The Cowboys’ overtime win against the Giants was exactly the kind of performance that raised more questions than it answered. New York controlled the ball for more than 12 and a half minutes of the opening quarter, yet all they had to show for it were two field goals. The real headline was penalties. A 65-yard return on the opening kickoff was wiped away, and a string of flags kept halting New York’s drives more effectively than Dallas’s defense. Although his team won the game 40-37, HC Brian Schottenheimer was blunt with his assessment of the team’s performance on Sunday.

By the time the Cowboys trailed 6–0 after two possessions, the concern was less about how DC Matt Eberflus’s scheme held the line and was more about the Giants failing to capitalize. The cracks in the Cowboys’ schemes were obvious. The run defense looked soft, Trevon Diggs and the secondary were repeatedly exposed, and Dallas was fortunate the deficit wasn’t 14–0.

A tweet on X revealed what Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said when asked about his level of concern with Dallas’ defense giving up so many big plays on Sunday: “It was not the standard. I think there are a lot of things we can clean up. I think that’s what I’m excited about. This is not a multiple-week thing. This is something that we think we can correct. I felt like it was a lot of different pieces, a lot of different parts. It wasn’t one person. It wasn’t one type of coverage.” 

Schottenheimer’s words came after a night where Russell Wilson, of all people, nearly stole the show. The Giants’ quarterback, facing heat about whether he still had it, put up big numbers and had Dallas down 13–10 at halftime. The Cowboys’ offense had no immediate answer, and their defense looked exposed.

Schotteneheimer added, “When you’re going to be multiple, the way we are we, have to communicate better. I didn’t think that our communication was to the standard that it needs to be. … Any time you give up seven explosive passes, and (Russell Wilson) played incredibly well, but there was a lot of things that we can tighten up.”

Wilson kept coming, dropping a rainbow to Wan’Dale Robinson late in the fourth. Prescott answered, hitting George Pickens for what looked like a game-winner—his 25th career game-winning drive—until Wilson struck back again, finding Malik Nabers in the end zone with under 30 seconds left. That forced Brandon Aubrey into Hero mode, drilling a 64-yard field goal at the gun to tie it, capping off a wild 41-point fourth quarter before Dallas escaped in overtime.

“I think that was what was so good about the meetings today, is we don’t shy away from those things. We point those things out. Defense is hard, man. All 11 guys have to be doing the same thing. When it doesn’t happen, you open up yourself to big plays,” Schottenheimer admitted.

It wasn’t until flags bailed them out—like Giants cornerback Andru Phillips handing 15 free yards on a body slam of CeeDee Lamb, or a four-flag sequence that gave Dak Prescott a reset inside the 10—that Dallas finally caught a spark. Prescott hit KaVontae Turpin to trim the deficit, but another clock misfire left them down 13-10 at the break.

“But we found a way to win the game, which is great. We’re going to make the corrections. And we have to, because giving up those types of plays, you’re not going to win many games, and we were very fortunate to find a way to win.” Brian Schottenheimer then summed up his take on the game.

The Cowboys walked away with the W, but Schottenheimer’s warning rang louder than the celebration: survival won’t cut it if seven explosive passes remain part of the deal. And to that end, the Cowboys have made an announcement.

Cowboys add Jadeveon Clowney after Micah Parsons gamble

Only Jerry Jones could walk out of an overtime thriller, face the cameras, and drop a bombshell roster move in the same breath. Minutes after Dallas survived the Giants, the Cowboys’ owner revealed the team had reached a deal with Jadeveon Clowney—the former No. 1 overall pick from South Carolina who once terrorized quarterbacks as Dallas’ next great pass rusher. It felt less like a press conference and more like Jones slamming his hand on the poker table: all in, again.

This is the same Jerry Jones who shipped Micah Parsons—the face of the defense, a four-time Pro Bowler—to Green Bay just weeks ago after contract talks imploded. The return haul? Two first-rounders and defensive tackle Kenny Clark, who’s already made his presence felt in the trenches. But against the Giants, the cracks were still glaring. The run defense looked soft, the secondary was shaky, and the pass rush lacked that chaos Parsons used to provide. Enter Clowney, not the unstoppable phenom he once was, but still a proven disruptor.

The résumé speaks louder than any hype: 58 career sacks, 409 tackles, and 139 quarterback hits across stints with six different teams. From Houston to Cleveland to one-year cameos with the Titans, Ravens, Seahawks, and Panthers, Clowney has seen every angle of NFL survival. Now he steps into Dallas, a franchise desperate to turn a messy 7–10 season into a playoff rebound. The question is obvious: can Clowney’s veteran edge help patch the very holes Jerry himself created?