The Cowboys' season has turned on a dime, with two home defeats creating panic among Dallas fans.
It wasn't just that the Cowboys lost back-to-back home games, it's how they lost. Like last year's playoff blowout defeat to Green Bay, the defense got bowled over in each affair. Given how the Cleveland Browns offense has looked this season, the Week 1 win on the road looks less impressive.
On Sunday, Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and the Ravens ran over Mike Zimmer's defense to the tune of 274 rushing yards, the most allowed by the Cowboys since their last meeting with Baltimore (Week 13, 2020).
On the latest episode of "The Edge" with Micah Parsons, the Cowboys' top defender took stock of the poor start to the season.
"I would say the start of the season has been extremely humbling," Parsons said, via the Dallas Morning News. "We fell short after not starting great, didn't put ourselves in the best situations. I would still say I'm still positive because everyone is still coming in, [Mike Zimmer], we're going to get better. We're going to keep learning. We're going to keep growing."
The Ravens did a masterful job putting Parsons in a bind, often using him as the read defender to ensure Dallas' best player would be wrong regardless of who he attacked. If the rest of the Cowboys defense can't improve, more and more teams will put Dallas in that sort of blender.
Opposing offenses have called run plays against the Cowboys on a league-high 51% of plays this season, +11.4% more often than expected (fourth-highest in the NFL), per Next Gen Stats. The Cowboys have allowed a league-high 54.4% success rate against designed runs and +24.3 rushing EPA, more than triple the next closest team (Rams: +6.1).
Poor play has been contagious in Dallas, as the Cowboys' defense totaled 17 missed tackles against the Ravens, more than they did in Weeks 1 and 2 combined (15). The Cowboys also allowed 158 yards due to their missed tackles, the most in a game by any defense this season.
"The start of the season hasn't been great, but like I said, it's been humbling. This is our test because without a test, there is no testimony," Parsons said. "I still have dreams of being a Super Bowl champion. I still have dreams and aspirations of going as far as I can into this year and obviously reaching that Super Bowl."
If the Cowboys want to keep those Lombardi hopes alive, the defense must turn things around, starting with Thursday night's bout against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium.