Dallas Cowboys Dominate New York Jets for Second Victory of 2025

The Dallas Cowboys’ offense continued their stellar season play on Sunday afternoon in East Rutherford, N.J., against the New York Jets, and the defense performed at a high level (yes, a high level) in the team’s comfortable 37-22 victory at MetLife Stadium. The Cowboys improved to 2-2-1 with the victory. 

Dak Prescott completed 18-of-29 passes for 237 yards and four touchdowns, including a 43-yarder - a nice pass down the seam with close coverage by the Jets’ Sauce Gardner - to George Pickens. The receiver caught two passes for 57 yards, and his five receiving touchdowns through his first five games with the Cowboys are the most all-time by a Cowboy pass catcher. Running back Javonte Williams continues to be a pleasant surprise for the Cowboys and a supreme bargain ($3 million). He ran 16 times for 135 yards, including a 66-yard run towards the end of the first half. Ryan Flournoy led the Cowboys in receiving with 114 yards on six receptions. Flournoy, 25, was a sixth-round draft choice in 2016. He has good hands and also possesses good running ability, too. Tight end Jake Ferguson had seven catches for 49 yards and two touchdowns. Ferguson has 41 catches this season in the first five games, which is the most by a Cowboy in that span. 

The retooled (due to injury) Cowboy offensive line - Nate Thomas, Hakeem Adeniji, Brock Hoffman, T.J. Bass and Terence Steele - performed very well as a unit. Thomas in particular is impressive with his agility and speed on pulling blocks and blocking downfield. Bass is solid, too, and Adeniji played adequately. The Jets registered just one sack, courtesy of defensive end Braiden McGregor. Jet star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams was blocked well. He tallied just one tackle for loss. 

Maligned through the first four weeks for their poor play, the Cowboy defense was the revelation on Sunday afternoon. The defensive line attacked from different angles and kept Justin Fields off balance and on his toes all game. Dante Fowler played a great game getting to Fields and forcing the Jet quarterback to either get out of the pocket or throw before he wanted to. Fowler registered one sack in the game, Sam Williams and Osa Odighizuwa one each, Kenny Clark 0.5, and James Houston 1.5. Houston (27 snaps on Sunday) leads the team in sacks with 3.5. He is a talented end who has a good blend of power and speed and works well on stunts and inside and outside pressures. Rookie Donovan Ezeiruaku, who led the Cowboys edge rushers in snaps against the Jets with 46, also had a good game rushing the passer. Sam Williams received 38 snaps, Dante Fowler 35, and Jadeveon Clowney 32.

Middle linebacker Jack Sanborn left the game in the first half with a concussion, which paved the way for rookie fifth-rounder Shemar James, who tallied eight solo tackles and fifteen total. His 15 total tackles are the most by a Cowboys’ rookie since 2018 (Leighton Vander Esch). It is also the second most by a Cowboy overall in the last six years (Sean Lee had 17 in a game in 2019). James covers a lot of ground. He is a sure tackler with good fundamentals. Kenneth Murray Jr. tallied five tackles and had probably his best game of the season, doing a good job of spying Fields. The back end of the defense for the most part did a good job in limiting big plays. Evident throughout the game was the speed for the Cowboys on the defensive side of the ball and the pressure that they brought. It was a stark difference to their other performances so far this season. 

Fields completed 32-of-46 passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns, but most of those yards were with the Cowboys having the game in hand. Breece Hall ran for 113 yards on 14 carries. He had a 10-yard run late in the first half but had the ball punched out by Marist Liufau, which eventually led to a five-yard Williams touchdown. A big momentum shift. 

Garrett Wilson caught six passes for 71 yards and tight end Mason Taylor caught nine for 67, but the majority of Taylor’s were again with the Cowboys having control of the game. An impressive play from Wilson was a right-handed one-handed grab that prevented a Trevon Diggs interception. 

The Cowboys tallied 416 total yards to the Jets’ 378. The Cowboy offense remains one of the best in the league, and Sunday’s performance was particularly impressive considering that four of their five offensive line starters were second stringers. 

Next up for the Cowboys is a date with the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium at 1 p.m eastern on Sunday, October 12. New Panther running back Rico Dowdle, who ran for 1,079 yards with the Cowboys in 2024, rushed 23 times for 206 yards and one touchdown on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. 

Game Notes 

Javonte Williams (447 yards) is second in the NFL in rushing yards. George Pickens has five receiving touchdowns, which are tied with the Chicago Bears’ Rome Odunze for the second most in the NFL. The Detroit Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown (6) is first. Ferguson’s 41 receptions are second in the league to the Los Angeles Rams’ Puka Nacua (52).