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Morning After Week 2 - Winning The Hard Way
Absolutely nothing came easy for the Cowboys first win in 2025. But, hey, they got it done.
Bob Sturm
Sep 15, 2025
These games are a great test of your expectations. It seemed like you could quickly tell, as Brandon Aubrey did it again, which Cowboys fans were experiencing joy because of a hard-fought win and which fans were happy their weekly pain session had come to an end. For some, that was a victory they did not enjoy in the slightest.
And, honestly, I am not sure which group is right, because that is not really my job to tell you how you feel about your favorite NFL team. That is up to you. You have to sort through that and figure it out for yourself. But, it is my job to present you with a number of things to consider as you work your way through this sports therapy session.
The Cowboys beat the New York Giants on Sunday in a game that was absolutely insane. At no point did either defense express the slightest clue on how to slow down its opponent and once they showed a weakness, it was exploited for the rest of the day. One team won, because one team has to win (although a tie was looking more and more like the proper and just outcome), but neither side was going to feel great about how badly they were at stopping the other.
This was peak-Big 12 football being played, where it was nearly basketball. The losing team gained 500 yards and passed for 450. They scored on seven of their 12 possessions and had 21 points in the fourth quarter alone. The losing side had nearly eight yards per play which would lead the NFL in any season. The losing side had an offensively dominant day by really any measure. Their biggest and maybe only flaw was that they settled for too many field goals on a day where they had to have more touchdowns.
The winning side barely touched the ball in the first quarter and was chasing the game. The brief moments they would enjoy a small lead were quickly given back to their opponent often on the very next possession. There were next to no stops – except in overtime – but, the offense is being played with a pressurized feeling that they have to score every time they get the ball because the defense is not stopping anything or anybody.
It is a tough way to live and it may only be available against one of the assumed worst teams (assumptions are sometimes wrong) on the entire schedule. If you can’t beat the New York Giants at home, there is a very good chance this will be one of the longer seasons that have been endured around here.
But, here is where there is hope, I would think.
They did beat the Giants. Yes, they were dragged around the field against their will for a great portion of this sleepy noon start at the Death Star. Yes, they made Russell Wilson look like a man in the peak of his career, back in Seattle, where he pushed for league MVPs because he threw one of the most perfect deep passes of that era. Yes, they insist on running zone with almost no grasp of how to play it with continuity and shared responsibilities, while getting almost no pass rush to speak of as the QB comfortably waits for his targets to find huge voids in your “blanket coverages.”
But, the victory was secured. And that is always an important point to express on days like today, because there are times where we lose sight of the actual objectives of these games as we tie ourselves in knots fretting about what lies ahead. We might even lose sight about the journeys these guys are on – many who were not even born when the franchise started this trip through the wilderness.
They have no idea how the Cowboys got in this spot, but they know that they are now tasked with doing their part to get the franchise going in the right direction again. And yesterday, when those boys were in the winning locker-room following their exhausting battle against another team with plenty of baggage, they were allowed to feel great, despite any eye rolls from their public. They won a game that was begging to be lost. They opened their account for 2025 and deposited in one victory that hopefully won’t be too lonely for too long.
I think watching how the players and coaches (and owner) on that team felt immediately following that titanic struggle is worth doing for a brief moment before we point out the many things they can do better. These guys look like they have worked pretty hard and are not bothered by accepting a win with a few warts on it.
This is an emotional game played by emotional men. There are no wins in this league that don’t require a lot of effort, injury, and exhaustion. This is the toughest football league in the world and the margins between winning and losing are so slim that almost nobody can make money trying to predict outcomes (like Dallas -6). So, yes, here at SturmStack and apparently in that Cowboys locker-room, we believe in two things on days like these:
Last week, I finished my Morning After column with the following summary thought:
But, on the other hand, you have a very, very good QB and WR combo who we have seen produce at elite levels in 2022-2023, as well as what we believe to be the best kicker in the sport.
It is tough to understand what having these pieces can do to remaining competitive when you need points on a given drive – or else. Yesterday, in do-or-die situations, Dak Prescott was nearly perfect as he threw to CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens continuously. They delivered big and, as it goes without saying, Brandon Aubrey was perfect.
Prescott’s start to 2025 has been exceptional. In two games, he is putting his passes on the money over and over again and these are of a very high degree of difficulty. I know that must make some people crazy who have made it their goal in life to rid themselves of looking at him, but I said it quite a bit this offseason: He is now at an age in his career where we saw Romo play his best football.
