Don’t look now, but the Dallas Cowboys are back at .500 and in second place in the NFC East. With a 3-3-1 record, Dallas is just a couple of games behind the Philadelphia Eagles at 5-2. And they are also carrying the confidence and momentum from Week 7, where they managed their biggest win in quite some time.
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The Cowboys hosted the division rivals, the Washington Commanders, on Sunday in what was deemed a toss-up game. But a toss-up, it was not.
Even before Commanders QB Jayden Daniels went down with an injury, Dallas was dominating in what ended as a 44-22 butt-kicking. Enough to silence the critics? Well, it did.
As ‘America’s Team’, Dallas has an outsized place in the NFL media and consciousness. They have more fans than any other team, but they also have more haters. And the president of the Dallas Cowboys Hater’s Club would have to be ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.
Convenient then that Smith was nowhere to be seen on his show, First Take, the day after the Cowboys’ big win. And that’s why Cam Newton, whose father played for the Cowboys in 1983, noticed the conspicuous timing of Smith’s absence.
“These are certain times, especially being on First Take, that sometimes I be thinking Stephen A. really be having a whispering moment to sports. Because out of all the days that he would miss, he’s gonna miss today,” Newton said with a laugh.
“I was like, ‘Hold on, Stephen A. ain’t gonna be on the show today? He must know something.’ And doggone show, he knew something because I was gonna be on him like doggone flies on a you-know-what,” he added.
.@CameronNewton called @stephenasmith out 😂
"Out of all the days that he would miss, he's going to miss today?" 😅 pic.twitter.com/24YkbffX4w
— First Take (@FirstTake) October 20, 2025
No doubt, Smith will be back on the show soon with a wordy and quippy excuse for taking the day off after the Dallas win.
Also, there’s no denying that the Cowboys are better than nearly everyone thought they would be. That defense is unbelievably bad, but it looks like the offense might be even more unbelievably good.
Dak Prescott needs to be in MVP conversations. It’s as simple as that. We won’t bore you with all the numbers here, but he’s top five in basically every meaningful QB stat. Prescott is also leading an offense that is No. 3 in scoring (31.7 points a game) and No. 1 in total offense yards (390.6) a game.
Javonte Williams and George Pickens are both talented but embattled skill position players who seem on their way to career years in their first seasons in Dallas. Returnees Jake Ferguson and CeeDee Lamb have also been excellent.
The offensive line has allowed just eight sacks (third-fewest) on a 2.9 sack rate (second-fewest). This unit is rolling. And, with the Eagles and Commanders underwhelming a bit, the Cowboys are right back in the mix for this year’s NFC East crown.
