Cowboys Defense Looks Even More Dangerous Than Last Season

The Cowboys were left for dead after their uninspiring Week 1 loss to the Buccaneers, which ended with Dak Prescott fracturing the thumb on his throwing hand.

Two weeks later, not only can we say that the defense has saved their season, it looks like they’ll keep Dallas in the thick of the race until the offense can get back to full strength.

The Cowboys’ defense looks as good, if not better, than it did last season. Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn has made several small tweaks that have this unit firing on all cylinders. The biggest change is in his usage of Micah Parsons. The second-year linebacker has spent 75% of his snaps on the defensive line as opposed to just over 40% in 2021, according to Pro Football Focus. The move is an attempt to generate more of a pass rush, and it has paid off so far. Dallas leads the NFL through the first 3 weeks with 13 sacks.

Parsons has racked up 4.0 sacks himself and has been generally responsible for the chaos that the Cowboys’ pass rush has created this season. He’s been nearly unstoppable in 1-on-1 situations:

Quinn still doesn’t want to keep Parsons solely on the defensive line. He’s more dangerous and tougher to prepare for when the protection doesn’t know where he’ll line up until the center is over the ball. He has still been used as a stacked backer and on blitz looks up the middle, which has opened up opportunities for other pass rushers. Just look at how he occupied the attention of both the right guard and center on this play despite the fact that he wasn’t even really rushing:

Both linemen were keying on Parsons as two other Cowboys pass rushers raced right by them:

It’s pretty clear from plays like these that every offense is making Parsons the focal point of their protection schemes.

The debate over where Parsons should spend most of his time will continue throughout the season. My hunch is that he’ll continue to see more time on the defensive line, but it could be opponent-specific.

As some of you know, I provide Cowboys coverage for The Dallas Morning News. To read the rest of this breakdown and see what other changes the Cowboys have made on defense, click here.

Don’t forget to check out how each team across the NFL matches up head-to-head in Week 4.