It’s week 2 of the NFL season and the 0-1 Washington Commanders will be facing an 0-1 Dallas Cowboys team on the road at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX this Sunday at 4:25 p.m. EDT. The Cowboys had a very disappointing week 1, getting beat in very physical fashion by the Giants on Sunday Night Football.
On offense, the Cowboys are coached by OC and run-game designer Klayton Adams, as well as HC and playcaller Brian Schottenheimer; having preserved the 2025 offensive coaching staff that created the 2nd-best
offense in the NFL in terms of yards gained, and the 7th-best offense by points gained. The combo of Adams and Schottenheimer have designed an offense in Dallas that utilizes a lot of play-action, a lot of pre-snap motion, heavy use of tempo, and a very conscious effort to ensure run and pass plays start with the same looks.
On defense, the Cowboys have had a lot more turnover. After fielding the 3rd-worst unit in yards allowed and the NFL’s worst unit in points allowed, the Cowboys made major changes in their defensive unit, headlined by the change at DC from Matt Eberflus to Vic Fangio-disciple Christian Parker, who was formerly the Eagles passing-game coordinator and DBs coach. Parker was expected to run a Fangio-style defense that emphasizes rushing four and dropping the rest back in coverage to limit explosive plays. Perhaps that style of defense works better with the personnel of the Eagles compared to the Cowboys, because the Cowboys only managed two pressures on 20 four-man rushes in week 1.
I asked David Halprin of Blogging the Boys five questions to better understand the state of the Cowboys and what to look for in this game.
1) The Cowboys defense was one of the worst in the NFL last year by most metrics (right up there with the Commanders). What has been done to overhaul it this year and what have you seen from it so far?
A lot was done to overhaul the defense. First was hiring Christian Parker away from the Eagles staff as the new coordinator. With him comes a new scheme that is a base 3-4 but incorporates a lot of 4-3 looks and tries to disguise between the two. So Dallas is incorporating a new scheme, but also a lot of new players. The turnover on the defense had easily over half of last year’s starters gone from the roster on that side of the ball. They also invested heavily in the defense during the draft by using two first-round picks on safety Caleb Downs and OLB Malachi Lawrence.
So the Cowboys did a lot to change their defense, but the results in Week 1 looked eerily like last year’s team. They were blowing assignments, busting coverages and allowing the Giants offense to dictate the game. They couldn’t stop the run so the Giants just pounded them in time of possession and only allowed the Cowboys offense two possessions in the second half. Parker has a lot of work to do to make this unit serviceable.
2) What are your thoughts about the Dallas offensive line and what is your assessment of it as a unit?
If the Cowboys were at full strength I would be confident that they could make it work much as they did last year. It’s basically the same cast of characters that were there last year, and the offense was really good in 2025. They are missing their best lineman, guard Tyler Smith, so that hurts them some. Right tackle Terence Steele still seems to be the weak link, especially in pass protection. Left tackle Tyler Guyton had also caused some concern in the past, but he had a strong training camp and held up well against the Giants’ talented pass rush. The running game was an issue last week, so that is also a little bit of a concern this season. Overall, I don’t think the offensive line will be an issue as long as Guyton’s improvements are real and Smith returns healthy after his four-game IR trip.
3) What are your thoughts on how the Cowboys have been drafting the last few years? As part of this, do you think they’ve been reaching for positions of need in the draft due to being tight on salary cap space?
No, I don’t think the Cowboys are drafting based on need because of salary cap space. They currently have over $20 million in cap space which is among the Top 10 in the NFL. The Cowboys actually do a pretty good job of drafting, that is how they stay competitive while basically eschewing high-priced free agents. Recently, they have had some uneven drafts compared to before when they were on a run of doing very well in the draft. But they are just like any other team, they draft based on a combination of talent, need, scouting reports, etc. There is nothing unusual going on with the Cowboys drafts and overall they do a good job of it, but not quite as good as they were doing for a while.
4) Who is one Cowboys player on offense and one player on defense that Washington fans probably don’t know much about, but should?
I’m assuming most people know about Caleb Downs, our first-round pick. So on defense, we’ll go with Jaishawn Barham at inside linebacker. A third-round pick this year, he had an outstanding preseason/training camp. Now, with an injury to DeMarvion Overshown, Barham is about to get a lot more playing time. He is a violent player that is a missile heading to the ball. His first week in New York was decent. He did make a few mistakes, but he also showed the talent that should make him a serious player on the Cowboys defense.
On offense, it is tougher because we are basically running out the same unit that played last year, so people probably know many of them. Let’s talk about our TE2 in Brevyn Spann-Ford. He is a big man who definitely helps in blocking, but he has started to show he can be a receiving target, too. Cowboys fans are hoping he breaks out this season. He didn’t do much versus the Giants, but the potential is there.
5) How should Washington go about gameplanning this matchup on both sides of the ball?
On offense, use RPOs and other misdirection that utilizes Jayden Daniels’ legs to confuse the defense. The Giants did this repeatedly. They also just physically smashed the ball into the line and moved the Cowboys defense. Basically run the ball, then take shots downfield when you can. The Cowboys defense is still trying to get things sorted out, but they just couldn’t stop the run last week.
On defense, try and take away the run. When the Cowboys can effectively run the ball with Javonte Williams, their offense just opens up and the wide receivers can then get loose and really cause damage. The Cowboys like to stick with the run, so they will continue even if it is not working well. Their offense can then get bogged down and their passing game is lethal, but also susceptible to mistakes. I’m not saying you want the game to be in CeeDee Lamb’s and George Pickens’ hands as a defense, but when the Cowboys can’t run effectively their offense is a different animal.
A companion article to this with my answers to David’s questions will be linked here when it is available.
Thanks again to David Halprin for taking time out of his day to answer our questions about the Cowboys.
