ARLINGTON, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys (5-7) reaped the rewards of delayed gratification in their 27-20 Thanksgiving Day home victory over the NFC East rival New York Giants.
Three-time All-Pro running back Micah Parsons applied constant pressure and finished with 1½ sacks, but Thursday’s most impactful defensive plays came from Dallas second-year linebacker DeMarvion Overshown. He was a third-round pick of the Cowboys in the 2023 NFL Draft out of the University of Texas, but his sophomore season in 2024 is essentially his rookie year after tearing his ACL in his second preseason with Seattle. Seahawks in 2023. I was looking forward to Thanksgiving 2024 and I was all over the place. He became the first Cowboys player with a pick six and a fumble recovery in the same game since 2002, when safety Roy WIlliams did it in a Week 17 game at Washington. Overshown is now just the fifth player in Cowboys history to accomplish the feat in a single game.
“Very grateful,” Overshown said after the game Thursday when asked about his gratitude for playing in the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving game this season. “Right before the game, I was saying to myself this time last year, I was hoping to show people my testimony that when I get back on the field, I’m going to show them what God has really put in me to go out there, I inspire and I play like I do. So to be healthy on the field is all I can ask for. With the group of guys I play with, I wouldn’t ask to be anywhere else.”
What is shown is from the small town of Arp, Texas, which is located approximately 140 miles southeast of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. For Texas natives like Overshown, playing for the Cowboys in their annual Thanksgiving home game is the best thing ever.
“Playing on Thanksgiving for the Dallas Cowboys, like I say, doesn’t really get any better,” Overshown said. “I’m blessed… I don’t take it for granted. I’m really grateful.”
Parsons, who was the NFL’s most double-teamed running back last season after seeing double teams on 35% of his passes according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, is also grateful for Overshown. He absolutely lights up when he talks about it. After Dallas’ Week 1 win, Parsons declared Overshown a future All-Pro. He doubled down on that statement Thursday and even admitted to seeing shadows of himself in the second-year pro.
“It helps me a lot,” Parsons said after Thursday’s game when asked about playing alongside Overshown. … “I told them from the beginning that he was going to be a guy. Since his rookie year, before the injury, I said, ‘That’s going to be an All-Pro, Pro Bowl type player.’ I’m happy that he finally showed it I said it from the beginning, it reminds me of someone. [myself]. Now, he is not [No. 11] However, that’s Agent 0. He has his own creative identity and that’s why I like that he’s not trying to be like me. It’s its own special specimen. It’s a wild cat in the field. Man, I love playing alongside him.”
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Overshown showed off his high level of athleticism by deflecting Giants quarterback Drew Lock’s play-action screen pass into the air before catching it and running it back for a 23-yard interception return touchdown, the first score of his career. That allowed Dallas to regain the lead and go up six, 13-7, with 11:29 left in the first half. His mindset on the game-changing play was not to force a turnover, but to simply come out with a tackle to lose or break up the pass. Once he threw the ball into the air, that’s when he begged his body to hit the turbo button.
“I was really thinking about blowing up the play,” Overshown said. “It was a burden with my number, and I just knew I had to make an impact play or at least cause some kind of confusion back there… Actually, when the running back released me, I thought, ‘There’s some nonsense going on.’ ‘ And then the quarterback threw the ball and I said, ‘This is my play.’ I was quick enough to get to the point… I didn’t know, I didn’t know. [if I was going to be able to get to the ball]but I was thinking ‘hey, this is a good time to get those afterburners going.’ I was able to apply some nitrous and after that we were dancing in the end zone.”
He also recovered Lock’s fumble after a sack by Cowboys linebacker Eric Kendricks on the first series of the second half. Dallas turned that takeaway into seven points after quarterback Cooper Rush hit receiver Brandin Cooks for a 2-yard touchdown on third-and-goal. That stretched the Cowboys’ lead to 10 points, 20-10, putting the Giants in a hole they couldn’t dig out of in the final two quarters.
“That’s what it’s all about, we’re just going to feed off each other, and good things happen when you get to the ball,” Overshown said of his fumble recovery. “That was a play we really needed. It was a crucial play after halftime. EK made a great play, and I was there for my brother to clean it up and make sure it was an even better play.”
Kendricks, who is in his 10th NFL season and serves as quarterback in Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s backfield after playing seven seasons in his defense with the Minnesota Vikings, draws energy from Overshown thanks to his attitude and his electric game on the field.
“D-Mo, man, he’s a great player,” Cowboys linebacker Eric Kendricks said after the game Thursday. “He’s one of the best I’ve ever met. The attitude is just pure, you know what I mean? He loves the game. I love watching it. It motivates me to be in my 10th year… The sky’s the limit… “I’m excited to see what he has in store… Expect more big games from him this year.”
His play is a microcosm for Dallas’ defensive improvement in recent weeks with the Cowboys now winners of two in a row after a five-game losing streak.
“He definitely has a lot going for him,” McCarthy said of Overshown. “Just think, you’ll see not only him growing, but the defense as well. As he gets guys back, his connection is there, but his continuity and consistency is starting to take a step forward each week. Outside of the two-man defense minutes “I think we played very well and we had ourselves in position. We were in a three-point game for a while. Yeah, I think it’s really just a reflection of how I think the defense is performing.”
