New defensive coordinator Christian Parker is supposed to lead a massive turnaround for the Dallas Cowboys' defense. He confidently told the media last week that he put the group through a master's program in training camp, and that Sunday's opening game against the New York Giants would be graduation night.
But the tassels weren't turned, and no caps were thrown in the air after a 28-20 defeat.
Some may be already questioning if Parker should even be the one teaching the course. I'd advise against that, as Week 1 is notoriously a liar. But by every metric that means something, the Cowboys' defense got thoroughly whooped by their NFC East counterpart, and Parker shoulders a lot of blame.
Because the school analogy is just too fitting at this point, we're going to give Parker a grade for his first NFL game calling a defense. And the semester isn't over yet, so don't freak out; this was just the first test. But Parker earned every bit of a "D-" grade on opening night in front of a national audience.
Cowboys' Christian Parker earns "D-" grade for opening night dud vs. Giants
At the core of the issues for Dallas on Sunday night was Parker's inability to adjust. Giants offensive coordinator Matt Nagy isn't the craftiest play-caller, and yet, he gave the Cowboys' defense fits with the same plays over and over again.
To start off, the Cowboys couldn't stop the run. They missed several tackles, failed to set the edge and got gashed on the ground by Cam Skattebo and Co. Are individual player miscues all on Parker? No, but when it's a team-wide issue, that tends to fall back on the coaching staff.
Then, it was the crossing routes that gave Parker's unit issues, as New York abused Dallas toward the end of the half and into the third quarter. Near the end of the game, the Giants were just swinging the ball into the flat and getting yards after the catch, which was apparently lost on Parker and the 'Boys.
Oh, and maybe they should have covered that Isaiah Likely guy. Even we knew that he shouldn't be overlooked, and yet he lit up Dallas, catching all 8 of his targets for 78 yards and two crucial scores. Likely is a good player, but at some point, you have to try and force someone else to beat you.
Other issues were prevalent as well, like the Cowboys' insistence on rushing four, despite it not working. ESPN's Mina Kimes noted that, on the 20 snaps that Dallas rushed only four players, they mustered just two pressures. The obvious question: why would Parker keep rushing four?
Third-down defense was also atrocious, as the Giants converted on 9 of their 10 attempts, if you exclude a kneel-down at the end of the game. According to Yahoo!'s Nate Tice, New York had the second-best single-game performance on third down of the milennium. Yes, since 2000.
Dallas also failed to get much pressure on Jaxson Dart, but when it did, it couldn't turn that into sacks. They frequently lost contain on the mobile quarterback, giving up 28 scramble yards and only getting him on the turf a single time in 34 dropbacks.
Miscommunications were also abundant, as the Cowboys had two players standing in the same spot on Likely's touchdown in the corner of the end zone. Several times, it looked like Dallas got its wires crossed, and when everyone is confused, the thumb points back at the coach.
All told, according to The Ringer's Sheil Kapadia, the Cowboys turned in the worst defensive showing in Week 1 so far in terms of EPA per play. Not only that, but it was worse than all but one of the games that Matt Eberflus coached in Dallas, and the fourth-worst in the NFL since the start of last season.
How Cowboys' Christian Parker avoided an "F" in opener vs. Giants
It would be justified, in many ways, to award Parker an "F" for the Cowboys' effort in the opener. And I was tempted to, but Dallas did have one thing going for them: They forced four fumbles, which isn't nothing.
Clearly, jarring the ball loose on four occasions didn't do much to sway the result of this game. But it's hard to believe that only one of those bounced the Cowboys' way. Perhaps if even one more did, we'd be celebrating a win and chalking up the shortcomings of Parker's unit to "growing pains."
Because the ball didn't bounce Dallas' way, though, the results are the results.
Donovan Ezeiruaku and Caleb Downs also had their moments, and Otito Ogbonnia is the great run defender that fans thought he was. Other than that, it was pretty much all ugly for the Cowboys on defense, even if relinquishing 28 points doesn't sound like the end of the world, all told.
Parker had a rough time in his debut, but don't give up on him. This was his first time calling plays in a game that matters, and even though Nagy is not an elite offensive mind, he's been around the block a time or two. He's navigated the pressures of primetime and gone into Week 1 games relatively blind.
Of course, Parker has not.
Unfortunately, it doesn't get much easier coming up, as the Cowboys have another divisional grudge match against the Washington Commanders in Week 2, followed by a gauntlet of tough AFC foes with good offenses in the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans.
For Parker's group, it's back to the classroom. Perhaps they need to look at the syllabus again. But they also can't feel too sorry for themselves or overreact too much, as this was just one game. This is the only sample size available, yes, but it's a small one.
One "D" won't tank the final grade. Dallas can still get an "A."
Add us as a preferred source on Google