The Dallas Cowboys are back in the win column for the first time in over three calendar weeks, the majority of which were difficult and emotional for the now 4-5-1 team that snapped a two-game losing streak
on Monday night in Las Vegas. The Cowboys beat the Raiders 33-16 in their first game since the passing of Marshawn Kneeland, earning their first primetime win of 2025 in the process.
The Cowboys needed this game in the worst way before entering a much tougher stretch of games, and emotionally played like a team that wasn’t going to drop a third straight to the two-win Raiders. Dallas playing off the bye looked poised and prepared for the better part of all 60 minutes in Las Vegas, even with their two top wide receivers not seeing the field on the opening drive which quickly ended in a Cowboys three and out. CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens would make the absolute best of their playing time from that point on, with both catching a touchdown.
Defensively, the Cowboys looked sound on all three levels, with new players in the lineup on all three as well. Quinnen Williams debuted at defensive tackle and had 1.5 sacks and five QB hits. Demarvion Overshown played for the first time since week 14 of last season at linebacker. Rookie Shavon Revel and veteran Malik Hooker made plays on the backend from their cornerback and safety spots.
This win alone does not put the Cowboys fully back in the NFC playoff picture, but in true Las Vegas fashion, they played their cards right to earn another hand at the table next week at home versus the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys finding the right mix of lineup changes and self-scouting points they could correct over the bye will carry over into this pivotal rematch with the Eagles, as they worked through a lot of them at the Raiders and stayed in control of the game nearly all night.
Here are our full notes on a win for Brian Schottenheimer in a big spot against his former mentor Pete Carroll.
One of the questions that Cowboys fans were most eager to have answered in this game was how Matt Eberflus’ defense would look at linebacker. It’s no secret the Cowboys have struggled here, and with the amount of zone Eberflus is insistent on playing, poor play at linebacker paired with a lack of pass rush has been the biggest reason for constant defensive letdowns. In the recent losses to Denver and Arizona, Kenneth Murray and Shemar James were mostly the faces of the Cowboys deficiencies on the second level of their defense.
The additions of both Overshown and the trade chip Logan Wilson from the Bengals was initially believed to be one way to spell both Murray and James, but that is not at all how things played out against the Raiders. Eberflus kept the true answer to this burning question left unanswered for at least another week, but at the same time provided an answer that worked. Much like the best part of having Quinnen Williams at defensive tackle is the fact he joins other talented players at the same position, the Cowboys leaned into their numbers at linebacker and used all of their active players at linebacker – even Marist Liufau who was seldom used on defense prior to Monday night.
The Cowboys stacked linebacker looks were a checkmate against a Chip Kelly game plan for the Raiders that called for 42 passes to just 12 runs, a ratio that was out of hand even before the Cowboys built a significant lead. With Las Vegas’ best pass catchers being their tight ends and not wide receivers, an advantage they felt they had matching Brock Bowers and their other TEs against the Cowboys linebackers did not at all play out like they would have hoped. Dallas having extra backers on the field made a massive difference in the way this defense looked dropping into their zones and picking up assignments.
On the Raiders’ opening possession, Hooker was able to come in for a tackle for loss thanks to Liufau playing as the overhang and setting the edge. Liufau was also playing this position when Brock Bowers motioned inside against Murray later in the game, allowing Murray to quickly turn and pick up Bowers to deflect a pass intercepted by Markquese Bell.
Two plays after the Hooker TFL, a blitz from Murray forced the ball out of Geno Smith’s hands short of the sticks on third down, where Overshown had the coverage. This forced a punt that bailed the Cowboys offense out of their own slow start, and even after the offense continued to struggle turning the ball over on Prescott’s fumble following this punt, their newest LB Wilson came up with the third down coverage to hold Las Vegas to a field goal. Kenny Clark also had a sack to push the Raiders back from the great starting field position they had, which became a theme of the night as the Raiders went just 1-3 in the red zone. The Cowboys were a Lamb wide open drop of a would-be touchdown away from a perfect 3-3 red zone game, instead finishing 2-3 and also seeing Brandon Aubrey drill a 50-yard field goal straight down the middle.
