‘Just Pathetic,’ ‘Brutal Look’ — NFL World Clowns Cowboys’ Defense After ‘Utterly Disappointing Performance’ vs. Giants

Brandon Astreicher Mon, September 14, 2026 at 4:07 AM UTC

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‘Just Pathetic,’ ‘Brutal Look’ — NFL World Clowns Cowboys’ Defense After ‘Utterly Disappointing Performance’ vs. Giants

Taking down one of your biggest rivals on primetime is a great feeling and brings bragging rights. This one is going to sting for the Dallas Cowboys, and the New York Giants fans are going to enjoy this win in Week 1.

Dallas fans are once again left wondering what it will take to be a contender again. They’re going to need a lot of improvement, and the defense has looked rough, not much better than it did last season.

NFL World Shreds Dallas Cowboys’ Defense After Tough SNF Showing

The Cowboys had one of the best offenses in the NFL in 2025, but didn’t make the playoffs because their defense ranked dead last in PFN’s Defense Impact Metric, with a grade of 53.4, six points lower than any other team.

Naturally, they fired defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and brought in Christian Parker, the Eagles’ former defensive backs coach, as his replacement.

They added star rookie Caleb Downs, Pro Bowler Rashan Gary, Dee Winters, and Jalen Thompson in the offseason. With these nice additions, you would think the unit would improve. It didn’t. The Cowboys’ defense got embarrassed in front of the entire NFL world, which made sure to rip them to shreds.

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“Damn, man… Dallas’s defense still sucks,” added former NFL player Will Compton.

“Just pathetic defense,” added NFL analyst Marcus Mosher.

At one point in the game, the Giants were converting their third downs at a 90% clip. The defense needs to get off the field to give the offense a shot.

“Can the Cowboys defense get a stop?” said Cowboys writer Clarence Hill Jr.

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The offense needed to be better for Dallas, but the bigger story was the lack of improvement on defense.

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“Wasn’t the Cowboys defense supposed to be improved?” added analyst John Fanta.

“They are running out of ‘fell for it again’ merch at the Cowboys team store,” said NFL analyst Kevin Clark.

The Cowboys need to hope that this game was a fluke and just some first-game jitters that can be worked out. But after a sample size as large as last season, and much of the same in the opener, it will be hard to convince Cowboys fans that this defense isn’t just garbage.

“This Cowboys defense looks awful,” said Giants and Jets writer Connor Hughes.

It was Parker’s first game as a defensive coordinator in the league. But he’s no stranger to concepts at the NFL level. He was an integral part of the Eagles’ defense, which has been solid in the secondary over the past few years, but the Cowboys’ defense was tormented by simple plays from New York.

“This Cowboys defense getting got by the most basic of zone stretches. Brutal look,” said ESPN’s Benjamin Solak.

The Cowboys may have just dropped a game to a division rival, but they’ll get a chance against the Washington Commanders to right their wrongs and get a divisional victory in Week 2. The Commanders just played the Philadelphia Eagles down to the wire, so it won’t be easy by any means.

The defense will have to show up, the offense needs to return to last year’s form, and the Cowboys should be in good shape. Otherwise, the season could be over sooner rather than later.

This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.

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Source: “AOL Sports”