EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. 鈥� The debut of the new-look defense didn't go as planned for the 草莓视频下载入口. In the team's 28-20 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football, the unit struggled to get anything going in their favor on a consistent basis and, because of that, Jaxson Dart and the rushing attack led by Cam Skattebo effectively dictated the terms throughout.
But for all of the things that went wrong in allowing 28 points at MetLife Stadium, one thing jumped right out and bit the Cowboys, again and again and again, and it's something All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams was not shy about calling out after the game.
"It was definitely third down," said one of the Cowboys four team captains. "I think we had a lot of third downs today and we didn't get off the field 鈥� a bunch of them. I think we definitely gotta be critical [of ourselves] in our approach, when we get to [preparing for Week 2].
"And it's a great week to learn, and to get things better."
Before it was all said-and-done, the Cowboys' defense allowed nine out of 11 conversions on third down, missed seven tackles (per NextGen Stats), allowed Dart to complete 23 of 29 passes with three touchdowns and a combined 165 rushing yards (54 rushing yards by Dart).
That is not the standard Christian Parker has preached throughout the offseason, and not the standard Williams is willing to accept from a personnel group he feels is better than the product they put on the field in Week 1.
"The guys we got in our locker room, especially on defense, are unbelievable when it comes down to taking constructive criticism and accountability, first of all, and let's move," he said. "We had a lot of mental errors, a lot of busts today, and just really need to be critical with that going into this week; and focus on getting better.
"We've already said it to each other, and we hold each other accountable to get better."
That sentiment is echoed by Caleb Downs, the rookie 11th-overall pick seeing his NFL debut marred by a poor collective showing on defense, and the loss that came attached to it.
Downs isn't accustomed to losing, but he also knows hanging his head won't work toward solving any problems that cropped up in New York when the Washington Commanders walk into AT&T Stadium for the home opener in seven days.
"I mean, at the end of the day, in football, it always just comes down to who does their job better," said Downs. "We've got to do our jobs better 鈥� as a defense and as a team. We get that fixed, and we'll be good. It's always frustrating as a defense when you don't get off the field.
"That's part of the job, and we didn't do it at a high level today. 鈥� We need to see what we did wrong, execute what we need to fix, and then go do it better next week."
The 草莓视频下载入口 come up short 28-20 against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium.
Trench Work
One of the many things Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer was frustrated with from his team was their play at the line of scrimmage. Offensively, the front five were able to keep Dak Prescott clean, but struggled to generate a push in the run game.
"I thought they pushed us around a little bit up front," Schottenheimer said. "Their defensive line, our running game, there was way too much penetration early in the game. Javonte was running into freaking, a wall in the beginning of the game. We made some good adjustments at halftime, but this is a team game."
At the halfway point of the game, the Cowboys had 50 yards rushing on 14 carries. In the second half, Dallas ran just 4 times for 19 yards.
"They played a great game," Cowboys RB Javonte Williams said of the Giants' front. "We just got to execute better next time we see them. I feel like we could've started a little faster, we could've played better on both sides. It isn't one side's fault or the other side's fault, we've just got to be better."
Cleaning Things Up
In the first half, the Cowboys had seven total penalties called against them. By the end of the night, Dallas had gotten nine flags thrown against them for a total of 90 yards that went to benefit the Giants.
"Penalties kill your ability to win, especially the self-inflicted wounds," Schottenheimer said. "We just offsides a couple times in short yardage situations, which we gave them free downs if you will. That led to sustained drives, it led to them again controlling the football, but it comes down to discipline. And we're more disciplined than the way we played tonight." As Javonte Williams was headed for the end zone to make it a one possession game at the end of the fourth quarter, he was flagged for a taunting penalty when he stuck the ball in the direction of a defender as scored, backing up the extra point 15 yards. Brandon Aubrey would go on to miss the kick, and Schottenheimer said after the game he was planning on going for two before Williams' uncharacteristic penalty.
"I'm a pro, I know better than that," Williams said. "I shouldn't have did it. I'ma correct it. It is what it is, we're just going to move past it."
Missing Darts
In 2025, the Cowboys defense allowed the fifth-highest success rate on quarterback runs (65.2%) and eight touchdowns on quarterback runs, the most in the NFL. In Week 1, Dallas struggled to defend Jaxson Dart's legs.
Dart finished the night as New York's second leading rusher with 54 yards on 11 carries, highlighted by a 22-yard designed run. Dallas' run defending struggles carried over across the board, as the team had a total of seven missed tackles.
Of Dart's 11 carries, NextGenStats credited seven of them as successful, seeing him finish with a 63.6% success rate with the ball in his hands. That was more successful than Cam Skattebo, who had 9 on 18 carries (50%) as he finished with 81 yards.
Injury Roundup
The Cowboys left East Rutherford with two injuries on the defensive side of the ball. Veteran safety Malik Hooker may have fractured his forearm, according to head coach Brian Schottenheimer, and the team will hold more testing on Monday to determine more.
Additionally, Cowboys LB DeMarvion Overshown suffered a hamstring injury. Schottenheimer said they don't yet know the severity of the injury yet. Overshown has missed significant time in his NFL career due to two major knee injuries.
During Friday's practice before the season opener, the Cowboys lost Malik Davis for the season to a serious non-contact hip injury.
"Devasted for him," Schottenheimer said. "Very serious injury. He's an incredible young man, I've talked a lot about it. Non-contact issue, we knew it was pretty significant and pretty serious, and our prayers are with him. I talked to him the other night and the night that it happened, and he was in pretty good spirits, but I know he'd appreciate everybody's thoughts and prayers."
Trying to Heat Up
One of the reasons Giants QB Jaxson Dart was able to throw for 230 yards on a 79.3% completion percentage was because Dallas struggled to get a consistent pass rush in order to make things difficult for the second-year signal caller.
"We did not get enough pressure on him," Schottenheimer said. "He looked pretty comfortable back there. I thought we had some good shots on the ball, but the pass rush does have to be better, for sure."
According to NextGenStats, Dart was pressured 11 times on Sunday night. When rushing with four pass rushers, the Cowboys defense was only able to generate two pressures on Dart, and he completed 17 of his 19 passing attempts for 200 yards and two touchdowns.
Parker's Debut
Evidently, Christian Parker's debut as a defensive coordinator did not go as many imagined. Dallas' defense was one of the worst in franchise history in 2025, and the first impression of the 2026 unit did not offer many improvements against the Giants.
After a difficult start for the 34-year-old first-time defensive play caller, what does Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer tell him?
"Don't flinch," Schottenheimer said. "You can't flinch in this league. You're going to get humbled at times. It happens. He'll learn from it, we'll learn from it, he's going to be hardest on himself anyways, he and the defensive staff. At the end of the day, when you look at the numbers, they were four-for-four in the red zone, they were nine of 11 with a kneel down on third down, it's just not good enough. And so you gotta figure out why, and you got to do it in a hurry."
