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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.<\/p>\n
Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
FRISCO\u00a0\u2014 Brian Schottenheimer called Christian Parker a \u201chome run hire\u201d seven months ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Now the Cowboys<\/a> coach is defending his defensive coordinator<\/a> five weeks into the 2026 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re supporting him,\u201d\u00a0Schottenheimer said of Parker. \u201cI support him. I believe so strongly in the guy. I do. I think the guy\u2019s an incredible football coach. We have to coach better. We got to play better.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The defense is ranked 31st in the NFL. The\u00a0PTSD Cowboys fans have from the previous two years of watching bad defenses is not going away.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Injuries, poor execution and players not playing to their pedigree have hampered this unit. Parker is playing a bend-but-don\u2019t-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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead, offenses average 27.2 points per game against the Cowboys defense, eighth-most in the NFL.<\/p>\n After five weeks, the Cowboys defense is in so much trouble the players held a meeting Monday. That same day, one of Parker\u2019s mentors, Mike\u00a0Pettine<\/a>, was hired as a senior defensive assistant.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Can this defense be fixed?<\/p>\n \u201cVery fixable,\u201d Parker said, \u201cbecause they\u2019re under our control. Very fixable.\u201d<\/p>\n We look at the five key problems for the Cowboys defense:<\/p>\n Pass rush not getting home<\/p>\n When the Cowboys traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers<\/a> before the 2025 season, they let 52 \u00bd sacks walk out the door. Last season with Green Bay, Parsons had 12 \u00bd 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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\u00a0drop backs this season, the 10th-lowest rate in the NFL and lower than last season (29.0%).<\/p>\n 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\u00a0Malachi Lawrence will help.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, it\u2019s just, I can\u2019t really put my finger on it,\u201d Miller said of the pass rush struggles. \u201cWe just got to keep going, keep playing and just keep watering the plant. If we keep watering the plant, it\u2019s going to grow for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n Injuries decimate secondary<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n The projected starting lineup has encountered injuries to three safeties,\u00a0Malik Hooker, Jalen Thompson and\u00a0P.J. Locke. Parker\u2019s original plan was to run two deep safeties and use rookie defensive back Caleb Downs as a nickel corner<\/a>. With those three safeties out of the lineup, he pushed Downs to a deep safety instead of keeping him near the line of scrimmage.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n DeMarvion Overshown<\/a> was the starting middle linebacker before suffering a hamstring injury in the season opener.\u00a0Jaishawn 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\u2019s a rookie.\u00a0<\/p>\n Before the Cowboys acquired\u00a0cornerback Joey Porter Jr.<\/a>, 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<\/a> as quarterbacks have compiled a 127.4 quarterback rating against him.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The injuries have forced Parker to tinker with his scheme sooner than he wanted.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I think that\u2019s a big part of it. And like I said, we\u2019re never going to make excuses, but we\u2019re beat up in certain positions you don\u2019t want to be beat up in,\u201d\u00a0Schottenheimer said. \u201cTo lose [three] safeties at one time and to have a corner [Joey Porter Jr.] that you\u2019re building some stuff around going into a short week and then he\u2019s not able to play because he\u2019s sick, that\u2019s all unfortunate. But again, it has not changed Christian and his work ethic and the way he\u2019s preparing. So injuries are part of the game and we\u2019re certainly dealing with our fair share of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Downs forced to play safety<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n 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\u2019s the only player in the NFL who’s played at least 100 snaps each as nickel corner and safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cProbably based on playing him farther away from the ball, that\u2019s not the design for Caleb,\u201d\u00a0Schottenheimer said. \u201cWe want Caleb down near the line of scrimmage. We want him around the ball. We want him playing nickel, but because we\u2019re so beat up in safety, he\u2019s had to play back there and we want to try to get him more involved and he\u2019s able to make a lot more plays when he\u2019s up around the line of scrimmage.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams, Clark not meeting expectations<\/p>\n 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 Maracan\u00e3 Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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