LANDOVER, Md. — Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer was like a kid who got a go-kart as a Christmas Day present … he mashed his foot on the gas pedal and never let up in the Cowboys’ 30-23 road win over the Commanders.
The Cowboys went for it six times on fourth down in Thursday’s victory, converting all six times.
It was full throttle for the Cowboys in the win as Schotty trusted his team in key moments, role players stepped into the spotlight, and KaVontae Turpin hit the afterburners on an 86-yd TD pass from Dak Prescott.
Here are news and notes from the sideline at Northwest Field:
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Aggressive play-calling: The Cowboys’ offense went for it on fourth down six times and was rewarded all six times. Heck, Schotty went for it three times during a drive that started in the first quarter and ended in the second quarter because of those successful fourth-down conversions stretched the drive to a whopping 17 plays lasting 7:38 of clock time.
Dallas is the first NFL team since 1991 – the furthest back the stat can be researched – to convert 100% of its fourth downs in a game on six or more attempts.
Stingy on Christmas: The Cowboys ran 87 offensive plays, their most in a non-overtime game this century, and controlled the ball for a season-high 38:44 time of possession.
The Cowboys rushed for 211 yards on 44 carries, both season-highs. The ground game and the fourth-down conversions meant the team played keep-away from the Commanders, yet the most exciting play of the day felt more like a lightning strike delivered by the smallest guy on the field.
Even though this was a short work week and there was nothing on the line in terms of postseason for either team, this was a hard-fought game in the trenches. The offensive line was mashing guys up front, and the running backs were earning yards after contact.
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Turpin time: KaVontae Turpin’s long TD catch took place in the third offensive series and put the Cowboys up by 21-3 midway through the second quarter. It was Dallas’ longest play of the season and its longest play since a 92-yard TD strike to CeeDee Lamb in 2023 against Detroit.
The highlight earned Turpin and Prescott an invitation to join Michael Irvin and the Netflix crew for a postgame on-field interview in which the players were presented with large red Santa coats, complete with the white furry fringe. And, yes, they got to keep the coats. Turpin told us in the locker room postgame that he’s going to wear it when he gives his kids their Christmas presents once he gets back home and can celebrate the holiday.
Feel-good story: For an inspiring holiday story, look no further than running back Malik Davis, who joined the Cowboys as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2022 and played in 15 games through his first three seasons before given a pink slip April 30. Disappointed yet undeterred, he stayed in shape, kept to an NFL players’ training regimen, and waited for the phone to ring. The Cowboys called him back to work on Aug. 8 due to training camp injuries to Miles Sanders and Jaydon Blue, just in time to fly to Oxnard and get ready for a preseason game less than 36 hours later.
Davis was waived at the end of camp, then signed to the practice squad where he remained for the first six regular-season games. An in-season injury to Sanders – and the fact that Blue doesn’t play coverage units on special teams – meant that Davis was elevated for games beginning in October before finally being signed to the active roster on Nov. 22.
Davis bided his time, and his patience finally paid off in a big way as Javonte Williams’ lingering shoulder stinger thrust him into a starring role on Netflix on Christmas Day.
Davis topped 100 rushing yards, carrying the ball a career-high 20 times for a career-high 103 yards with an impressive 5.2 yards per run. For his troubles, he earned a large knot above his eye, looking like Rocky Balboa after a bout with Apollo Creed. Davis’ eye looked pretty gnarly in the postgame locker room. Even so, Davis may get even more carries in the season finale next weekend at the NY Giants because Williams aggravated the left shoulder stinger he suffered earlier this month.
Williams toughed it out in the first half, totaling 13 carries for 54 hard-earned yards as well as a four-yard TD run. But late in the second quarter, he came to the sideline where he was examined by team orthopedist Dan Cooper. Williams did not play in the second half, so Davis and fullback Hunter Luepke picked up the slack.
Luepke finished with seven carries for 30 yards (4.3 avg), including key back-to-back runs in a drive late in the fourth quarter that culminated with Brandon Aubrey’s 51-yard field goal to extend the Cowboys’ lead to 30-20 with 3:59 to play.
