Picking up where you left off is usually a growth mindset. For the Dallas Cowboys, however, it was a bitter reality to open their season. While their offense kept trying to buoy the team as much as it could, the defense looked worse than it has ever been in their 28-20 loss at MetLife Stadium. Against their NFC East rivals, the New York Giants, Dallas had nine accepted penalties against the hosts’ 11. But some, three to be precise, cost them the game.

As Saturday rolled around, the league also confirmed that those mistakes weren’t going to be overlooked. Interestingly enough, though, one of the players got away a little easier, thanks to the NFL’s CBA, but it raised enough eyebrows about the Cowboys’ discipline.

On Saturday, NFL Operations announced penalties to three Dallas players. Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku and running back Javonte Williams received fines totaling $33,409. Considering that these came in situations where Dallas had little room for error, this is a concerning reality for head coach Brian Schottenheimer.

DeMarvion Overshown’s mistake pushed the Giants to a lead but also unraveled an interesting CBA clause

With 9:38 left in the first quarter and both teams still scoreless, the Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart had already ripped off a 22-yard run to the Dallas 37 and stepped out of bounds when Overshown hit him. That late hit added 15 yards to help the Giants. They eventually finished that drive with RB Cam Skattebo’s three-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead. Overshown’s unnecessary roughness cost him $9,527, but reminded us of a CBA clause.

The standard first-offense amount for a late hit is $11,941, yet Overshown was charged less. That difference was not necessarily a judgment on the severity of the hit. The explanation sits in the NFL-NFLPA CBA.

Appendix U says a first-offense baseline fine cannot exceed 10% of a player’s Salary Cap Count for that game. So the league can publish a standard amount, but the CBA can still cap what a lower-paid player actually owes. That is where Overshown’s contract becomes relevant.

He is in the final year of a four-year, $5.39 million rookie deal, with a $1.485 million base salary and a $1.723 million cap hit in 2026. Overshown’s smaller contract triggered the CBA protection and brought his fine down to $9,527. It shows why the NFL’s “fixed” fine schedule is not always as fixed as it looks. Speaking of fixing things, however, Schottenheimer will need to have the hard talk with his other player as they continue to disrupt the team’s momentum.

Donovan Ezeiruaku returns to the spotlight, but in a bad way

Ezeiruaku was fined $11,941 for unnecessary roughness on a facemask. With 2:10 left in the fourth quarter and Dallas down 28-20, Dart kept the ball on a run to the right and was brought down by Ezeiruaku, with Caleb Downs also involved in the tackle. However, Ezeiruaku grabbed Dart’s facemask.

The 15-yard penalty moved New York deeper into Dallas territory and gave the Giants exactly what they needed: more field position and more clock to kill. Dallas never got the ball back. Ezeiruaku is in Year 2 of a four-year, $10.1 million rookie contract, with roughly 85% guaranteed. But his composure problem is costing the team much more, as it did during the preseason.

Less than a month before the Giants loss, the NFL had already fined the Cowboys organization $500,000 after their joint practice with the Saints repeatedly boiled over into fights. At least six altercations were reported, and Ezeiruaku was at the center of the ugliest stretch.

He first went after multiple Saints offensive linemen after a chippy run play, was shoved to the ground, and then saw Erik McCoy throw his helmet across the field. Just three plays later, Ezeiruaku was throwing punches again and had to be escorted out by team security. Brian Schottenheimer later made it clear that Dallas had a composure problem, especially with Ezeiruaku.

“We’ll have a long conversation, you know. Donovan’s a very bright young man, and, again, he understands he can’t hurt the football team. It’s part of a growth mindset for him,” Schottenheimer said after the joint practice. He then drew the line even more sharply: “We’re not taking [expletive] from anybody, but we also have to have the discipline to not play over the edge and hurt the football team, get penalties, do things like that.”

That warning became even harder to ignore once the regular season started. But what Williams did was actually quite uncharacteristic of him.

Javonte Williams was scratching his head after his incident, but not for the reason you’d think

Williams was fined $11,941 for unsportsmanlike conduct and taunting. With 5:26 left in the fourth quarter and Dallas trailing 28-14, his QB Dak Prescott found him for a 17-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit to 28-20. But what Williams did next cost him and the Cowboys a lot.

He held the ball toward Giants safety Tyler Nubin while entering the end zone. The taunting penalty pushed Brandon Aubrey’s extra-point field goal attempt back to 48 yards, and he, surprisingly, missed it. If he had made the goal, Dallas would be up by 21 points, with only more to go. In his defense, however, Williams did take accountability for his mistake.

“I don’t know why I did it. It’s just out of character. You don’t got to worry about that no more,” Williams said, according to NFL Network’s Jane Slater. “The damage is already done. It’s my fault. I’m better than that. I’m a pro.”

Williams signed a three-year, $24 million extension with $16 million guaranteed in the offseason, and he certainly wouldn’t want to show his new team his wrong side, that too, in the season opener.

The penalties were ugly enough, but the bigger problem was what Dallas looked like defensively against the Giants.

The Cowboys’ defense picked up right where they left off, sadly…

After ranking 30th in total defense, allowing 377 yards per game and an NFL-worst 30.1 points per game last season, the Cowboys needed a major reset. They responded by adding Pro Bowler Rashan Gary, Caleb Downs, Malachi Lawrence, and two-time Super Bowl champion Von Miller, while bringing in Christian Parker as defensive coordinator.

None of that showed up in the opener. The Giants converted nine of 11 third downs, giving Dallas the worst third-down rate in Week 1 at 81.82%. Two of the three fined Cowboys were also defensive players, adding to the sense that the unit lost its composure when pressure mounted. The problems did not end there.

Overshown will miss Week 2 against Washington at home with a right hamstring strain, while safety Malik Hooker is also out with a fractured forearm. That leaves an already shaky defense even thinner. Parker, however, believes the issues are correctable. He and veterans such as Gary and Kenny Clark have already taken responsibility for the breakdowns, and Parker pointed to execution rather than scheme.

“We were watching film, and these are fixable mistakes,” Parker said. “This is what they did versus this is what we did: losing leverage, eyes in the wrong place, block destruction, all those types of things. Those are things that we can handle internally. We have a lot of confidence in our ability to do so.”

Dallas now has little room for another stumble. A 0-2 start would put the Cowboys in a difficult historical position, with only about ten percent of teams since the 1970 merger reaching the playoffs after losing their first two games.