Broken zone communication and a vanishing pass rush haunted Dallas in Week 1. Now, Mike Zimmer’s unit must tighten underneath coverage before Jayden Daniels exploits those identical cracks.
Christian Parker has already shown the rest of the NFL what his new Dallas Cowboys defense looks like when things go wrong.
Now comes the more important part ... showing what it looks like after getting a chance to fix them.
New York found more than one weak spot in Dallas’ 28-20 loss.
The Giants hit multiple zone coverages, kept finding free yards underneath and gave Jaxson Dart enough time to wait for mistakes to develop.
Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders get the next shot Sunday.
For Parker, Week 2 is about adjustments.
Clean up the zone communication
Dallas played zone on 28 of 36 charted coverage snaps against New York, or 77.8 percent.
The problem wasn’t simply that the Cowboys played a lot of zone. It was how many different versions of it New York found a way through.
Here's a second-quarter stretch that told the story:
Dallas played a version of Cover 2 on third-and-long, with Donovan Ezeiruaku dropping underneath Malik Nabers. Ezeiruaku didn’t get enough depth, and Dart found the window for a first down.
One snap later came Cover 3. Cobie Durant and Caleb Downs lost Darnell Mooney between their zones, leaving him with roughly 10 yards of space.
Then Dallas went to quarters near the goal line. DaRon Bland and Dee Winters both reacted underneath, leaving Isaiah Likely open for the touchdown.
Cover 2. Cover 3. Quarters.
Three different looks … three problems.
Washington already showed it is willing to hunt a matchup when it finds one. Stefon Diggs caught four of five targets for 55 yards and a touchdown when Cooper DeJean was the primary defender against Philadelphia, per PFF.
Daniels doesn’t need Dallas to make the exact same mistake twice. He just needs the Cowboys to give him another window.
Stop giving away the flat
This one might be even more frustrating.
Over a now-viral five-play stretch against New York, Devin Singletary released into the left flat three times.
The results: 13 yards, seven yards and nine yards.
The last one was a touchdown.
Brian Schottenheimer pointed directly to Dallas failing to push its coverage toward the flat. New York saw the space and kept taking it.
That’s the kind of easy offense Dallas can’t hand Daniels.
Washington struggled to get much going for most of its opener against Philadelphia before Daniels settled in late, completing nine of 11 passes over the Commanders’ final two possessions.
Both ended in touchdowns.
Dallas can live with Daniels making difficult throws. Letting Washington manufacture rhythm through free completions underneath is a different problem.
Four rushers have to matter
Here might be the most alarming number from Week 1.
Dart completed 17 of 19 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns when Dallas rushed four or fewer defenders.
He was pressured twice.
That’s it.
Zone coverage becomes a much tougher assignment when the quarterback can wait for openings instead of being forced to create them.
Philadelphia gave Dallas a pretty good example of the alternative.
Daniels was pressured on 19 of 38 dropbacks against the Eagles. From a clean pocket, he completed 15 of 19 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown.
Under pressure? Three completions on 15 attempts for 26 yards and a score.
Philadelphia only sacked him once.
That distinction matters.
Dallas doesn’t need Quinnen Williams, Rashan Gary, Kenny Clark and the rest of the front chasing sack totals Sunday. It needs them making Daniels uncomfortable without forcing Parker to send extra bodies every time he wants pressure.
If the Cowboys can’t do that, the same windows Dart found could stay open for Daniels.
Keep Daniels in the pocket
Dart gave Dallas a preview of this problem, too.
His official rushing line was 11 carries for 54 yards, though three came in victory formation. Remove those kneel-downs and Dart ran eight times for 59 yards.
Now the Cowboys get Daniels.
He rushed five times for 31 yards against Philadelphia despite the Eagles getting pressure on half of his dropbacks.
Dallas’ pass rush has to play with control.
Flying upfield only creates another problem if Daniels steps through an open lane. Parker has to generate pressure while keeping one of the NFL’s most dangerous rushing quarterbacks inside the picture.
And fix it with new voices
All of that would be enough to worry about with the same group.
Dallas won’t have that luxury.
DeMarvion Overshown will miss Sunday with a hamstring strain, leaving rookie Jaishawn Barham to start at MIKE and wear the green dot. He’ll be responsible for relaying Parker’s calls and helping organize a defense whose communication is already under the microscope.
Malik Hooker is also out with a fractured forearm. P.J. Locke will make his first start as a Cowboy in his place.
So Parker isn’t simply fixing Week 1 mistakes. He’s asking different players to help fix them.
One game was never going to define a completely rebuilt Cowboys defense.
It did give Washington plenty to study.
Now on Sunday at AT&T Stadium we get to find out whether those Week 1 problems were merely the first cracks of a new defense learning how to play together … or the beginning of a blueprint.
