‘Used My Hands’: Shemar James Owns Tyler Allgeier’s 63-Yard Touchdown In Dallas Cowboys’ Loss To Arizona Cardinals
FRISCO, Texas — Linebacker Shemar James said Wednesday that the 63-yard touchdown run that started the Arizona Cardinals’ comeback came down to him not using his hands.
Tyler Allgeier broke the run on Gardner Minshew II’s second snap late in the third quarter Sunday, cutting the Dallas Cowboys’ lead to 17-10. Arizona outscored Dallas 30-13 from the time it trailed 17-3, including overtime, and won 33-30.
James led Dallas with 9 tackles and had an interception. He did not lean on that line Wednesday.
“I would say that that kind of just comes down to us, like just self-inflicted stuff. Coming down to me, not using my hands. If I would have used my hands, we could have knocked that down for 15 yards. But I didn’t, and it kept running for 60-plus,” James said. “So just small things like that. Like you need all 11 guys to be functioning on the same thing.”
Shemar James Says Small Details Swing Games
Losing concentration is not how James would describe it. He went back to the same play, and to the details that decide it: alignment, hand placement, and where a player’s eyes are.
“I wouldn’t say losing concentration. I wouldn’t say those words exactly, but I would just say, like, just honing in on the small details. Like I said, going back to me, like, if I would have used my hands when I played that big touchdown run, we could have knocked it down for 15, allowing guys to rally to the ball and saving a little more time,” James explained. “I didn’t do that, and that led to 60 yards.”
“So initially it all comes down to the small things, whether that’s alignment, whether that’s hand placement, whether that’s having your eyes in the right place,” James continued. “But when you don’t do that, he’s in the NFL too, and he took it to the house. So that’s what happened.”
Allgeier ran 52 yards on the first play of Arizona’s next possession and finished with 147 rushing yards on 11 carries. A game like that reinforces the need for everyone to lock in, James said.
“Yes, sir, yes, sir. We always say the NFL is a game of inches and you see it every Sunday,” James said.
James Says Leaders Answer Momentum By Doing Their Jobs
On the sideline, when momentum swings, the defensive leaders go back to their own jobs rather than trying to cover someone else’s.
“Kind of just honing in back on our jobs, honing in on the small things, because the small things is what wins you games. You always want to do better longer than your opponents. So kind of just honing in to that,” James said. “Just not one person going out trying to do somebody else’s job, but just doing your job and consistently doing that. And if we would have did that, we would have came out with the win.”
James was a fifth-round pick in 2024 out of Florida. Dallas allows 152.8 rushing yards per game, the most in the NFL, and faces Jonathan Taylor and the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday at noon CT on FOX.
