Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker walks to the locker room following their loss to the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, September 13, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
FRISCO — Brian Schottenheimer called Christian Parker a “home run hire” seven months ago.
Now the Cowboys coach is defending his defensive coordinator five weeks into the 2026 season.
“We’re supporting him,” Schottenheimer said of Parker. “I support him. I believe so strongly in the guy. I do. I think the guy’s an incredible football coach. We have to coach better. We got to play better.”
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The defense is ranked 31st in the NFL. The PTSD Cowboys fans have from the previous two years of watching bad defenses is not going away.
Parker was hired to run a 3-4 defense that uses a playmaking safety near the line of scrimmage, a front seven that stops the run and pressures quarterbacks.
Injuries, poor execution and players not playing to their pedigree have hampered this unit. Parker is playing a bend-but-don’t-break defensive alignment with heavy zone principles. The Cowboys are willing to give up yards in their zone, but not enough to let offenses stay on the field.
Instead, offenses average 27.2 points per game against the Cowboys defense, eighth-most in the NFL.
After five weeks, the Cowboys defense is in so much trouble the players held a meeting Monday. That same day, one of Parker’s mentors, Mike Pettine, was hired as a senior defensive assistant.
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Can this defense be fixed?
“Very fixable,” Parker said, “because they’re under our control. Very fixable.”
We look at the five key problems for the Cowboys defense:
Pass rush not getting home
When the Cowboys traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers before the 2025 season, they let 52 ½ sacks walk out the door. Last season with Green Bay, Parsons had 12 ½ sacks in 14 games before his season ended with a torn ACL. As a unit, the 2025 Cowboys had one fewer sack (35) than the Packers. This year, the replacements for Parsons have failed to provide competent work.
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The Cowboys have five sacks, third-fewest in the league. Parker could blitz more but has decided against it because of injuries in the secondary. It’s forced him to use reserves who might not be equipped to handle receivers on a regular basis. The Cowboys have blitzed on 27.4% of opponent drop backs this season, the 10th-lowest rate in the NFL and lower than last season (29.0%).
Yet, when the Cowboys do blitz, there is success. They get pressure on 45.7% of their blitzes, 13th highest in the NFL. However, their sack rate is just 6.5%, 14th lowest. The Cowboys hope giving more playing time to 16-year veteran Von Miller and rookie Malachi Lawrence will help.
“Yeah, it’s just, I can’t really put my finger on it,” Miller said of the pass rush struggles. “We just got to keep going, keep playing and just keep watering the plant. If we keep watering the plant, it’s going to grow for sure.”
Injuries decimate secondary
Dallas Cowboys cornerback Cobie Durant (2) is helped off the field after he was injured during the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Arlington.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
The projected starting lineup has encountered injuries to three safeties, Malik Hooker, Jalen Thompson and P.J. Locke. Parker’s original plan was to run two deep safeties and use rookie defensive back Caleb Downs as a nickel corner. With those three safeties out of the lineup, he pushed Downs to a deep safety instead of keeping him near the line of scrimmage.
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DeMarvion Overshown was the starting middle linebacker before suffering a hamstring injury in the season opener. Jaishawn Barham was inserted and is tied for the team lead with four tackles for loss. He has shown good instincts for the position but team officials understand he will make mistakes because he’s a rookie.
Before the Cowboys acquired cornerback Joey Porter Jr., Cobie Durant was the starting corner opposite DaRon Bland. Durant has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury. Parker moved second-year corner Shavon Revel into the starting lineup. Parker has also used third-year corner Ameer Speed and elevated Reddy Steward from the practice squad three times to play nickel. Bland has struggled as quarterbacks have compiled a 127.4 quarterback rating against him.
The injuries forced Parker to play more zone coverage. He calls it match zone where defensive backs cover a particular area of the field before a receiver reaches a certain point. When that happens, defensive backs play man-to-man with the receivers. On the season, the Cowboys play a Cover 3 at least 38.3% of the time, eighth highest in the NFL. With Porter on the field, he can give Parker a chance to play more man-to-man.
