Frisco, Texas – Take II.
Fortunately for the 2026 Dallas Cowboys, while the false start in Game 1 counts, they have 16 more redos to fix what ails them.
Thus comes Game 2 of the 17-game season, 3:25 p.m. Sunday at AT&T Stadium against Washington, both teams knowing the dangers of starting off a season not only 0-2 but also 0-2 in the NFC East.
And if the 0-1 Cowboys are going to do a one-eighty against the equally 0-1 Washingtons, then it's on you, Cowboys defense – the newfangled group along with the new defensive coordinator, new defensive assistants and a new defensive scheme – to play to the preseason aspirations and evidence provided that most thought we had seen during training camp, including the encouraging performances against the Rams and Saints in those two scrimmages when the first teamers played extensively.
Now, granted, the Cowboys offense got off to an unexpectedly slow start against the Giants, netting only 37 total yards and two first downs on their first two possessions of the season. Plus, they turned the ball over once during their four full first-half possessions, with the defense preventing the Cowboys from fully climbing back into the game.
Look, the Cowboys will be hard-pressed to win this game Sunday if allowing Washington to run for more than 150 yards, as eight of the past 18 opponents have, which includes the Giants this past Sunday running around for 171 yards before kneeling out the victory three times for minus-2 yards each.
Dallas can't win this game if Washington controls the ball for the 36 minutes, 40 seconds the Giants did. The Cowboys were limited to just six full offensive possessions in the game, but just two in the second half (both touchdowns). Or as Cowboys owner Jerry Jones pointed out this week, "When out-possession-ed is interpreted as out-physical-ed," and that sure seemed real when the offense rushes for 69 yards, gains just 244 total yards and Dak Prescott completes only64 percent of his passes (22 of 34) for a mere 175 yards when the 11th-year quarterback has 53 career games with at least a 70 percent completion rate, seven of those just last year.
Of course, this is not the same defense as last season's unit that ranked 30th overall and32nd against the pass. The team that gave up the franchise's most single-season points and the most in the NFL last year (511). Not even the same personnel, with eight new starters. But sure seemed like the same song as last year, next verse.
The suggestion rightfully caused first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker to recoil a bit.
"That's really not our business. You know, we weren't here," said Parker, meaning this defense had nothing to do with previous defenses. "This is the 2026 defense, and it's our responsibility to fix our performance on Sunday, not the performances from 2025, 2024. It's forus to fix our performance from Sunday, and I think everybody has been accountable and responsible for that. … Our preparation has to pick up in terms of having urgency to get those things fixed.
"But nobody is walking around hanging their heads. Guys know what we have do. We look forward to having to respond."
So much has been made of the Cowboys' defensive failure to communicate, meaning guys becoming unsure of what their particular assignments should have been, resulting in far too many busted assignments and coverages. None worse than in the fourth quarter of a 21-14 game when the Cowboys allowed Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart to complete three passes in four plays to his uncovered running back Devin Singletary. The third one was a nine-yard touchdown to basically put the game away, giving the Giants a 28-14 lead with 7:26 remaining.
And worse than that, as Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer pointed out, the Cowboys had three different defensive calls on those three plays totaling 29 yards, with the touchdown coming on third-and-goal.
But if listening to Parker on Thursday, he rarely used lack of communication for those defensive lapses. If he said it once, must have said it a half-dozen times, blaming the faulty defense on a lack of "execution," meaning guys not playing winning football. And after what we witnessed in training camp, that was somewhat surprising, since unlike last season, far fewer times after plays in camp were guys standing around with their palms up, as if to say, hey, where were you?
Most surprised by this unacceptable performance is four-time Pro Bowl veteran defensive lineman Quinnen Williams, one of the stalwart defenders trying to anchor that defensive front.
"Yes, I was surprised, I definitely was surprised," Williams told me the other day about the defense's performance. "We had such a great offseason, such a great training camp. To go out there and not have the execution, the communication, that was definitely surprising."
There is that word again, "execution."
"They executed and we didn't execute, and that don't win football games," Williams continued. "I think the things we messed up on, we can fix."
And it's not as if Q is pointing fingers. He sure pointed one right at himself, saying he thinks he could have done more. And as a team captain, he knows that while he only had two tackles, he did have one QB hit and one forced fumble.
"I definitely think I could do more, especially when it comes down to gap-and-a-half things, making plays, being more disruptive in that backfield," Williams said, describing how he needed to control the B-gap and fight through those blocks to also occupy the A-gap while not getting pushed out of plays against the run.
In fairness, the Giants realized Williams' ability to be disruptive and made sure the majority of the time they were doubling him inside, so other guys up front needed to win more one-on-one situations.
Now, the other Cowboys' priority in stopping the Washington run game is making sure they control quarterback Jayden Daniels' ability to escape the pocket for big runs and key runs. They need to do so better than they did against Giants QB Jaxson Dart, who rushed eight times for 59 yards before his three kneel-downs, and for sure also Dart's ability to escape the pocket, like when he did before throwing the two-yard TD pass to Isaiah Likely. Think about this: Over his past 25 games, Daniels has rushed for 1,200 yards. The only other NFL quarterback rushing for more in 25 games? Uh, Lamar Jackson (1,304), and guess who is up next.
Why, against the Cowboys in three previous career games, Daniels has run 19 times for 236 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 12.4 yards per run. The Cowboys must keep an eagle eye out for him, too.
So here go the 2026 Cowboys again, second time around, insistent on demonstrating that the first take against the Giants was an aberration.
Problem is, when it comes to these "takes," unlike video recordings, these all count.
