is excellent. He can also hit big-gainers if he gets a crease. He is solid as a receiver and in pass pro. He is just a really good running back.
On defense I’ll go with EDGE Donovan Ezeiruaku over LB Shemar James. Ezeiruaku hasn’t produced a sack yet, but his play each week just seems to get better as his pressures and backfield disruptions creep up. He finished as the Cowboys highest-rated defensive player last week in PFF’s grades, and looks like a player who is on the edge of breaking out. He is a pass-rush-first guy who has excellent bend and can move speed to power. He is a rookie so he is still learning, but people are very high on his potential.
5) How should Washington go about gameplanning this matchup on both sides of the ball?
Against the Cowboys offense, counter-intuitively you probably want to limit the run game. Last week the Panthers did that by clogging up the interior of the line so the Cowboys inside zones and counter plays were running into constant disruption. Cutback lanes were filled and the Cowboys became much more one-dimensional. Now, to be honest, Dak Prescott is having a fantastic year and turning to him on offense is not really a bad thing for Dallas. But, when the run game is matched with the passing game in production, the offense is just so hard to stop. At least with it being one-dimensional, you have more opportunities for sacks, interceptions, holding penalties, and drops. That can slow the offense and eventually force a punt or turnover on downs.
Against the Cowboys defense, flood a zone with receivers and confuse the Cowboys secondary. You have a better chance than not of getting a busted coverage and a receiver wide open deep. And I do mean wide open. You can do this while keeping in a tight end or running back to help with pass protection. Give Jayden Daniels some time and receivers will come open. Also, Daniels should just run when he needs to, the Cowboys are horrible against mobile QBs. The Cowboys run defense has been hit or miss. Early in the year it seemed better than it does now, but the pass defense is guaranteed to be bad.
A companion article to this with my answers to David’s questions will be linked as soon as it is available.
Thanks again to David Halprin for taking time out of his day to answer our questions about the Cowboys.
