The Dallas Cowboys may have fallen short in Thursday night’s rivalry clash against the Philadelphia Eagles, but the defense still showed flashes of resilience.
While the unit did an admirable job bottling up running back Saquon Barkley, limiting him to just 62 yards on 17 carries (3.6 yards per attempt), the real difference came from QB Jalen Hurts.
Hurts repeatedly extended drives with his legs, finishing with 62 rushing yards and two touchdowns, punishing the Cowboys on crucial downs.
Amid the loss, two young defenders stood out despite limited opportunities: LB Marist Liufau and DE James Houston.
Both received fewer than 10 defensive snaps, but their impact in that short window should prompt the Cowboys to expand their roles moving forward.
Marist Liufau: Speed and Tenacity
Marist Liufau has already established himself as a demon on special teams, flying downfield with relentless energy and delivering tone-setting tackles.
That same speed and tenacity are exactly what the Cowboys need more of on defense, especially against quarterbacks like Jalen Hurts, who thrive on breaking contain and creating chaos outside the pocket.
On Thursday, Liufau logged just six defensive snaps. That’s far too few for a player whose athleticism could be a difference-maker.
Kenneth Murray saw the majority of the snaps alongside the starting unit, but Murray struggled with anticipation and reaction speed Thursday night.
Liufau’s explosiveness and ability to close space quickly could help Dallas contain those scramble lanes that Hurts repeatedly exploited.
The Eagles exposed a vulnerability in the Cowboys’ linebacker corps, being a half-step slow on key downs, and Liufau could be the answer. His limited usage on defense does not reflect his upside.
Six snaps is simply not enough for a player capable of injecting energy and closing speed into the heart of Dallas’ defense. If given more chances, Liufau has the tools to swing the momentum in critical moments.
James Houston: Setting the Edge
James Houston was just as underutilized in the defensive rotation, logging only nine defensive snaps.
Despite the limited role, he made one of the most memorable plays of the night when he shot through what looked to be a double team and tackled Barkley for a four-yard loss in the backfield.
Plays like that don’t happen by accident. Houston showed both his instincts and raw strength in breaking down a run play that few others could have stopped.
Perhaps even more encouraging was his consistency when asked to set the edge. Houston did not give ground easily, holding up against the Eagles’ talented offensive line and keeping Barkley contained from bouncing outside.
That kind of discipline is invaluable, especially against a team built on misdirection and perimeter runs.
Nine snaps is simply not enough for a defender who is proving he can hold his own in the trenches.
Dante Fowler started the game and got the bulk of the rotational work, but Houston showed more impact in a fraction of the time.
The Cowboys would be wise to give him an extended look moving forward, particularly in matchups where physical edge play is critical.
100% agree. Fowler individually accounted for several of Hurts escape runs and Houston has way better agility, change of direction and discipline. And Marist MUST be on the field more. An eventual LB group with him on one side and Demo on the other will allow for a slightly slow Sanborn to thrive in the middle.
Liufau should have played most of the game, Murray was pitiful, he was slow and missed a lot of tackles. He wasn’t impressive at all. So as far as I’m concerned Murray is a waste of a trade pick.! So as far as Houston goes Eberflus made a big mistake not playing him a lot more, Houston in the 9 plays he got, he got a lot more done than the bulk of the guys playing end. I fully expect him to be playing much more and get a couple sacks. Fowler played fair & Clark was a stud.! Where was Mazi? Ha Ha. Sanborn was lost he was never in the right spot, I think Jerry needs to get a middle linebacker that is a stud not a lost little boy. Diggs played pretty good for being out for so long. So we need improvement for our linebacker room. Go Cowboys!!!
Why do y’all keep dogging Mazi!? He’s actually a really good player!! He just can’t get going because these defensive coordinators keep making him change his weight every year and learn how to play a different style every year!! And every time he starts getting the hang of playing at the new weight and playing the new style, a new defensive coordinator comes in and makes him change his weight again, and learn a new way of playing again!! It’s happened every year since he was drafted!! And you people wanna blame him for not being able to get going, when in reality it’s the defensive coordinators fault!! And I’ll never understand why they keep doing it to him!! He played at a certain weight in college, and he was drafted to be that player, but when he was drafted, the first thing that happened was Dan Quinns dumb a$& made Mazi lose a bunch of weight and play the way he wanted him to instead of playing the way he’s good at!! And it didn’t work out!! And then Mike Zimmer comes in and makes Mazi gain all that weight back and play a different style, and it started working around week 10…. Mazi actually started playing good football!! And then Matt Eberflus comes in and makes Mazi lose all that weight again and play a similar way as Dan Quinn wanted him to play, and if he was paying attention, he would have known that the best way to play Mazi is with the extra weight like he was in college and with Zimmer!! Mazi is a run stuffer, not a pass rusher, but these defensive coordinators keep trying to turn him into a pass rusher, when they just need to leave him alone and let him be who he was in college and the player he was drafted to be!! We took him in the 1st round because he was a big nose tackle that could stop the run, but he has only gotten to play that way for 1 year, in the NFL, and by the time he got going, and started looking good, a new defensive coordinator comes in and makes him change his weight and style again!! There’s no player that can go through that much weight change and learn a new scheme and a new style every year and end up being a good player!! Mazi was drafted to be the player he was in college, so these defensive coordinators need to stop messing with him and let him play the way he did in college and let him play at the same weight!! If they do that, I guarantee Mazi will be the player he was drafted to be!!
With QB Hurt running through the Cowboys defense reminded me of a bad produced movie why didn’t they put a spy on him is beyond my comperhense by the the time the defense awaken from sleeping walking the game had in theory been lost if the run defense don’t get their act together much sooner we are in for another disappointing season in my opinion there is three compartment the team must fixed ( 1 ) the running defense ( 2 ) incorporates Piken in the offense ( 3 ) give Blue the opportunity to break off some game changing runs if so there team will be scary
The run defense isn’t bad!! They held the best RB in the NFL to just 3.3 yards a carry…. And he ended the game with barely 60 yards…. That’s really good!! The only thing they need to do is scheme up a way to stop Hurts too!! Which I think shouldn’t be the case!! QBs are being paid to be QBs not RBs, I think these QBs that take off running all the time like Hurts and Jackson should be fined if they do it for anything other than escaping a sack!! I don’t think it’s right for a QB to end up with more rushing yards than the best RB in the NFL by the end of the game, and it’s not right for a QB to end the season with a thousand or more yards either!! These QBs should be forced to stand in the pocket like a real QB and throw it to the receivers on their team like their supposed to, and stop taking off running every time they’re scared of getting sacked!! If they’re scared they mite get sacked, scramble away and find a receiver to throw the ball to, they shouldn’t be allowed to just run!! But that’s just my opinion!! But since these RBs that play the QB position are allowed to run, I think Eberflus will figure out a way to stop it!!
And the next thing is, the coaches had Pickens on the field a lot in that game, but they had one good corner, and he was on Pickens for most of the game, that’s why Pickens didn’t get that many looks!! But he’ll have his chance when the best corner is on Ceedee at times!!
And Blue will get his chance too, they didn’t keep him on the 53 man roster just to keep him inactive every week!! I think they wanted to give the veterans the first shot of the season and that’s why Blue was inactive for week 1!! But after Sanders cost us points with his fumble in week 1, I think Blue will get his chance next week
Fowler didn’t seem to understand containment. He constantly bit on the play action.