weakside linebacker and recorded two combined tackles during a 26–10 victory at the Tennessee Titans. He started in place of Justin Durant, who suffered a groin injury in the season-opener against the San Francisco 49ers. During a Week 3 matchup at the St. Louis Rams, Hitchens collected a season-high 13 combined tackles and deflected a pass in Dallas' 34–31 victory. He also recorded five combined tackles on special teams. Head coach Jason Garrett named Hitchens the weakside linebacker for the remainder of the season after Justin Durant was placed on injured/reserve after tearing his biceps in the Cowboys' 20–17 overtime loss to the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football. On December 21, 2014, Hitchens made eight solo tackles, defended two passes, and has his first career interception after picking off a pass attempt by Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Matt Hasselbeck during the Cowboys' 42–7 victory. He was nominated for the Pepsi Rookie of the Week award after his week 16 performance against the Indianapolis Colts. He finished the regular season with 75 combined tackles (59 solo), four pass deflections, and one interception in 16 games and nine starts. The Dallas Cowboys finished atop the NFC East with a 12–4 record. On January 4, 2015, Hitchens played in his first career playoff game and recorded three combined tackles and deflected a pass, as the Cowboys defeated the Detroit Lions 24–20 in the wildcard playoff game against the Detroit Lions. Hitchens was involved in a heavily controversial play during the fourth quarter after the back judge threw a flag and penalized Hitchens for pass interference for making contact and pushing off of Lions' tight end Brandon Pettigrew as he attempted to catch a deep pass by Matt Stafford. The line judge ultimately chose to overturn the penalty and the flag was disregarded without an immediate explanation on the field. After the game, referee Pete Morelli stated that the line judge determined there was not enough contact to warrant a penalty. The next game, he collected six combined tackles during a 26–21 loss at the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional Round. 2015 Hitchens was slated to become the strong side linebacker after the departure of Bruce Carter, but was switched to middle linebacker after Rolando McClain was suspended for the first four games. He was named the starting middle linebacker, ahead of Jasper Brinkley, to begin the regular season. In Week 2,