The Dallas Cowboys came into 2026 carrying plenty of optimism, but halfway through the season, that shine has worn off fast. The defense was supposed to be transformed after a major overhaul, and the offense was expected to be elite enough to push Dallas back into the playoffs after a two-year absence. Instead, the defense has not been any better than it was in 2025, and the offense has fallen short, too.
A few players have taken the biggest hit in that disappointment, and the Cowboys’ midseason story is starting to center on the ones who haven’t delivered.
One of the clearest misses has been Miller. Dallas signed him before the season with the hope that he would juice the pass rush and bring along a self-described Hall of Fame teammate.
Nine games in, the Cowboys have only gotten one of those promises, and it has not been the pass-rush boost. Miller has just one sack and 11 pressures, which ranks 84th at the position, according to Pro Football Focus.
That is a steep drop from the nine sacks and 36 pressures he posted in 2025.
Gary was another move that raised eyebrows from the start, especially after the Cowboys sent a fourth-round pick to get him in the offseason. The concern was there immediately because Gary did not record a sack from Week 9 on in 2025.
That drought stretched into 2026, when he went three more weeks before finally getting his first sack of the season, then went four more games without one before adding his second. He does have 32 pressures, tied for the 11th-most at his position, but the Cowboys brought him in to finish plays, and that part of his game has not shown up enough.
Ferguson has been just as frustrating, only in a different way. The tight end is now injured and expected to miss multiple weeks, and his production has been far too quiet for an offense that needed more from him.
Through nine games, he has 19 catches for 136 yards and four touchdowns. He has had competition for targets, but that was true last season as well, and he still finished with the second-most receiving yards of his career.
At this pace, Ferguson could struggle to get past 200 receiving yards after putting up 600 in 2025. The problems go beyond the box score, too.
He has been poor as a blocker, has two drops, and his Week 3 fumble against the Baltimore Ravens was a costly turnover.
Overshown was supposed to be the player who took the next step and locked himself in as the kind of linebacker people believed he could become after his impressive 13-game sophomore season, which came before another major injury, the second of his young career. That breakout has not happened.
Instead, he has missed six of the Cowboys’ nine games because of a hamstring issue that started in Week 1 and flared back up again in Week 9. His availability has been a problem, and so has a penalty he drew despite being inactive against the Indianapolis Colts.
With free agency set for 2027, his future in Dallas looks uncertain, and a prove-it deal now seems more likely than the long-term contract he is surely hoping for.
In Other News...
Cowboys Got One More Lifeline In The NFC East Race
Washingtons win over the Giants kept the NFC East picture from getting any cleaner, and that matters for Dallas. The division still has a long way to settle itself, with the Giants sitting at 5-3-1, the Cowboys at 4-5 and the Commanders at 3-5-1, which means the race remains messy enough for a team that has spent much of the season playing catch-up.
For the Cowboys, the path forward is still about staying alive long enough for the schedule to give them a chance. The remaining games for Dallas, New York and Washington will go a long way toward deciding whether the division title is still in play or whether the focus shifts more squarely to the playoff picture, and every result from here carries a little extra weight. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Just Got A Real NFC East Opening
The NFC East picture tightened a bit after Washington handled the Giants, and Dallas suddenly has a little more room to breathe in a division race that had been tilting away from it. The result narrowed the Cowboys gap in the standings and also showed up in the betting market, where their path to the division title got a noticeable boost while New Yorks outlook slipped.
For a Cowboys team getting ready to face the 49ers in Week 10, the timing matters. Dallas still has a stretch ahead that includes three straight home games and more divisional chances, which keeps the door open if it can take care of business and keep the pressure on the teams above it. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Get A Live Test Of Two Recent Trade Decisions
The Cowboys will get a fresh look at two trade decisions when they meet the 49ers in Week 10, with each side carrying a piece of the others roster history into the matchup. Dallas sent Osa Odighizuwa to San Francisco in March 2025, while later bringing in linebacker Dee Winters through the 2026 NFL Draft, giving this game a built-in layer of evaluation beyond the usual NFC measuring stick.
Odighizuwa has brought pass-rush value but has also had issues holding up against the run, which makes him worth watching against a Cowboys offense that will want to know what kind of impact he can still make. Winters, meanwhile, has had a mixed start of his own, and this matchup offers Dallas a live test of whether the move made sense on both sides of the ball, even if the fuller answer may not come until after the game. [Read more 🡒]