It’s a new season, but the same story for the Dallas Cowboys. The defense is looking like the Achilles’ heel yet another time. But this time, the flaws are under much more scrutiny, because new defensive coordinator Christian Parker had the retooled Dallas defense promised quite a lot of success.
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“A little bit alarming,” Aikman said on 97.1 The Ticket’s The Musers. “And it always is more pronounced in Week 1, because there’s so much attention and so much time to prepare. As soon as the season’s schedule comes out, you know who you’re going to be playing, and you’ve got all offseason to kind of get prepared for that opener. And when it doesn’t go as you hope, then it just adds a lot of angst.”
The Cowboys defense entered this season after having been the worst last year, allowing 30.1 points per game. The team has actively tried to do away with that number and reputation this offseason, and results could be seen. The Dallas defense delivered in the first preseason clash against the Seahawks. The top brass had gone big on all the changes to this side of the ball, and it looked like there was a ray of hope.
There were good players to look forward to. Quinnen Williams, Cobie Durant, Jaishawn Barham, Rashan Gary, Caleb Downs, Malachi Lawrence, and the Von Miller. Jerry Jones said he would bust the budget to improve the team, and he did.
But like clockwork, the defense crumbled facing an unexpectedly dominant New York Giants.
The defensive line could not prevent the Giants offense from charging through their territory. The only solid hit landed on Jaxson Dart came from Caleb Downs, who recorded one of two sacks for Dallas. The second half was particularly bad for the Cowboys defense, allowing two touchdowns on eight-minute possessions by the Giants.
In total, New York converted nine of its 11 third downs. They were in complete control of the ball. Dallas allowed 394 total offensive yards (seventh-worst) and an 81.82% third-down completion rate (worst among defenses in Week 1). And the Giants nearly scored 30 points. All numbers give flashbacks of the 2025 defense, which Dallas absolutely cannot afford.
However, head coach Brian Schottenheimer still believes they have the right man to lead the defense.
“I have no question Christian Parker is the right guy for this job,” Schottenheimer said. “He will learn from this, just like our young players are going to learn from this. We’re going to play our young players this weekend too, and they’re going to play better, and Christian’s going to call a better game this week and feel better about it.”
Meanwhile, Parker has promised a comeback against the Washington Commanders.
“It’s one poor performance,” Parker said. “It’s one loss that does not equal two. I think we’re not trying to make excuses for anything. We’re not trying to act like it didn’t happen. We got to look in the mirror, we got to be accountable for what we did wrong and what we did right, correct it and then move on to the next opponent because it can’t be a hangover and it can’t linger.”
Here’s a fun fact: only 10 percent of NFL teams have been able to qualify for the playoffs after going 0-2 at the start of the season, since the 1970 merger.
Aikman knows Dallas can have a good defense. He’s won three Super Bowls, and he had the help of the Doomsday III defense. The idea is not a novelty in Dallas. But it’s been so long since the Cowboys have had a good defensive unit that it makes it difficult to hope for the positives.
“This is the 2026 defense,” Parker said on Thursday, when asked about the past. “It’s our responsibility to fix our performance on Sunday, not performances from 2024, 2025. I think everybody has been accountable and responsible for that.”
Can Christian Parker prove the skeptics wrong? We will have to wait and watch.