Through five weeks, the Dallas Cowboys are quite possibly the worst defense in the NFL. Second to last in defensive EPA/play. Second to last in success rate. Second to last in yards against. Seventh to last in opponents points per game. Last in rushing yards allowed per game, and worst of all, dead last in EPA/dropback allowed.
That’s right, a defense that was remade by a secondary specialist in Christian Parker is struggling the most in the very area in which he’s an expert. While painfully ironic, it’s actually pretty explainable, and through five weeks, still fixable. Coming off the most embarrassing loss of the season, that’s a tough bit of optimism to accept, but there is still a lot of season left to play and plenty of time for improvement.
Parker was brought in for a reason in 2026. It wasn’t to take over a well-oiled machine or to make a good thing great, it was to completely makeover a historically bad defense. The Cowboys’ defense had been on the decline for quite some time. From Dan Quinn’s collapse in the 2023 season, to Mike Zimmer’s half-in/half-out situation in 2024, to Matt Eberflus’ chaotic campaign in 2025, very little investment had been made on Dallas’ defensive until this past offseason.
Investments take time to pay off; that’s true in the financial world and that’s true in professional sports. Players take time to develop, teammates take time to gel, and systems take time to learn and digest. The Cowboys effectively started the process seven months ago. After four years of neglect, it’s safe to say more time is needed.
Nobody wants to temper expectations and settle for less, but after delusions of grandeur all offseason, temperance is exactly what the Cowboys fanbase needs. In no world was Parker going to come out of the gate fielding an average defense. There was too much work to be done. Again, this is the same team that struggled to comprehend a dumbed-down version of Matt Eberflus’ system. It’s safe to say a defense in the image of the great Vic Fangio is going to take a fair amount of time to learn.
When the Cowboys were scouting defensive coordinators last offseason a popular name being discussed was Brian Flores. Understandably, Cowboys fans were pounding the table for him. Flores runs a complicated scheme that blitzes a lot and relies on every piece doing its part to make it all work. Cody Alexander, a respected voice in schemes and film breakdowns, warned Cowboys fans at the time thatit would take a while to successfully install Flores’ system in Dallas. He spoke of years, not months.
If Flores, the best defensive coach in the NFL, would take multiple years to pay off, what should fans expect from an ultra-green coach like Parker and his scheme? An argument can be made, expectations for Parker were never realistic and only now are fans seeing the cold hard reality of remaking a defense.
Strong pass rushes can cover up a lot of mistakes but the Cowboys don’t have anything remotely approaching a strong pass rush. In fact, they have one of the worst in the NFL. They hope Donovan Ezeiruaku and Malachi Lawrence can grow into high-end edge rushers, but that takes time (see also: the nature of investments).
Parker may or may not be the answer in Dallas, but before anyone can determine that, some real time has to be given. With any luck, the Cowboys will start playing better as the season progresses and maybe move up from the bottom two to into the 20-25 range by season’s end. Getting injured players back will certainly help but practice reps and classroom knowledge are key to fixing the mental breakdowns.
The Cowboys made their decision and now they have to see things through. This isn’t a time to pivot or quit. Good defenses need time and investment. Very predictably, this process is going to take more time and more investment.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys must stay the course on the full Christian Parker experience