The only thing that cost Romo was his body couldn’t survive anymore, but his mind made everything easier and the game slowed way down. It only stands to reason that as Prescott reaches the same spot in his career with a much healthier back that we could be about to see some of his best years. In other words, if 2023 becomes his normal for the next few seasons with Lamb and Pickens available, the offense might be able to put 28 on the board with some level of routine. Through two games he has made nine big-time throws and just three turnover worthy plays as he is not missing and the throws are all pushing the ball down the field. They are attacking and he is making this work. Can he continue to do so? He has some great weapons and you can tell he is taking the ownership to make this his quest.
Meanwhile, the architect of the offense is Schottenheimer. He claimed he had better ideas and a good idea of what this offense needs to run. The offensive line is protecting well and the running game is producing on a better level. It is far from perfect or even dominating, but it is helping now and not hindering. Part of it is empowering Prescott and Lamb to go do their thing. Prescott has confidence and strength to go get these opportunities and he is doing it well. Again, how far can it take them? Well, in this league, if you have QB squared away, you can live with a lot of other things not being perfect. We saw it with Romo for years. It can clean up a lot of spills – whether his own fanbase can appreciate how good he is will be its own story, but I will say this: If you cannot appreciate where Prescott appears to be after that performance yesterday and what we saw last week, then you have probably already made up your mind and are unwilling to see new things. Because he has been the Cowboys best player for two straight tough divisional games where every possession mattered a lot.
Unless, you want to consider that the best player is their kicker. My buddy Bobby Belt had a stat on Brandon Aubrey this morning that was pretty mind-blowing:
But, Brandon Aubrey is generational. He is so absurd that his origin story gets lost in all of this because we have heard it so much. But, make no mistake, to find this guy out of pro sports and then to have him winning games like this is just the craziest thing. When you talk about a players “wins above replacement,” I get uncomfortable with giving a guy who is never on the field too much credit. But, what else can you do with Aubrey.
If he is a normal kicker, that game yesterday is a loss. But, he isn’t. He is exceptional. You probably cannot pay him enough, but you better pay him.
So, again, how bad can you be if your QB is playing elite football, your kicker might be the best ever, and your coach has a lot of impressive offensive ideas?
Well, this week, we will need to get into that. Because the defense was pretty brutal. I cannot express how out of sorts the pass defense looks right now. The Eagles never really tried to throw the ball downfield (as the Eagles often will not unless you challenge them) and the Giants were playing bombs away football. What will Ben Johnson and Matt LaFleur try in the next few weeks unless you get your defense squared away?
We suggested that the Giants are a very poor offense with a washed up QB and a porous offensive line that cannot protect him anyway.
Instead, we saw an aerial show against a Cowboys secondary that we have not seen in a long time. Here are seven different 25-yard completions against the pretty clueless Dallas defense as the Eberflus boys continue to play these zones where there is too much open space and next to no pass rush pressure.
Seven! I searched every game in the last decade and could only find one other game with seven such completions and that was Thanksgiving Day 2017 when Philip Rivers and Keenan Allen sliced and diced the Cowboys secondary for a 28-6 win. It was brutal. That, of course, was a season where they were running the Rod Marinelli defense which, like this one, is all zones, no blitzes, and if you don’t have pressure on the QB, you are simply a sitting duck back there. The LB coach that day? Matt Eberflus.
That, of course, hurts my head. I honestly don’t know how much better this can get because they took away their pass rush specialist who was better than anyone in the world, at times. And the replacements might be better at stopping the run – we shall see – but without pressure and without Richard Sherman playing corner and Earl Thomas playing safety, I am not sure obvious zones can work around here.
But, I grant you that they need more time and probably a healthy DaRon Bland. However, please no that you won’t win many games by giving up 500 yards and 37 points. It has happened 14 times in Cowboys history according to Stathead and the Cowboys are now 2-12 in those games.
The other win was that crazy Monday Night game in Seattle in 2004 where rookie Julius Jones went off.
But, how many times have you won a game when giving up 500 yards, 37 points, and 450 yards passing for the opposing QB?
Once.
Yesterday against the Giants was the only time it has ever happened in 66 seasons of Cowboys football and 1,067 games (including Sunday) that they have ever played in the regular and post-season.
So, we don’t apologize for wins, but this one was one that you are unlikely to every duplicate again. Some things to clean up, but it is so much more fun to clean things up when you got a win that we all thought was a must.
Win secured. Now back to work.
Absolutely nothing came easy for the Cowboys first win in 2025. But, hey, they got it done.
Bob Sturm
Sep 15, 2025
These games are a great test of your expectations. It seemed like you could quickly tell, as Brandon Aubrey did it again, which Cowboys fans were experiencing joy because of a hard-fought win and which fans were happy their weekly pain session had come to an end. For some, that was a victory they did not enjoy in the slightest.
