'Growing Pains'? Cowboys' Schottenheimer In Denial On Christian Parker Failure

FRISCO - The first five weeks for the Dallas Cowboys' defense and rookie coordinator Christian Parker have resembled something of a nightmare.

After Matt Eberflus was fired for having a league-worst defense following his single season of 2026, supposed whiz-kid Parker, 34, was brought in to change all of that.

But he hasn't. In fact, The Eye Test and the numbers result in a shocking "How-is-that-possible? conclusion. ...

This defense has gotten worse, and the 24-16 loss to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers at A&T Stadium has put the hiring of a first-time coordinator in the spotlight.

Now, we knew that it would take time for Parker to get his ideas across, and we get head coach Brian Schottenheimer's mentioning of "growing pains.''

But ...

There is, after massive changes in personnel and in system and after five games, no "growing.''

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Schottenheimer was asked if he thinks the defense, after all the supposed "upgrades,'' is back to "Square One''?

"I don't think so," Schottenheimer replied. "I want to watch the tape first before I say that. You certainly can't give up 242 rushing yards, that's not good enough for sure, but to say we're back to 'Square One.' No." 

Hey, maybe that's because there's a "Square'' lower than "One''?

Seriously, the evidence would suggest otherwise. ... and Cowboys Nation might suggest the coach is in denial.

Per PFF, the Cowboys defense is 32nd in EPA/pass play allowed, 32nd in pass success rate allowed, 30th in yards/attempt allowed, 30th in completion percentage allowed, 32nd in passer rating allowed, 28th in passing touchdowns allowed, and 32nd in interceptions.

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The Cowboys have allowed at least 165 rushing yards in four of their five games, and 241 came against the Buccaneers. 

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They have just two takeaways in five games, and a total of five sacks to pair with that.

There is no improvement. Not from last week. Not from last year.

Now, Dallas is 2-3 and there's lots of season to be played. Our sarcasm aside, the idea of "growing pains'' is legit. ... though it is only in play because the Cowboys opted to hire a coach who'd never done this job as coordinator before.

Other NFL staffs have new coaches in place, too. ... and they all don't rank 32nd in categories across the board.

An issue a year ago is that some of the players (maybe speaking out of turn) weren't very supportive of Eberflus' leadership. Even as some in Cowboys Nation are calling for heads to roll (Schottenheimer's, Parker's, go ahead and pick a head), that doesn't yet seem to be a problem with this locker room and this coordinator.

But "not at 'Square One''? That a Cowboys lie, and if they don't know it, it's because they're in denial ... not to mention threatening to be last in the NFC East.