Cowboys-Giants: 3 Biggest Overreactions From a Wild Week 2

The Case For

Has there ever been another kicker you’ve had more confidence in to nail a 64-yard field goal to send a game to overtime? The only thing that makes this an overreaction is that he’s only in his third year. Here’s what Aubrey has already accomplished: 35 straight made field goals to begin his career—an NFL record. 14 made field goals from 50+ in 2024, the most ever in a season in NFL history. And a 91% hit rate from 50+ yards.

For Aubrey, 60 yards is the new 50, and we don’t even know what his limit is yet. Last year, Aubrey hit a 66-yarder (what would’ve been the NFL record) that was nullified due to a delay of game penalty, and head coach Mike McCarthy opted not to try from 71.

Hot take: He would’ve made it—did you see how much clearance he had on the 64-yarder he made yesterday?

Had it counted, Aubrey would already have the record for most field goals made from 60+ yards, and he’s only in his third year. As it stands, he’ll have to settle for being tied with the most made from 60+, with four.

Prediction: He’ll make at least one more from 60+ this year.

If we’re talking overreactions from Cowboys-Giants, Aubrey being the GOAT belongs at the top of this list.

The Case Against

It’s simply too early to declare a guy who’s only played two full seasons the best in NFL history. That’s really the only case against him.

If you’re looking for a blemish, it’s in Landover, MD. In the final game of the 2023 regular season, Aubrey missed two kicks inside 40 yards—the only two misses he had all season. The following year, he missed two more kicks at Washington—another from inside 40 yards. Aubrey is 1-for-5 at Washington’s Northwest Stadium and 58-for-61 everywhere else.

Yeah, it’s probably a little premature to declare Aubrey the GOAT kicker. But there’s not another guy in league history who you’d trust more to hit from long range than him.

Javonte Williams is the Running Back of the Future

The Case For

The Cowboys haven’t had a running back look this good since 2019—Ezekiel Elliott’s last great year with the Cowboys.

Javonte Williams has already found the end zone three times, and while he’s *only* racked up 195 yards from scrimmage, it’s come against arguably the two best defensive lines in football.

Head coach Brian Schottenheimer wants to run the ball, and the interior of the offensive line is built to get push up the middle. Williams is physical, shiftier than expected, and he runs hard. When you watch him play, he looks like a lead back.

Williams is only 25 years old, and he has the benefit of having basically taken a year off—albeit because he was rehabbing a torn ACL. Regardless, Williams fits the profile, and the offensive line is built to run the ball. If Williams can stay healthy, expect Schottenheimer to continue to feed him, especially down near the goal line.

The Cowboys were one of the worst red zone teams in 2024, largely because they couldn’t run the ball. Remember Zeke racking up touchdowns when the ball was at the two-yard line? Expect to see that from Williams a lot this year.

We all thought Dallas punted on the running back position again, and fans didn’t have the benefit of seeing Williams take any preseason snaps. Turns out, Schottenheimer had seen all he needed to from Williams during the offseason, and he knew that he would be riding him hard once the season started.

The Case Against

Williams has never rushed for more than 1,000 yards or scored more than four rushing touchdowns in any season so far in his career. The Denver Broncos—his former employer—let him walk after his contract expired.

You would assume a team that’s seen a guy for four years would have a good idea of his ceiling, but sometimes, a guy just needs a change of scenery. The Cowboys and Klayton Adams’ run schemes might be exactly what Williams needed.

Williams is also at risk of losing carries to other backs on the roster—namely, Jaydon Blue. Fans have been clamoring for the rookie back to see the field more, but he was a healthy scratch for the second straight week. Schottenheimer has cited issues with consistency, emphasizing that he is going to reward players who live by his mantra, “Compete every day.” We’ll see how that plays out as the year goes along.

As it stands right now, Williams is the guy. He looks explosive and physical in the run game and capable as a pass catcher out of the backfield. If he maintains this level of performance, Williams won’t just be RB1 this year. He’ll be Dallas’ RB1 of the future.

The Dallas Cowboys will Finish With the Worst Pass Defense in Football

The Case For

I mean, did you watch the game?

The Cowboys secondary looked like a college team trying to cover NFL receivers. There were missed assignments, bad/nonexistent communication, and guys running wide open right down the field. Other than Malik Nabers’ fourth-quarter touchdown, every deep completion was to a wide-open receiver.

Russell Wilson—the same guy who Giants fans wanted benched after one week—put together his best performance since the Seattle years. He was 30/41 for 450 yards and three touchdowns, with a passer rating of 123.0. The Giants also had two receivers go for over 140 yards and a touchdown, and had eight plays of over 24 yards—seven coming through the air.

Those numbers alone explain why overreactions about the Cowboys secondary being shredded by the Giants don’t feel like overreactions at all.

Remember when the Cowboys were telling us how good Kaiir Elam was? He came down to earth real quick. Nabers did most of the damage, but it didn’t matter who Elam was covering. He couldn’t stay in front of anyone.

Trevon Diggs—already not the stickiest cover guy—doesn’t look anywhere close to his former self yet. It didn’t matter if it was Nabers or Wan’Dale Robinson; they ran right past him multiple times.

Then there’s the pass rush element to all this. When Dan Quinn was running the defense, the Cowboys were always at or near the top in takeaways. They played an aggressive style of defense and had a menacing pass rush that allowed the secondary to be aggressive. With the absence of Micah Parsons, the defense isn’t generating enough push, and the secondary is forced to cover for longer. And yesterday, it didn’t go well.

Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus has his work cut out for him if he’s going to turn this thing around.

The Case Against

The Dallas secondary is decimated by injuries right now. DaRon Bland missed yesterday’s game with a foot injury, and rookie Shavon Revel Jr. is still working back from a knee injury. Additionally, the Cowboys are without Josh Butler and Caelen Carson.

You expect the pass rush to improve a little. The Cowboys have been able to generate decent pressure, but they haven’t turned those into enough sacks. Without consistent pressure on the quarterback, you’re asking the back four to cover for too long. With the addition of Jadaveon Clowney and more reps for guys like Donovan Ezeiruaku, the hope is that Dallas will be able to generate enough pressure to ease the burden on the secondary.

This unit will perform better when all their pieces are healthy (hopefully), but they still looks like one of the worst in the league.

In 2024, the Cowboys run defense finished 31st in the league. Expect that to be about where their pass defense finishes in 2025.

Overreaction Monday: Final Takeaways

From Cowboys-Giants chaos to Monday morning overreactions, three things stand out above the rest.

Brandon Aubrey is the best kicker alive, Javonte Williams is the future at running back, and the Cowboys have the worst pass defense in football. That’s what we learned in Week 2.

We’ll see you next week.