And, honestly, I am not sure which group is right, because that is not really my job to tell you how you feel about your favorite NFL team. That is up to you. You have to sort through that and figure it out for yourself. But, it is my job to present you with a number of things to consider as you work your way through this sports therapy session.
The Cowboys beat the New York Giants on Sunday in a game that was absolutely insane. At no point did either defense express the slightest clue on how to slow down its opponent and once they showed a weakness, it was exploited for the rest of the day. One team won, because one team has to win (although a tie was looking more and more like the proper and just outcome), but neither side was going to feel great about how badly they were at stopping the other.
This was peak-Big 12 football being played, where it was nearly basketball. The losing team gained 500 yards and passed for 450. They scored on seven of their 12 possessions and had 21 points in the fourth quarter alone. The losing side had nearly eight yards per play which would lead the NFL in any season. The losing side had an offensively dominant day by really any measure. Their biggest and maybe only flaw was that they settled for too many field goals on a day where they had to have more touchdowns.
The winning side barely touched the ball in the first quarter and was chasing the game. The brief moments they would enjoy a small lead were quickly given back to their opponent often on the very next possession. There were next to no stops – except in overtime – but, the offense is being played with a pressurized feeling that they have to score every time they get the ball because the defense is not stopping anything or anybody.
It is a tough way to live and it may only be available against one of the assumed worst teams (assumptions are sometimes wrong) on the entire schedule. If you can’t beat the New York Giants at home, there is a very good chance this will be one of the longer seasons that have been endured around here.
But, here is where there is hope, I would think.
They did beat the Giants. Yes, they were dragged around the field against their will for a great portion of this sleepy noon start at the Death Star. Yes, they made Russell Wilson look like a man in the peak of his career, back in Seattle, where he pushed for league MVPs because he threw one of the most perfect deep passes of that era. Yes, they insist on running zone with almost no grasp of how to play it with continuity and shared responsibilities, while getting almost no pass rush to speak of as the QB comfortably waits for his targets to find huge voids in your “blanket coverages.”
But, the victory was secured. And that is always an important point to express on days like today, because there are times where we lose sight of the actual objectives of these games as we tie ourselves in knots fretting about what lies ahead. We might even lose sight about the journeys these guys are on – many who were not even born when the franchise started this trip through the wilderness.
They have no idea how the Cowboys got in this spot, but they know that they are now tasked with doing their part to get the franchise going in the right direction again. And yesterday, when those boys were in the winning locker-room following their exhausting battle against another team with plenty of baggage, they were allowed to feel great, despite any eye rolls from their public. They won a game that was begging to be lost. They opened their account for 2025 and deposited in one victory that hopefully won’t be too lonely for too long.
I think watching how the players and coaches (and owner) on that team felt immediately following that titanic struggle is worth doing for a brief moment before we point out the many things they can do better. These guys look like they have worked pretty hard and are not bothered by accepting a win with a few warts on it.
This is an emotional game played by emotional men. There are no wins in this league that don’t require a lot of effort, injury, and exhaustion. This is the toughest football league in the world and the margins between winning and losing are so slim that almost nobody can make money trying to predict outcomes (like Dallas -6). So, yes, here at SturmStack and apparently in that Cowboys locker-room, we believe in two things on days like these:
- There is absolutely no apologizing for winning in the NFL.
- Please see point No. 1.
Last week, I finished my Morning After column with the following summary thought:
I keep thinking that the Cowboys are in a weird spot because on one hand, this all feels like a soft rebuild as they believe they gave the Mike McCarthy several years to contend and it never happened when it mattered most. So, the trade of Micah Parsons is just another move where the team is trying to satisfy the idea that hiring a new coach means building things up from the ground level and that includes much of the roster.
But, on the other hand, you have a very, very good QB and WR combo who we have seen produce at elite levels in 2022-2023, as well as what we believe to be the best kicker in the sport.
It is tough to understand what having these pieces can do to remaining competitive when you need points on a given drive – or else. Yesterday, in do-or-die situations, Dak Prescott was nearly perfect as he threw to CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens continuously. They delivered big and, as it goes without saying, Brandon Aubrey was perfect.
Prescott’s start to 2025 has been exceptional. In two games, he is putting his passes on the money over and over again and these are of a very high degree of difficulty. I know that must make some people crazy who have made it their goal in life to rid themselves of looking at him, but I said it quite a bit this offseason: He is now at an age in his career where we saw Romo play his best football.
