No team’s 2025 season likely began with more buzz than the Dallas Cowboys. Just seven days ahead of the team’s season opener at the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles,...
No team’s 2025 season likely began with more buzz than the Dallas Cowboys.
Just seven days ahead of the team’s season opener at the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas traded All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons after a contract standoff that lasted months.
September then saw plenty of highs and lows, a slow start, a back-and-forth with an NFC East rival, two over time games, with one ending in a tie.
More importantly, it marked the beginning of Brian Schottenheimer’s first season as an NFL head coach.
Here is a recap of the first quarter of Dallas’ 2025 season.
September Schedule
Week 1: at Philadelphia Eagles — L, 24–20
Week 2: vs. New York Giants — W, 40–37
Week 3: at Chicago Bears — L, 31–14
Week 4: vs. Green Bay Packers — T, 40–40
Best game
Week 4 vs. Green Bay Packers
No I did not forget about Week 2 vs. the New York Giants and how that went down, but Week 4 had more to it.
Just weeks after the Parsons trade, the Cowboys’ former All-Pro defender was back in town to battle his former team at AT&T Stadium.
The Cowboys entered the game with a 1-2 record, while the Packers were 2-1.
Green Bay was the favorite, even more so after Dallas went into the game knowing they were already down star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and rookie guard Tyler Booker, both of whom suffered ankle injuries the week prior.
Despite being down two key pieces, the offense was on point the entire night, finishing with 436 yards of total offense. Prescott went an impressive 31/40 for 319 yards and three touchdowns while George Pickens stepped up in the absence of Lamb with 134 yards and two scores.
The Packers offense was equally as efficient with Jordan Love throwing for 337 yards and three touchdowns. Green Bay’s offense finished with 489 yards.
Neither team’s defense could stop the red-hot offenses that were on display.
Green Bay’s defense managed just one sack of Prescott, a third-down stop in overtime when Parsons chased him down as Prescott broke free toward the end zone. Without Parsons making that play, it likely would’ve been a walk-in score.
Dallas’ defense also managed just one sack, but it was a key play as it forced a fumble by James Houston, who recovered it. On the ensuing Cowboys possession, Prescott hit Pickens for a 15-yard score, which gave Dallas a 16-13 lead at the half.
Houston’s forced fumble was the only takeaway of the evening.
Both teams traded field goals in overtime, but with the Packers making theirs as time expired, the result was a 40-40 draw, which was Dallas’ first tie since Nov 27, 1969, a Thanksgiving Day matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.
Worst game
Week 3 at Chicago Bears
After defeating the Giants in a thrilling 40-37 overtime win the previous week in which Prescott and the offense went off for 32 first downs and 478 yards of offense, the Cowboys were looking to make it back-to-back wins early in the season.
They traveled to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears, who, at 0-2, were in search of their first win of the season.
Dallas’ win over New York was the start of a defensive unit that would struggle throughout the season.
After allowing over 500 yards to the Giants’ offense, Chicago further exposed the issues, with Caleb Williams throwing four touchdowns, including a 35-yard score to Rome Odunze, and a 65-yard strike to rookie Luther Burden, who got behind the defense, off a flea flicker to extend the Chicago lead 14-3.
The Cowboys battled back and later tied the game at 14 after Prescott found Pickens for a two-yard score.
Chicago controlled the game the rest of the way and went up 24-14 by halftime, and added the only score of the second half to close out the game 31-14.
Prescott finished 31/40 for 251 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions, one of which went off the hands of Pickens and into the arms of Tremaine Edmunds.
Despite gaining more yards, first downs, and winning the time of possession battle, Dallas turned the ball over four total times, and for the first time in his career, Williams was not sacked as the defense failed to get to the Bears’ second-year signal caller.
Top play
Brandon Aubrey 64-yard game tying FG Week 2
Dallas’ Week 2 contest against the New York Giants exposed their biggest issue that carried on the rest of the season: the defense.
The unit allowed 506 total yards, 37 points, a 450 yard passing game by quarterback Russell Wilson and a pair of 100 yard receivers in Malik Nabers and Wan’Dale Robinson.
After Wilson connected with Nabers for a go ahead score 48 yard score with just 25 seconds left to put the Giants up 37-34, Prescott managed to drive his team 21 yards in four plays to set up All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey who nailed a game tying 64 yard field goal that sent the Week 2 matchup into overtime.
Dallas was able to survive after Aubrey hit the game winning kick from 46 yards out to give Dallas a 40-37 win and avoid an 0-2 start.
Player of the month
QB Dak Prescott
Stats: 1,119 passing yards • 72.9% completion rate • 6 TD • 3 INT • 95.4 passer rating
Category: General Sports
