If you spent any part of the last four months screaming at your TV in a sports bar or from the comfort of your couch, you aren't alone. The 2025 Dallas Cowboys season was, honestly, one of the most statistically confusing stretches of football I've ever seen. We’re talking about a team that looked like an offensive juggernaut one week and then somehow let a three-win Giants team put up 34 points on them in the season finale.
The Dallas Cowboys game stats from this past year tell two completely different stories. It's basically a "Jekyll and Hyde" situation on turf. On one hand, you have Dak Prescott throwing for over 4,500 yards and George Pickens looking like the best trade Jerry Jones has made in a decade. On the other hand, you have a defense that literally ranked dead last in the NFL in points allowed.
The Numbers That Actually Mattered
Look, everyone loves a good box score, but the raw numbers from the January 4th loss to the Giants really sting. Dallas finished the year with a 7-9-1 record. That tie against Green Bay back in September? That was the first omen.
In that final game at MetLife, the Cowboys ran 54 plays compared to the Giants' 69. You can't win when you don't have the ball. Dallas only had the rock for about 26 minutes. Honestly, it’s a miracle they were even in games with that kind of time of possession deficit.
🔗 Read more: Liverpool FC Chelsea FC: Why This Grudge Match Still Hits Different
Offense: High Flying, Low Landing
Dak Prescott finished the 2025 season with 4,527 passing yards. That's elite. He actually passed his own 2019 mark to move into third place on the Cowboys’ all-time single-season list.
- Dak Prescott: 419 completions, 31 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.
- George Pickens: 92 catches for 1,420 yards and 9 touchdowns.
- Javonte Williams: 1,210 rushing yards (his first career 1,000-yard season).
So, if the offense was second in the league in total yards, why did they only win seven games? Basically, it comes down to the red zone. They only scored touchdowns on 56% of their trips inside the 20. When your defense is a sieve, field goals are just slow deaths.
The Defensive Meltdown
It’s tough to talk about. The Cowboys gave up 30.1 points per game. That is 32nd out of 32 teams. Last. Bottom of the barrel.
💡 You might also like: NFL Football Teams in Order: Why Most Fans Get the Hierarchy Wrong
While Micah Parsons was still doing Micah Parsons things—and Jadeveon Clowney actually had a career-high 3 sacks in that final Giants game—the unit as a whole couldn't stop a cold. They allowed 6.1 yards per play to opponents. You're basically giving up a first down every two snaps at 그 rate.
Why the Dallas Cowboys Game Stats Don't Tell the Whole Story
You see a 34-17 loss to New York and think "blowout." But if you watched, you saw KaVontae Turpin break a franchise record with an 84-yard kickoff return. He finished the year with 1,683 return yards. The special teams were actually a bright spot, but it's hard to notice when the secondary is getting torched for 96-yard touchdown drives.
What Most People Get Wrong About This Team
A lot of fans want to blame Dak. People love to do that. But honestly, the Dallas Cowboys game stats show he was one of the few reasons this team didn't go 3-14. He was sacked 31 times this year, which isn't terrible, but the pressure was constant because the defense couldn't get off the field.
📖 Related: Why Your 1 Arm Pull Up Progression Isn't Working (And How to Fix It)
The real issue was the "Schotty" (Brian Schottenheimer) play-calling in tight windows. They banked way too much on George Pickens winning 50/50 balls. Sometimes he did. Sometimes it was an incomplete pass on 3rd and goal, leading to another Brandon Aubrey field goal. Aubrey, by the way, was one of the few All-Pros on this roster, hitting 36 of 42 kicks.
A Glimpse of the Future?
In that Week 18 loss, we saw rookie Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah both score their first career touchdowns. Blue finished with 64 yards on the ground. There’s some juice there.
If the Cowboys are going to fix this in 2026, it isn't about the offense. It’s about that defensive DVOA, which was a staggering 32nd in the league. You can't expect Dak to put up 40 points every week just to scrape out a tie.
How to Use These Stats for 2026
- Watch the Red Zone Efficiency: If the Cowboys don't hire a specialist to fix their 20-yard-line play-calling, expect more of the same.
- Focus on the Draft: The defense needs a total overhaul in the secondary. Ranking 32nd in pass defense isn't a fluke; it's a personnel crisis.
- Monitor George Pickens: He is entering the final year of his deal soon. His 1,400-yard season makes him expensive, but he's the only one consistently creating space.
The 2025 season is over, and frankly, most of us are glad. The stats prove the talent is there on one side of the ball, but until the defense stops being a charity for opposing quarterbacks, the "America's Team" headlines will keep being about disappointment rather than trophies.