FRISCO, Texas -- One word has spread throughout the Dallas Cowboys' defense this week as they get ready to play the Washington Commanders Sunday at AT&T Stadium: communication.
There were many things the defense did not do well in Dallas' 28-20 season-opening loss to the New York Giants that made the debut of new coordinator Christian Parker less than desirable.
The Cowboys allowed 165 rushing yards. They gave up three touchdown passes, allowed Jaxson Dart to complete 79.3% of his passes, and sacked him twice. New York converted 9 of 11 third-down opportunities, which was the largest reason the Dallas offense had only two drives in the second half.
According to coach Brian Schottenheimer and Parker, it all came down to a lack of communication.
"The first part is being decisive and loud -- that's the person that's giving it. And then the receiving is where we were off on a few things," Schottenheimer said. "Calls were being made, they have to be louder, they have to be more decisive, but they have to be received.
"And to cosign that, we signal all the time based on different things. So you can't hear what they're saying on the film, so there should be hand signals that show information being received, and we need to be better and it wasn't good enough."
So ahead of this week's game against the Commanders (4:25 ET, Fox), Parker said the defense retooled some walkthroughs and formation adjustment periods. The players focused on verbal and nonverbal situations, especially with the amount of noise expected from the home crowd.
"Making sure that we're on the same page and making sure we can execute because it's certainly unacceptable what happened in the fourth quarter [against the Giants]," Parker said.
For Parker, his first game as a playcaller was not what he had envisioned.
"Getting back to work, it's one poor performance. It's one loss that does not equal two," he said. "At the end of the day, our thing was when we got back here -- and it started on the plane -- was watching the tape, being critical of the mistakes, finding substance in the failure.
"I think we're not trying to make excuses for anything. We're not trying to act like it didn't happen. We've got to look in the mirror. We've got to be accountable for what we did wrong and what we did right, correct it and then move on to the next opponent because it can't be a hangover and it can't linger."
In training camp, Schottenheimer referenced how loud the defensive meeting room was because of Parker's emphasis on communication. Quarterback Dak Prescott joked that the offense had to go to a silent count next door just to get through its work during camp.
"The things that we messed up on is easily fixed," defensive tackle Quinnen Williams said. "The communication that we messed up on, we did that communication in training camp week after week, days after days. And it's one of those things you kind of watch the film and be like, 'Oh, man, I wish I had that back immediately.'
"You just learn from it and take it on to the next week and get better. We've got 16 games left, continue to do what we're doing and learn from it and grow from it."
The outing against the Giants had fans wondering if the defense will look the same as it did in 2025, when Dallas allowed a franchise-record 511 points and finished 30th in yards allowed per game.
The Giants' 165 rushing yards would have ranked third most by a Cowboys opponent in 2025. The 81.8% third-down rate would have been the highest rate allowed last season. The two sacks Sunday continued a trend from last season, when the Cowboys had two sacks or fewer in 10 games. Six times last season, they allowed three or more touchdown passes.
"That's not our business. We weren't here," Parker said. "This is the 2026 defense and it's our responsibility to fix our performance on Sunday and not performances from 2024, 2025. It's for us to fix our performance from Sunday. And I think everybody has been accountable and responsible for that."
Defensive tackle Kenny Clark, a captain like Williams, had a word to make sure the Cowboys don't go down the 2025 path.
"Urgency," he said. "Leaning on our work, come in and attacking the week the right way. Having a great week and playing ball like we know how when we get there Sunday."