The only thing that cost Romo was his body couldn’t survive anymore, but his mind made everything easier and the game slowed way down. It only stands to reason that as Prescott reaches the same spot in his career with a much healthier back that we could be about to see some of his best years. In other words, if 2023 becomes his normal for the next few seasons with Lamb and Pickens available, the offense might be able to put 28 on the board with some level of routine. Through two games he has made nine big-time throws and just three turnover worthy plays as he is not missing and the throws are all pushing the ball down the field. They are attacking and he is making this work. Can he continue to do so? He has some great weapons and you can tell he is taking the ownership to make this his quest.
Meanwhile, the architect of the offense is Schottenheimer. He claimed he had better ideas and a good idea of what this offense needs to run. The offensive line is protecting well and the running game is producing on a better level. It is far from perfect or even dominating, but it is helping now and not hindering. Part of it is empowering Prescott and Lamb to go do their thing. Prescott has confidence and strength to go get these opportunities and he is doing it well. Again, how far can it take them? Well, in this league, if you have QB squared away, you can live with a lot of other things not being perfect. We saw it with Romo for years. It can clean up a lot of spills – whether his own fanbase can appreciate how good he is will be its own story, but I will say this: If you cannot appreciate where Prescott appears to be after that performance yesterday and what we saw last week, then you have probably already made up your mind and are unwilling to see new things. Because he has been the Cowboys best player for two straight tough divisional games where every possession mattered a lot.
Unless, you want to consider that the best player is their kicker. My buddy Bobby Belt had a stat on Brandon Aubrey this morning that was pretty mind-blowing:
I think you know that I generally find kickers and punters to be a part of this great sport where I don’t spend much time. They are all sort of the same and as long as one doesn’t cost too many games – Brett Maher – I don’t concern myself too much with the topic at all.
But, Brandon Aubrey is generational. He is so absurd that his origin story gets lost in all of this because we have heard it so much. But, make no mistake, to find this guy out of pro sports and then to have him winning games like this is just the craziest thing. When you talk about a players “wins above replacement,” I get uncomfortable with giving a guy who is never on the field too much credit. But, what else can you do with Aubrey.
If he is a normal kicker, that game yesterday is a loss. But, he isn’t. He is exceptional. You probably cannot pay him enough, but you better pay him.
So, again, how bad can you be if your QB is playing elite football, your kicker might be the best ever, and your coach has a lot of impressive offensive ideas?
Well, this week, we will need to get into that. Because the defense was pretty brutal. I cannot express how out of sorts the pass defense looks right now. The Eagles never really tried to throw the ball downfield (as the Eagles often will not unless you challenge them) and the Giants were playing bombs away football. What will Ben Johnson and Matt LaFleur try in the next few weeks unless you get your defense squared away?
We suggested that the Giants are a very poor offense with a washed up QB and a porous offensive line that cannot protect him anyway.
Instead, we saw an aerial show against a Cowboys secondary that we have not seen in a long time. Here are seven different 25-yard completions against the pretty clueless Dallas defense as the Eberflus boys continue to play these zones where there is too much open space and next to no pass rush pressure.
Seven! I searched every game in the last decade and could only find one other game with seven such completions and that was Thanksgiving Day 2017 when Philip Rivers and Keenan Allen sliced and diced the Cowboys secondary for a 28-6 win. It was brutal. That, of course, was a season where they were running the Rod Marinelli defense which, like this one, is all zones, no blitzes, and if you don’t have pressure on the QB, you are simply a sitting duck back there. The LB coach that day? Matt Eberflus.
That, of course, hurts my head. I honestly don’t know how much better this can get because they took away their pass rush specialist who was better than anyone in the world, at times. And the replacements might be better at stopping the run – we shall see – but without pressure and without Richard Sherman playing corner and Earl Thomas playing safety, I am not sure obvious zones can work around here.
But, I grant you that they need more time and probably a healthy DaRon Bland. However, please no that you won’t win many games by giving up 500 yards and 37 points. It has happened 14 times in Cowboys history according to Stathead and the Cowboys are now 2-12 in those games.
The other win was that crazy Monday Night game in Seattle in 2004 where rookie Julius Jones went off.
But, how many times have you won a game when giving up 500 yards, 37 points, and 450 yards passing for the opposing QB?
Once.
Yesterday against the Giants was the only time it has ever happened in 66 seasons of Cowboys football and 1,067 games (including Sunday) that they have ever played in the regular and post-season.
So, we don’t apologize for wins, but this one was one that you are unlikely to every duplicate again. Some things to clean up, but it is so much more fun to clean things up when you got a win that we all thought was a must.
Win secured. Now back to work.