FRISCO, Texas – The 2025 offseason is upon us, with plenty of looming decisions ahead for the Dallas Cowboys following a 7-10 finish in the regular season.
Before moving forward, let's first look back at each month of the 2024 season and break down how everything unfolded for Dallas.
To begin, we'll go back to the start in September:
September:
- Sept. 8 – Cowboys 33, Browns 17
- Sept. 15 – Saints 44, Cowboys 19
- Sept. 22 – Ravens 28, Cowboys 25
- Sept. 26 – Cowboys 20, Giants 15
Biggest takeaway: It was clear that if the Cowboys were going to win games, they would need to have a good day through the air. Dallas went over 100 yards rushing as a team just once in the month of September, rushing for 102 yards against Cleveland in the opener. Dak Prescott threw the ball 90 times in two games against the Saints and Ravens, and the Cowboys being one dimensional on offense is one of the reasons why those teams were able to play better defensively, and Dallas simply just couldn't overcome those two strong offensive performances on the flip side either.
Something to remember: The Cowboys 20-15 win over the Giants wasn't pretty by any means, but following a two-game losing streak combined with injuries to two key players, it was a much needed one. Prescott threw for two touchdowns en route to Dallas' seventh straight win over New York, and the Cowboys defense limited the Giants run game to just 26 yards. It was a game that they were expected to win the entire time, but it also served as a confidence builder to try and get the season back on track.
Something to forget: After opening the year against the Browns with six sacks, the Cowboys defense combined for just two over the course of the next three games. In turn, the Saints, Ravens and Giants combined for 1,191 yards of offense over the course of three weeks against the Dallas defense, good for an average of 397 yards of offense per game. Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence went out early against the Giants with their respective injuries too and would end up missing valuable time going forward that didn't necessarily help things on the pass rush side.
Employee of the month:
Patrik Walker: In a month chocked full of "are you kidding me with this?", it was, for me, DeMarvion Overshown taking center stage — figuratively and literally speaking. The budding superstar linebacker wasted no time at all flying out of the gate against Deshaun Watson and the Browns, almost as if he'd never suffered a torn ACL just months prior. He'd finish September with 29 combined tackles, a sack and having quickly established himself as a heartbeat of the defense.
Nick Eatman: One of the reasons the Cowboys struggled this year is because their kicker was their most consistent performer. But in September, Brandon Aubrey was amazing, hitting a 50-yard field goal in each of the four games. In fact, in a five-day span late in the month, Aubrey hit a pair of 60-yard field goals, including a franchise-best 65-yarder against the Ravens. Aubrey was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for September.
Tommy Yarrish: Dare I say Dak Prescott? Sure, the Saints game was ugly. Frankly, I look at it as an anomaly in terms of how just all-around weird it was considering how New Orleans finished the season. That doesn't mean you can entirely toss it to the side, but even still, Prescott had a 6/2 TD to INT ratio in those four games and helped get Dallas back in the game against Baltimore. It wasn't good enough to lead the Cowboys to a winning record, but it was a promising start.
