See the long list of legends at AT&T Stadium for Dallas’ win

ARLINGTON — Brandon Aubrey nailing kicks from 60-plus yards, Daron Bland taking it to the house with a pick-six, Dak Prescott picking apart the Commanders defense with precision strikes to CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens and Jake Ferguson, plus Javonte Williams breaking tackles and topping 100 rushing yards … it was a raucous and entertaining game for the 93,051 fans at AT&T Stadium enjoying the Cowboys’ 44-22 blowout win over the Commanders.

The Cowboys improved their record to 3-3-1 and moved into second place in the NFC East. Here are sideline tidbits from the Cowboys’ victory:

Heads or tails?: The Cowboys won the coin toss and usually the team elects to defer until the second half. But Sunday they took the ball to start the game. Why?

The decision was based in part on the game being a 3:25 p.m. kickoff in mid-October, the time of year in which sunlight affects the game the most during the second half, particularly the third quarter. If the Cowboys received the opening kickoff, Washington would receive the kickoff to start the third quarter, but the Cowboys would determine the direction of the kick and thereby control which direction players would be peering into the sunlight streaming through the West end zone during the second half. The sunlight played a part in the decision to take the ball.

Cowboys

Receiving the opening kickoff worked well for the Cowboys, especially since Prescott and the offense drove 66 yards for a touchdown to jump out to an early 7-0 lead, thanks to Williams’ 2-yard TD run. It was Williams’ seventh TD of the season. He is now tied with Hall of Famer Bob Hayes as well as Herschel Walker for the most TDs by a Cowboy in his first seven games with the franchise.

Open door policy: For only the 14th time in the 17 seasons the Cowboys have played in Arlington, the AT&T Stadium doors were open and the roof was closed. It takes less than 10 minutes for the panels of the retractable doors to open; the process began at 1:00 p.m. In case you were wondering, the world’s largest retractable doors are 180 feet wide and 120 feet high. The Cowboys’ record is now 11-3 with the Roof Closed/Doors Open configuration, so I suggest Jerry Jones should open the doors for every game.

Gameday decisions: The improved play of the Cowboys’ defense on Sunday was impressive considering two key players were ruled inactive within two hours of gametime. Sure, the coaching staff knew they would not have CB Trevon Diggs available because of a concussion suffered at his home on Thursday. But they did not know for certain they would also be without starting S Juanyeh Thomas and DE Marshawn Kneeland.

Thomas, who missed Friday’s practice with a migraine, was replaced in the starting lineup by Markquese Bell who received, by far, his most extensive playing time of the season. Bell played all 67 defensive snaps versus the Commanders. He had only 20 defensive snaps through the first six games. Rookie Alijah Clark was the only healthy backup safety behind starters Bell and Donovan Wilson. Clark played five defensive snaps in the dime package.

Without Diggs at cornerback, it was rookie Trikweze Bridges — not veteran Reddy Steward — who picked up the slack.

Bland and Kaiir Elam started at cornerback and they both played every one of the 67 snaps. But when the Cowboys went into their nickel package (five DBs instead of four), Bland (not Steward) moved inside into the slot and Bridges took Bland’s spot on the outside.

Bridges played 53 snaps and more than held his own in his first extensive playing time of the season. He had only 26 defensive snaps entering Week 7. Unofficially, he was credited with four tackles including a big stop on a third-down play in the first quarter which forced the Commanders to punt.

Give credit to Matt Eberflus and his staff – particularly DBs coach David Overstreet, secondary/nickel coach Darian Thompson and defensive passing game coordinator Andre Curtis – for having the young DBs like Bridges, Bell and Clark ready to step in and play at a high level.

On special teams, Thomas is the personal protector on punt coverage. Taking his spot was RB Malik Davis who was elevated from the practice squad for Sunday’s game.

As for the defensive line, Kneeland was listed as questionable entering the day because he was limited all week in practice with a sore ankle. He missed his second game of the season and, just like two weeks earlier at the Jets, he was a gameday decision. Taking his spot as a gameday active was LB Damone Clark who is also a key contributor in special teams coverage.

Clowney’s coming out party: With Kneeland inactive, the defensive end rotation was down one player. Jadeveon Clowney stepped up and played his best game of the season. He certainly was efficient. In just 26 snaps he was credited with a sack, a fumble recovery, two passes defensed, and five combined tackles. It was his first sack as a Cowboy and the 59th of his career.

Dynamic duo: See photos as CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens go wild vs. Washington

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Greatness recognizing greatness: A big thank you to former kicker Dan Bailey for hopping on the air with us on Cowboys Radio from the sideline following Brandon Aubrey’s 61-yard FG. Dan was one of 40 former players taking part in a pregame ceremony to honor Cowboys legends and celebrate a “homecoming” for so many of the great players in team history. I had a chance to chat off-air with Dan on the sideline during pregame, so when Aubrey split the uprights, I found Dan in the field level suite behind the Cowboys’ bench to tell him about Aubrey setting an NFL record with five career field goals of 60-plus yards.