Flournoy roots for Tolbert: WR Ryan Flournoy was inactive due to a right knee injury suffered in the loss to the Chargers four days earlier. I spoke with Flo during pregame and he said the decision was made on Wednesday. While disappointed the short week did not allow him a chance to fully recover in time, he was excited for teammates Jonathan Mingo and Jalen Tolbert to get extra in-game reps in his place.
Tolbert had been a gameday inactive four of the previous five games as coaches decided to go with Mingo rather than the reliable Tolbert, who was leapfrogged by Flournoy in the pecking order midway through the season.
But it’s Christmas and you’d better not pout. Tolbert never did. Quiet, unassuming, and professional, he’s kept practicing hard. And being a true “team” guy, he was ready for Thursday and made key catches on two of the six conversions on fourth down.
Tolbert finished the day with four catches on eight targets for 31 yards. Mingo was targeted only once, but the pass was high and incomplete.
Tolbert’s stat line may not be eye-popping, but the fourth-down conversions were big. Tolbert is not a look-at-me guy and he is in the final year of his rookie contract. Will the game in New York be his last with the Cowboys, or will the team make him an offer in the offseason to keep him? I hope Tolbert sticks around because he is trusted by Dak, teammates and the staff to make the play during crucial moments.
What was that on Clark’s hand? Why was DT Kenny Clark playing with a giant Q-tip on his right hand? OK, Clark did not have a Q-tip affixed to his arm, but the cast and giant wad of white bandages wrapped around his right hand made it look like one. The extra padding was to protect an injured metacarpal (bone) in his right hand.
Pass the Butter, please: Pro Bowl kicker Brandon Aubrey went 3 of 4 on field goals, reaching 150 points on the season. He is the first player in NFL history to tally 150-plus points in each of his first three NFL seasons. With his 52- and 51-yard field goals on Thursday, Aubrey has 11 makes from 50-plus yards in 2025. He is the only kicker in NFL history to make at least 10 field goals from 50 or more yards in three seasons.
Not so Fergalicious: TE Jake Ferguson’s day started great as he scored the first TD of the game on a 6-yard scoring strike from Prescott. But it didn’t end happily. Late in the second quarter, he received medical attention on his right calf in the blue medical tent on the sideline. Brevyn Spann-Ford and Luke Schoonmaker took his reps for the remainder of the half.
Ferguson was downgraded to “out” at halftime. He came back on the field and watched the second half from the sideline with a wrap around his calf. Spann-Ford had a big 31-yard catch in the fourth quarter, and Schoonmaker finished with two catches for 15 yards.
Revel banged up: Rookie cornerback Shavon Revel took the brunt of a blow late in the fourth quarter while assisting on a tackle. He underwent a cognitive evaluation in the blue medical tent and did not return to the game. There is no new conference schedules for Schottenheimer on Friday, so we may not learn Revel’s status for the regular season finale until Monday when we get an update from the head coach.
Domino effect at linebacker: DeMarvion Overshown missed the game because of a concussion suffered in Sunday’s loss to the Chargers, so rookie Shemar James took Overshown’s spot at weakside linebacker and finished with six tackles, tied with Revel for the game high.
James has become a core member of special teams. Because he would get a larger number of snaps on defense in place of Overshown, the Cowboys elevated rookie LB Justin Barron from the practice squad to fill James’ role on special teams. It was Barron’s first NFL regular-season game. Barron played at Syracuse alongside Cowboys rookie safety Alijah Clark. Thursday’s game was the first time the two former Orangemen played next to each other in a regular-season game for the Cowboys.
Perfect weather: OK, I admittedly was Grinching back in April when the schedule was released about playing in December in the Washington, D.C., area because we’ve had some cold weather games up there late in the season. But thank you to Mother Nature (or Santa) for the picture-perfect day in the nation’s capital (or in our case, Landover, Md.). The temperature was 50 degrees as the sun burst through the clouds just before kickoff. People on the sideline and in the stands were shedding coats because the weather was so mild.
Cowboys fans turn out: Who would show up on Christmas Day in Landover for a game between two teams that are eliminated from the postseason? The answer: tons of Cowboys fans among the sellout crowd of 64,407, especially in the lower deck behind the Cowboys’ bench, outnumbering Commanders fans by at least 10-to-1. Oh, and a Grinch wearing a Cowboys sombrero who, along with his wife dressed as Cindy Lou Who, traveled all the way from Florida to their front row seats behind the north end zone.
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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