Fresh off another rough loss, the Dallas Cowboys head to Indianapolis in Week 9 with plenty of pressure hanging over the trip.
The Colts come in at 2-6 and have already started selling ahead of the NFL trade deadline, moving guard Quenton Nelson and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner while looking toward the 2027 season. But that doesn’t change the fact that the players still on the field are trying to win, and Dallas can’t afford to treat this like a soft landing spot. At 3-5 and carrying one of the league’s worst defenses, the Cowboys need urgency - and these three figures have the most to answer for.
Javonte Williams is one of them after a week-to-week swing that told two very different stories. In the Week 7 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, he looked like the version of himself Dallas saw in 2025, piling up a career-high 155 rushing yards and averaging 6.2 yards per carry.
Then came Week 8 against the Cardinals, where the ground game vanished. Williams managed only 56 yards on 24 carries, a 2.3-yard average that played a major role in Dallas failing to finish the game.
Now he gets a Colts defense ranked 27th against the run, and the pressure is on him to bounce back.
Caleb Downs is carrying a different kind of burden on the other side of the ball. The 11th overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft has had a rough season in coverage, and his latest outing against Arizona only added to the concern.
He was targeted three times, gave up a catch on each one, and allowed 49 yards and a touchdown. For the season, he has now given up 20 receptions on 22 targets for 211 yards and three touchdowns, with opposing quarterbacks posting a 146.2 rating when throwing his way.
The struggles around him haven’t helped, but Downs still has to be better if Dallas wants any chance of stabilizing its defense.
And then there’s Brian Schottenheimer, who sits under the brightest spotlight of all. The second-year head coach has a roster with talent, but the results haven’t followed.
Dallas is 10-14-1 under his watch, and the team appears to get worse as the weeks go by, often matching the level of whoever is across from them. The offense has no clear identity, the defense has become a disaster, and the noise around his job keeps getting louder.
If the Cowboys can’t leave Indianapolis with a win, the pressure from the fan base could reach a boiling point.
In Other News...
Cowboys Suddenly Have A Brandon Aubrey Problem They Cant Ignore
Brandon Aubrey has still given the Cowboys a major edge on kickoffs, but the long-range part of his job has become harder to trust. After setting such a high standard with his leg, Aubreys recent run from 50 yards or more has stood out, especially with seven misses in his last 15 tries from that distance during the 2026 season.
For Dallas, the ripple effect goes beyond the kicking unit. Brian Schottenheimer has been leaning more conservative with his offense, a sign that the staff is weighing field-goal range more carefully than it used to. Some of the misses have been blocked, which adds a little context, but the bigger issue is that a weapon once treated as automatic from deep is no longer being viewed that way. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Suddenly Linked To A Chargers Pass Rusher Fans Know Well
The Chargers rough start has pushed them toward the kind of deadline posture that can reshape a roster in a hurry, and it has already put a few familiar names into the rumor mill. While a Justin Herbert move remains a long shot, Los Angeles has been viewed as a team that could listen on veteran defenders and younger pieces alike, with pass rush help naturally drawing attention from clubs looking to add depth before the stretch run.
Tuli Tuipulotu is one of the names surfacing in that conversation, and the Cowboys are among the teams linked to him. The edge rusher is in the final year of his rookie deal after the Chargers were unable to work out an extension with him this summer, which makes him the kind of player that can become a deadline talking point quickly even before any real trade momentum builds. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Suddenly Have A Jake Ferguson Decision They Can't Delay
Jake Fergusons season has reached the point where the Cowboys have to at least think about every option, including one that would have seemed far-fetched not long ago. His role has shrunk, his production has dipped, and Dallas is in a spot where long-term assets matter more than clinging to a name value that may no longer match the on-field return.
The tricky part is timing. Fergusons trade value is not exactly at its peak right now, which makes any move a tough sell, but the Cowboys also cannot afford to wait forever if they believe a deal could help them recoup something useful before the deadline. For a team still trying to balance present needs with future planning, this is the kind of decision that can linger until the last possible moment. [Read more 🡒]