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The Dallas Cowboys are stumbling out of the gate with a 1-3 record and one of the NFL’s most porous defenses. Even if Micah Parsons were still wearing the star, Cowboys Nation needs to face facts — this squad was never championship material to begin with.
“We weren’t getting there, plus we weren’t covering them,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said about his team’s ineffective pass rush and coverage. “That’s a bad combination.”
The bad and the ugly
The Bears mauled Dallas on Sunday, 31-14 — and trust me, it wasn’t even that close. Chicago dominated the turnover battle, playing mistake-free football while forcing the Cowboys into four giveaways that killed any momentum they tried to build.
Rookie QB Caleb Williams looked like a seasoned veteran against Dallas, slicing through their secondary for 298 yards and 4 TDs. The first overall pick posted a ridiculous 142.6 passer rating and 86.6 QBR while making the Cowboys’ defense look completely lost. This comes just a week after Detroit’s Ben Johnson orchestrated an offensive clinic that racked up 385 yards against Dallas.
The defensive collapse is reaching historic levels.
Through just three games, the Cowboys have surrendered 92 points — the fourth-worst total in franchise history, trailing only the 1963, 2000, and 2020 squads. They’ve now given up the fifth-most points in the entire league this season, a stat that would make legendary Cowboys defenses of the past cringe.
Nothing comes easy
Week 4 brings no relief as Micah Parsons returns to AT&T Stadium wearing green and gold. The Packers are coming off a tight 13-10 loss to Cleveland after starting the 2025 campaign 2-0, and they’ll be hungry to get back in the win column against this struggling Dallas unit.
With or without Parsons in their lineup, this Cowboys defense just doesn’t have the answers. The offense moves between the 20s but can’t finish drives when it matters. And the defense? It’s been a train wreck in virtually every phase of the game.
“We didn’t play well enough to win,” head coach Brian Schottenheimer admitted. “That’s why we’re sitting here with a loss. They converted third downs; we didn’t. They protected the ball; we didn’t. They hit explosives; we didn’t. This game is one of those games you look at and, yeah, it’s humbling; it sucks, but we didn’t play very good. Got to play better to win in this league.”