It won’t take too long to find out if the Cowboys new approach in the front seven was truly about their opponent respecting what they’ve added at defensive tackle or not, as the NFC-leading Eagles, of all teams, will be the last to easily persuade out of the interior run game. The Raiders clearly did not like their chances with rookie Ashton Jeanty between the tackles though, and as the game went on the constant 1-on-1 matchups for Dallas defensive linemen against Vegas’ struggling offensive line led to a bit of a feeding frenzy against Smith. It was Wilson again in coverage from the middle linebacker spot when James Houston got a third-down sack, rushing alongside Williams off the left side.
As a whole, the Cowboys front seven was incredibly gap sound, their linebackers played with eye discipline, and across the board they won their individual matchups to put the Raiders behind the sticks and turn up the pass rush heat. Doing so in future games is going to be harder, but all season this has been a defense at it’s best when it can make even just a few splash negative plays. The Cowboys having the depth they do at defensive tackle, winning this game without Solomon Thomas even in that rotation, gives them a great chance to increase the frequency at which they make these exact plays.
Calling his second straight Cowboys game alongside Joe Buck, Hall of Famer Troy Aikman shared a fascinating story late in the broadcast about Brian Schottenheimer not having a definitive answer when asked by Pete Carroll what his own, unique philosophy towards coaching was. Carroll still ended up hiring Schottenheimer as the Seahawks offensive coordinator, but Aikman described it as a seminal moment for Schottenheimer to realize he needed his own identity. It didn’t take long once becoming head coach of the Dallas Cowboys for Schottenheimer to show along the way he’d learned this identity in a big way, as the offense took a massive step in the right direction away from how it looked under Mike McCarthy. The Cowboys had gotten away from this identity on the road against the Broncos and two Monday nights ago at home against the Cardinals, but began to find it again at the Raiders.
Both Javonte Williams and Malik Davis ran physically between the tackles, the Cowboys used motion well, and saw Prescott throw four touchdowns to four different targets. Prescott’s 75.8% completion percentage was the second highest of his career in a game with at least 32 pass attempts. George Pickens took full advantage of open space to run that came via the Cowboys lining up Lamb in tight splits, and drawing a lot of attention from the Raiders’ coverages from these spots. This created easy reads for Prescott who was only hit four times, one of which being the strip sack by Maxx Crosby. Lamb being double teamed led to a wide open Jake Ferguson in the middle of the end zone in the second quarter to give the Cowboys a two score lead, the type of breathing room they hadn’t felt since October.
With Bell’s interception immediately following this and then another touchdown to Pickens, the Cowboys showed off their quick strike offense to go ahead 24-6. Even Ryan Flournoy found the end zone for the second straight week in primetime, running a great whip route and catching a well-timed ball from Prescott to turn a three and out from the defense to start the second half into six more points, and a runaway 31-9 lead.
The Raiders toyed with the idea of getting back into this game by making it a two-score lead at the end of a 14-play, 62-yard drive in the fourth, but the Cowboys were never rattled and put the game back on ice with big plays on special teams and defense. The game of field position was critical against a Raiders offense that has shown no ability all season long to sustain drives. KaVontae Turpin took the kickoff after the Raiders made it 31-16 to the Dallas 49-yard line with a 39-yard return, at least insuring the Cowboys would have a great chance to pin the Raiders deep if they couldn’t move the ball themselves. The Cowboys could not, going three and out, but Bryan Anger’s punt put the Raiders at their own two-yard line after a negative three-yard return.
This alone had things looking bleak for the home team, and it didn’t get any better after a false start on first down trying to get out of their own end zone. One snap later, Jeanty ran right into rookie DE Donovan Ezeiruaku at the goal line and was tackled for a safety, putting the Cowboys comfortably ahead by three scores at 33-16. One of the stars of the night in Pickens recovered the onside free kick attempt that followed by the Raiders, and all that was left was to run out the clock from here.
The Cowboys total body of work in wins against the Giants, Jets, Commanders, and Raiders still may have them searching for a signature win that their upcoming schedule will offer plenty of opportunities for, but nobody in the organization is going to forget or downplay this emotional win here in Week 11. As this team continues to tightrope the line between making the most of a season that still carries playoff hopes, and building their culture under Schottenheimer for an even brighter future led by the amount of young players along with high-paid stars seeing the field, the Cowboys sure looked like a team with every intention of competing on every snap they get over the remaining seven weeks.
Next up, a rival they’ve beat six of their last seven times at AT&T Stadium.