Dan said something like “that’s amazing, Brandon’s fantastic” to which I replied “hold that thought, will you say that live on the air so all of Cowboys Nation can hear you talking about Brandon?” When we came out of the commercial break following the score, we had the former Cowboys’ All-Pro kicker talking about the current Cowboys’ All-Pro kicker which made for fun radio.

Greatness recognizes greatness and, interestingly, one of the things Aubrey said when he joined the team three years ago — and I’m paraphrasing — is he hoped to be as consistent and reliable as Bailey. Mission accomplished, and then some!

In Dan’s seven seasons in Dallas, he converted 88.2% of his field goals (186 of 211), the highest career percentage in team history (minimum 100 kicks). Aubrey’s third FG versus the Commanders on Sunday was the 100th attempt of his career so now he can go on the list. In fact, he goes straight to the top of the list at 91.0% (91 of 100).

Homecoming: Among the Cowboys legends attending the homecoming Sunday were Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson, Preston Pearson, Cliff Harris, John Fitzgerald, Bob Breunig, Timmy Newsome, Mark Washington, Doug Cosbie, Glenn Carano, Nate Newton, Jim Jeffcoat, Emmitt Smith, Charles Haley, Tony Tolbert, Leon Lett, Kevin Smith, Tony Casillas, Darren Woodson, Hurvin McCormack, Charlie Williams, Jay Novacek, Kenny Gant, Flozell Adams, Michael Myers, Dat Nguyen, Bradie James, Jason Hatcher, Keith Davis, Anthony Spencer, Mat McBriar, Doug Free, Dez Bryant, Joe Looney, Danny McCray and Leighton Vander Esch.

Dez sported an Aikman throwback jersey and visited with media postgame outside the locker room as well as jumping on our Cowboys Radio postgame show. Shoutout to Dez!

Even more alumni: Two hundred Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders alumni took part in the annual Spirit of DCC halftime show in which cheerleaders from all the way back in the 1960s through 2024 perform their original choreography to songs from their respective decades. It’s one of the most popular halftime shows each season. Pregame, the alumni were lined up end zone-to-end zone as they held the 100-yard-long American flag during the national anthem.

Sick call: Washington lost two key starters to injury during the game: QB Jayden Daniels in the opening series of the third quarter with a hamstring injury, and former Cowboys DE Dorance Armstrong to a knee injury in the opening series. Armstrong leads the Commanders with 5.5 sacks.

Only two Cowboys visited the blue medical tent on the sideline during the game, and both returned to action. The first was LB Kenneth Murray who needed a quick tape job on his right ankle in the second quarter before returning quickly to action.

The other was DT Kenny Clark who hurt his left elbow late in the third quarter. Clark missed a few more plays than Murray because, not only did it take several yards of elastic bandages and tape to wrap Clark’s arms, it took two people to slide the compression sleeve over the wrap/tape/bandages. Clark returned in time for the next defensive series, but that’s the longest tape/bandage job I can remember!

Fergalicious: In answer to last week’s question as to whether Jake Ferguson performed The Ickey Shuffle following a TD against Carolina, I asked Jake pregame about his celebration and he said it was actually the Tweeter end zone dance from Varsity Blues. But, yes, Ferguson does know about Ickey Woods and his famous dance. He did neither the Tweeter/Ickey dance moves after his two TDs Sunday versus the Commanders, going more low-key with his dance moves.

Ferguson is now the first tight end in NFL history with at least six receiving TDs and 50 receptions in the first seven games of the season. And he has now scored at least one TD in four straight games, joining Jason Witten as the only TEs in Cowboys history to accomplish that feat.

Celebrating with CeeDee: After celebrating in the end zone with teammates following his spectacular 74-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter, who did Lamb seek on the sideline for a hug and a thank you? The answer is Britt Brown, the team’s director of rehabilitation, who worked with CeeDee over the past month to get him ready to play after Lamb suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 3 at Chicago. Britt is one of the unsung heroes of the athletic training staff and his efforts are appreciated by the players.

Fun fact: Lamb has topped 100 receiving yards in all three games he has completed in 2025. He also surpassed 7,000 career scrimmage yards in his 85th career game, the fastest wide receiver in team history to reach that mark. And he did so with a couple of other great No. 88’s watching him in-person: Drew Pearson and Dez Bryant. Happy Homecoming!

Kristi Scales is the sideline reporter for the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network. She writes this column for The Dallas Morning News after each Cowboys game.

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