The Cowboys head to Indianapolis in Week 9 with the pressure cranked all the way up. Dallas is staring at a must-win game against the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium, and with the NFL trade deadline coming fast, this one could shape what Jerry Jones does next.
It has been a rough start for Dallas, a season that has fallen well short of the expectations that came in with it. The Cowboys have not found the kind of traction they need, and the margin for error is shrinking by the hour.
A win in Indianapolis would give them a badly needed jolt and could push Jones toward making a major move to help what has been described as the league’s worst defense. A loss, though, would make the road ahead look a lot uglier and could send the Cowboys into full look-ahead mode for next season.
Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX, and the broadcast crew is already set. Adam Amin will handle play-by-play, Drew Brees will be in the analyst chair, and Kristina Pink will report from the sideline.
The officiating assignment is Clay Martin and his crew. Martin began his NFL career in 2015 as an umpire before moving up to referee in 2018.
There is also a road wrinkle worth noting: last season, the home team won 75 percent of the time, which puts the Cowboys in a tougher spot heading into Indianapolis.
Sunday’s matchup is scheduled for November 8, 2026, in Indianapolis, Indiana, at Lucas Oil Stadium. The betting line has Dallas as a 6-point favorite, with the over/under at 51.5. The moneyline lists the Cowboys at -278 and the Colts at +255.
In Other News...
Cowboys Tight End Is Going Viral For An Unexpected Reason
Brevyn Spann-Ford has quietly become one of the more interesting depth pieces on the Cowboys roster this season, appearing in every game after arriving as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota. While his on-field role has been steady, the rookie tight end has started drawing attention for something far outside the usual football conversation, thanks to a comment from his girlfriend, Madison Kaiser, a forward for the University of Minnesota womens hockey team.
Kaiser is no ordinary college athlete, either. She has represented Team USA in international competition and built an impressive resume with the Golden Gophers, which only adds to why the exchange caught on so quickly. For Dallas, it is another reminder that Spann-Fords profile is growing in more ways than one, even if the reason making the rounds has little to do with blocking schemes or red-zone targets. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Aubrey Is Giving Cowboys Fans A Costly New Concern
The Cowboys escaped Indianapolis with a comeback win, but Brandon Aubreys miss from 50 yards became the kind of moment that lingers after the celebration fades. Dallas had been trailing late in the fourth quarter when the kick sailed wide, opening the door for the Colts to briefly grab the lead before the Cowboys answered with the winning touchdown.
For a kicker who recently landed a contract extension that made him the highest-paid player at his position, the miss only adds to a growing concern around his long-distance reliability. Aubrey has now come up short on multiple deep field goal tries since last season, and for a team that expects to keep playing tight games, that is not a small detail. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Escaped With A Win But One Problem Looks Worse
The Cowboys got out of Indianapolis with a 27-23 win, but the kind of mistakes that usually come back to bite a team were all over the place. Dallas had moments of success on the ground, yet the offense never settled in cleanly, with turnovers and penalties repeatedly undercutting drives and making a tight game feel even shakier than it needed to be.
On the other side, the defense gave up several big plays and spent long stretches trying to recover from them, even as the Cowboys found a way to close it out late in the fourth quarter. A win is a win, especially on the road, but this was the sort of performance that leaves one obvious issue hanging over the next week: the margin for error is getting awfully thin. [Read more 🡒]