Less than a day after the Dallas Cowboys absorbed a jarring 24-16 loss to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the conversation around their defense got a whole lot louder.
Jerry Jones called the unit’s play through the first five weeks “mind-boggling,” and by Monday the Cowboys had already added longtime NFL coach Mike Pettine as a senior defensive assistant to work alongside first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker. Then came DeMarvion Overshown, who said the defense held a “heart-to-heart” meeting after the defeat.
Overshown described it as a real self-check, not a shouting match.
“Looking ourselves in the mirror,” Overshown shared about what was said during the meeting, per Tommy Yarrish of the Cowboys' website. “Putting what we wanted our standard to be, we put that on the board.
We went by bullet point, bullet point. Are we holding up to this?
Are we being this? As a unit, how can we get closer?
What is it? Just hearing from all of us.
It really wasn't like a fire drill conversation. It was more so, 'What can I do to help you?
What do I expect from you on Sundays, or every Monday walkthroughs?' We've got to talk to each other like that because the ship is only going to go as far as the weakest person on the boat.
As long as we all in this together, I think we're going to be great. I know we're going to be there.”
So far, though, the results under Parker have not matched that confidence. ESPN stats had Dallas sitting 31st in the NFL in yards allowed per game at 395.4 and 25th in points allowed at 27.2 after Week 5. Against Tampa Bay on Oct. 8, the Cowboys gave up 241 rushing yards and 419 total yards to a Buccaneers team that was starting undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels.
The schedule doesn’t get any gentler next. Dallas, now 2-3, heads to Green Bay for “Sunday Night Football” against the 3-2 Packers on Oct.
- As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Cowboys as 1.5-point road underdogs.
Overshown made it clear the defense isn’t interested in letting itself become the reason another prime-time game slips away.
“It’s no reason why we couldn't be a defense that only allowed 10 points a game,” Overshown added. “Our thing is not shooting ourselves in the foot, the mental errors.
Once we get past that, we're going to be one of the best defenses in the league. We've just got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot.”
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