Dallas’ defense left Week 2 with a win, but not a clean bill of health. Christian Parker’s unit beat Washington 37-20, yet the numbers told a familiar story: some progress, plenty still to clean up.
The Commanders piled up 389 total yards and converted 57.1% of their third downs. Dallas also gave up a 99.1 passer rating to Daniels and a 109.1 rating to Mariota.
Even with the improved final score, the Cowboys still had trouble handling a quarterback who could move. Jayden Daniels ran for 69 yards in the first half before his injury, and that problem loomed over the rest of the afternoon.
There were bright spots. Dallas allowed only 20 points, and the defense did a better job than it did a week ago in time of possession, even if Washington still held the ball longer.
The offense’s big-play ability helped shorten fields in a hurry, but the defense still needs to keep opposing offenses from stringing together those long, draining drives. That starts with the run game.
The stat sheet had a few familiar names at the top. Caleb Downs and Dee Winters tied for the team lead with nine tackles apiece, with six of Downs’ stops coming solo.
Jaishawn Barham and Downs each forced a fumble. Winters recovered Barham’s forced fumble on defense, while the other fumble was recovered by the Commanders on special teams.
By the advanced numbers, Dallas made a clear jump. SumerSports moved the defense from 30th in EPA per play last week to 21st this week.
The pass defense graded out 14th in EPA per play, but the run defense still lagged behind at 28th. The Cowboys generated pressure with the front four, sitting 18th in pressure rate, but they were 31st in blitz percentage and still finished without a sack, one of four teams in the league to do that this week.
The rookies kept giving Parker reasons to keep leaning on them. Downs once again looked like a player who covers every blade of grass, and he added a pass breakup on a big hit along with another forced fumble on special teams.
He is currently PFF’s highest rated first-round rookie. Barham continued to look like a tough piece to move in the run game, and his forced fumble in the third quarter was a huge swing.
Wearing the green dot, he also helped keep the communication issues to a minimum. Malachi Lawrence has quietly been building a strong case of his own, leading all rookie edges in pass rush win rate by a wide margin, even if the sacks still haven’t come.
LT Overton played 15 snaps, not enough to get a real read on him.
There were still too many cracks for a comfortable grade. Dallas gave up only 20 points, but that number glosses over how much Washington controlled the first half after a three-and-out on the opening drive.
The Commanders had their way with the defense after that, and Dallas had no answer for Daniels’ mobility or for Washington’s third-down work, which reached 66.7% in the first half. Without Daniels leaving the game, this could have turned into another long night for the Cowboys offense.
There were also a couple of near-misses that kept the final score from looking even worse for Dallas, including two touchdowns that came down to mere centimeters. But close doesn’t count in the standings, and the defense still had to live with the result.
The encouraging part is that the unit did show more good than it did last week. Downs flashed constantly.
Barham made a game-changing play. Revel got a pass breakup.
Lawrence and Donovan Ezeiruaku were around the quarterback all day, even if they couldn’t finish the job. The direction is better, but the pace of the turnaround remains the real question.
For now, the defense is still relying too much on turnovers and not enough on consistent stops. It has to get better against the run, and it has to turn pressure into sacks.
Until that happens, every week is going to require a fight. The next test comes against the Baltimore Ravens in Brazil, where Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry will make it a steep climb for Christian Parker’s group to chase its first C-or-better grade of the year.
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