{"id":280442,"date":"2025-10-05T22:53:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T22:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/280442\/"},"modified":"2025-10-05T22:53:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T22:53:09","slug":"marist-liufaus-punch-gives-cowboys-game-shifting-energy-vs-jets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/280442\/","title":{"rendered":"Marist Liufau\u2019s punch gives Cowboys game-shifting energy vs. Jets"},"content":{"rendered":"

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. \u2014 If you find yourself around the Dallas Cowboys\u2019 <\/a>facility in Frisco, a word of advice: don\u2019t carry a football. Because apparently within those walls lurks someone who\u2019s waiting to punch at that football and knock it out. <\/p>\n

\u201cListen,\u201d Cowboys safety Juanyeh Thomas<\/a> prefaced as if he was about to tell a tale, \u201cif y\u2019all watch him at practice, that\u2019s nothing new. He punches at the ball every single day. Walkthrough, walking around the building, he\u2019s punching at stuff.\u201d <\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason for linebacker Marist Liufau\u2019s constant punching. It\u2019s so he doesn\u2019t miss the opportunity to do it when it\u2019s actually time to play. Sunday showed why. <\/p>\n

While Sunday\u2019s 37-22 win over the Jets<\/a> proved to be a comfortable one for the Cowboys, there was a point where it looked like it could go differently. The Jets looked like they were on the verge of tying the score before halftime. Jets running back Breece Hall, as he did a handful of times Sunday, broke through the Cowboys\u2019 front lines and into the red zone. That\u2019s when Liufau saw a chance to throw a haymaker. He punched the ball clean,<\/a> knocking it out and into the chasing arms of Sam Williams for the game\u2019s only turnover.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI just saw the ball loose,\u201d Liufau recalled, \u201cand went after it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in doing so, he changed the course of the game. The fumble happened just before the two-minute warning. The Cowboys scored two quick touchdowns before halftime arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that was the game right there,\u201d said quarterback Dak Prescott, who threw four touchdowns and earned \u201cMVP\u201d chants as he exited MetLife Stadium.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThat was impressive and that\u2019s what it\u2019s about: taking advantage of each opportunity, because you don\u2019t know which play is going to be the one that breaks the game open, and that was it for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a long time coming, too. Believe it or not, Liufau said after the game that he doesn\u2019t consider himself a natural puncher. Hard hits may come naturally to the second-year linebacker out of Notre Dame \u2014 just ask Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden after last week\u2019s big hit \u2014 but boxing? Not so much. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just something I practice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s something the whole team practiced early on, too. During training camp, the Cowboys made it a habit to punch at every ball carrier. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer<\/a> wanted a physical training camp, and early, before the pads were put on, that was a way to do it. A couple fights early in camp were started after some punches at the ball turned into some back-and-forth physicality. <\/p>\n

Early this season, however, the punches were held back. The Cowboys had one forced fumble through the first four games: a strip sack from James Houston in last week\u2019s tie against the Packers that also changed the game. <\/p>\n

Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus was asked about the team\u2019s lack of punching success earlier in the week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always want more. We never pass up a strip attempt. Our guys are working hard at it,\u201d Eberflus said. \u201cWe were really close a couple times last week … it\u2019s important to keep being consistent, keep working at it, keep pounding the rock and they\u2019ll come out.\u201d<\/p>\n

It did on Sunday. It was vital, too. <\/p>\n

For previous defensive regimes, especially during the Dan Quinn era, turnovers were the lifeblood of defensive success. Reminder: the Cowboys have two corners, Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland, who have signed contract extensions worth a total of $187 million over the course of the last few years. Those contracts were sparked by seasons in which they led the NFL in interceptions. So far, the Cowboys have only one interception this season. <\/p>\n

Some of that can be pointed to scheme. Bland said earlier in the week that some of that can be attributed to the symbiotic relationship between a pass rush that wasn\u2019t getting to the quarterback in the first four games \u2014 that changed Sunday \u2014 and a secondary that was allowing too many big plays. <\/p>\n

This Cowboys\u2019 defense hasn\u2019t had the takeaway numbers like previous successful ones. They now have three takeaways in total this season. Liufau\u2019s forced fumble and Williams\u2019 recovery on Sunday showed how much of a catalyst they can be.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can shift the whole game,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cIt can shift the momentum from the other side. After they fumbled, I feel like they kind of lost their confidence and the [offense] just went down there and scored.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams believes Liufau\u2019s forced fumble could be a momentum shifter for their entire defense, too. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just the start,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the fifth game of the season and we\u2019ve got 12 more to go. I feel like it\u2019s just a momentum swing. We\u2019ll get more, and more, and more. It\u2019s going to come.\u201d <\/p>\n

And if you take the word of those around the Cowboys, don\u2019t be surprised if it\u2019s not the last forced fumble Liufau creates this season. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wasn\u2019t surprised to see that Sunday\u2019s fumble was caused by him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what he does,\u201d Jones said of Liufau. \u201cHe practices that way, and we know it. You said, \u2018Boy, there he is again, punching that ball out.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. \u2014 If you find yourself around the Dallas Cowboys\u2019 facility in Frisco, a word of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":280443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,347,7311,1596,8998,50027,1232,62,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-280442","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-article","10":"tag-cowboys","11":"tag-dallas","12":"tag-dallas-cowboys","13":"tag-jerry-jones","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-texas","17":"tag-tx","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115324020617662758","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}