ARLINGTON, Texas — There is a lot to unpack, once again, as the Dallas Cowboys fall at home for the fifth consecutive time since their playoff loss in January, this time to the Philadelphia Eagles, but it's also true that there's a lighthouse emerging on the defensive unit; and his name is DeMarvion Overshown.
An all-out nightmare to Jalen Hurts over the course of the first two quarters, to the tune of two (nearly three) sacks and a a team-high nine tackles entering halftime — a key reason the Cowboys were still within striking distance to begin the third quarter.
It was a breakout, career game for the former Texas Longhorn.
"He's got a true warrior spirit, man," said All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons, who returned to action from a high ankle sprain that cost him the majority of the season to this point.
The combination of Overshown being unleashed worked masterfully with Parsons, also delivering two sacks on the day, also in the first half, so much so that the latter is now considering a role change in 2025.
"I think, eventually, I might want to hop back and play linebacker again just so I could play with him," Parsons said. "I love the energy he brings. He's such a special — I don't want to say kid, because he played like a grown man — but he's somebody I hope I play with for a long time. How he plays, the motor and the relentlessness, I hope he's greater than me in all aspects of this game."
For his part, Overshown was hellbent on sending an early message to the Eagles, and it hit with the force of a meteor to set the tone from the outset.
"We knew that we had to come out hot, defensively, especially with a couple guys down on offense, but we knew we had to take it to them," said the former third-round pick. "They were going to try to run it down our throats at the beginning of the game, so we had to set the tone of, 'This is what we are not having.'"
Things quickly cratered in the opposite direction, against the Cowboys, after the first two quarters, though.
"I think we were feeling good coming out of halftime, and we just let it slip away from us in the third quarter," Overshown said.
In yet another contest, the Cowboys saw their hopes wilt in the third quarter of a contest, and it's led to a 3-6 record with precious little to hold onto going forward.
But what they can certainly be excited about is the guy wearing the No. 13 jersey.
Despite it being his de facto rookie season, returning this year from a torn ACL that erased his entire 2023 season, and missing time in Oxnard with a hip pointer, Overshown flew out of the gate in Week 1 and has only gotten better every single week.
"That's one thing that I knew was going to come — just playing NFL football, getting comfortable within the system and myself and just the guys I'm playing with," he said. "I missed a lot of time in training camp, so I can definitely see these past couple weeks are just something that I feel like I would've seen early on in the season if I didn't miss so much time last year in training camp."
Speaking of his health, Overshown exited the game in the second half to have his knee evaluated by Cowboys' medical staff, and did not return, and though he's expected to have an MRI on Monday to confirm all is well, he wasted no time in revealing his status for Monday Night Football against the Houston Texans.
And, as it turns out, the injury itself occurred in the first half, and not the second, indicating he could've potentially continued playing through it if not for being medically shut down.
"I'm great [physically]," he said. I'll be ready to go next week."
That's great news, because if the Cowboys stand any chance whatsoever at stopping their tailspin in Week 11, they'll need Overshown on the field wrecking shop, as he now tends to do.