The injuries have forced Parker to tinker with his scheme sooner than he wanted.
“Yeah, I think that’s a big part of it. And like I said, we’re never going to make excuses, but we’re beat up in certain positions you don’t want to be beat up in,” Schottenheimer said. “To lose [three] safeties at one time and to have a corner [Joey Porter Jr.] that you’re building some stuff around going into a short week and then he’s not able to play because he’s sick, that’s all unfortunate. But again, it has not changed Christian and his work ethic and the way he’s preparing. So injuries are part of the game and we’re certainly dealing with our fair share of them.”
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Downs forced to play safety
Dallas Cowboys safety Caleb Downs warms before an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Arlington.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
The Cowboys are not using Downs as envisioned. They want him positioned as a nickel corner who blitzes and makes plays in the run game. The first sack of the season came from Downs on a blitz. The injuries in the secondary forced Parker to split Downs between two positions. He’s the only player in the NFL who’s played at least 100 snaps each as nickel corner and safety.
“Probably based on playing him farther away from the ball, that’s not the design for Caleb,” Schottenheimer said. “We want Caleb down near the line of scrimmage. We want him around the ball. We want him playing nickel, but because we’re so beat up in safety, he’s had to play back there and we want to try to get him more involved and he’s able to make a lot more plays when he’s up around the line of scrimmage.”
Williams, Clark not meeting expectations
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) throws a pass over Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (92) during the first half of an NFL football game at Maracanã Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
Quinnen Williams was acquired for a 2026 second-round pick and a 2027 first-rounder. The defensive tackle also received a three-year contract extension worth $105.9 million. Williams has played inconsistently. He’s generated just nine pressures on 123 pass rushes, a 7.3% rate, the lowest since his rookie year of 2019.
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“I take full personal responsibility for it,” Williams said. “Full responsibility. I look in the mirror for myself. I know I need to play better. I know I need to do better and I take full accountability and full responsible for the way this defense is going at the moment.”
Williams played mainly a three-technique position with the New York Jets, which meant he rushed up the field. With the Cowboys, he’s asked to play a three-technique position and two-gap. When he two-gaps, he’s asked to take on double-teams and play the run first before challenging the quarterback.
Kenny Clark and Williams are two defensive tackles expected to be solid against the run. The Cowboys have allowed 842 rushing yards, the most in the NFL this season. At times it seems Williams is getting pressure into the backfield but missing ball carriers. Clark, who was acquired in the Parsons trade, has just two pressures out of 113 pass rushes, the third-lowest rate among 108 defensive tackles.
Whether it’s rushing the passer or stopping the run, the front seven has not done enough.
“I mean, being sound, understanding your gaps, understanding how things is flowing, playing with great effort all the time, tackling,” Clark said. “But as far as physicality and guys coming up and ready to hit and tackle and do all that kind of stuff, I think we got the right guys to do that. I think guys been doing their part there. You just got to clean stuff up.”
Middle linebacker play inconsistent
Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown (0) works with rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham (55) on the sideline during the second half at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, September 13, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
The Cowboys tried to acquire a middle linebacker in free agency and the draft. It didn’t work, whether it was because of finances in free agency or just finding the right fit. Overshown started the season at middle linebacker but a hamstring injury in Week 1 took him out.
Barham moved into the role and played with mixed results. He will sometimes get caught out of position because he attacks ball carriers too aggressively and needs to settle down and do more reading of the play. The same could be said of weakside linebacker Dee Winters.
Coming into training camp, Barham was supposed to split between being a weakside linebacker and possibly rushing the passer. Parker said he wants some of his players to become versatile. That’s what he’s got with Barham. He’s second on the team in tackles and has forced a fumble.
Barham is rising, but as Overshown gets healthy it’s uncertain if the Cowboys want the rookie at middle linebacker long term. With the pass rush struggling, the Cowboys might insert Barham more as an edge rusher or ask him to blitz more.