There is still a lot of emotion, angst and conjecture at the Dallas Cowboys headquarters regarding last Sunday’s devastating loss to Baltimore Ravens and controversial decisions made in the final 28 seconds.

But as the Cowboys (1-2) turns to Sunday’s now must-win Texas showdown against the desperate Houston Texans (0-3) there is appears to a phoenix rising through the ashes of disappointing start to the season on defense that they can feel good about in the form of rookie middle linebacker Jaishawn Barham.

Sure the Cowboys defense remains at the bottom of the league, ranking 30th in yards and 31st against the run one year after fielding one of the worst units in franchise and NFL history and spending the entire offseason looking for upgrades.

Barham and rookie safety Caleb Downs lead the team in tackles. And while it was expected of Downs to make an immediate as the 11th overall pick, Barham’s play in a welcomed surprise _ at least to everyone but the third-round pick from Michigan.

“That’s what I came here to do,” Barham said in his first in-season interview with the media. “Play football, find a role on this team, and help this team. Now that I’m doing that, I feel like I gotta keep doing that and helping this team.”