FRISCO, Texas – The first six weeks of the 2025 season have been up and down for the Cowboys defense, with a lot more down than there has been up, especially in Week 6 against the Panthers.
Last Sunday, Dallas gave up 216 yards on the ground, including 183 to their former running back Rico Dowdle, and 410 total yards of offense. It's no secret that performance is not the one that new defensive tackle Kenny Clark and this unit is looking for.
"Anytime somebody's running the ball like that, it's definitely frustrating," Clark said. "We're all competitors and want to put our best foot out there. So anytime something like that happens, it's frustrating."
The veteran Clark, who was acquired from the Green Bay Packers in the Micah Parsons trade, said he's been a part of some poor defensive showing against the run, but not a unit that's been giving up yards like this.
Last year was the first time that Clark played in a 4-3 front under new Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. Matt Eberflus is deploying the same base look now in Dallas, who is working with their third defensive coordinator in as many years. Does that make it a difficult scheme to understand?
"No, it's a four-down front, attack front," Clark said. "Everybody pretty much, in a four-three defense, everybody's got one gap to fill."
That was part of the teaching point and message that Eberflus relayed to his team on Monday when they met to break down the Panthers game.
"Just the details of the defense," Clark said of what Eberflus' message was to his unit. "We went through everything. Holding each other accountable and focusing on the details of what we need to do. Everybody's just looking in the mirror and figuring that stuff out."
So, with most of the defensive personnel having been around since minicamp in the offseason to now six weeks into the regular season, why are some of the details still not down for the Cowboys?
"Honestly, I'm not sure. That's a good question. That's the biggest question of them all," Clark said. "It's just us holding each other accountable and just getting to the bottom of that. We can't go all year playing defense like this, especially with how our offense is playing. If we can match that, we're going to be a really tough team to beat."
Heading into Week 7 with a 2-3-1 record, the Cowboys have some work to do in order to become the tough team to beat that Clark mentioned. This type of scenario is not a new one for Clark, however. Just two seasons ago, Clark and the Packers came out of their Week 7 game at 2-4, and went on to head into Week 9 at 2-5. They would end up finishing the regular season 9-8 and upsetting the Cowboys in the Wild Card round. He learned from that season that anything is possible in this league.
"You can get real hot, all it takes is us just coming in with the right mindset, right intentions, the right approach," Clark said. "And when we get in these games, just executing. It's going to take everybody just locking in and staying focused on the details because we're very talented."
"This is not a young defense, we're very experienced, got experience on all three levels. So as long as we lock in on those keys and just find a way to do that on a consistent basis, I think we're going to like where we're going to be at."
The unfortunate mixture of it being a veteran defense with some of the same miscues from the beginning of the season still lingering creates frustration, as it would with any competitors, much less those who are giving up the most yards in the NFL to opposing offenses. Still, Clark is confident that this unit can find a way to pull things together and not let it all fall apart.
"The togetherness of the group, the trust, and just being real with yourself," Clark said. "If I mess up, I'm going to look at myself in the mirror and I'm going to hold myself accountable and I'm going to feel bad about it. I don't think we don't got none of those kinds of guys, and it's up to us as players to lead that to not let that trickle down in any kind of way. I don't think that's going to be a problem at all."
The good thing about playing professional football right now? There's a very high level of parity in the league this season, as Brian Schottenheimer, Jerry Jones and other have made clear to point out. Clark reiterated those sentiments, and the Cowboys have a chance to re-write the narrative about their defense, even if it's just for one week, on Sunday.
"It's the NFL, it's a week-to-week league," Clark said. "We come out next week and shut the Commanders down; it's going to be a different story. We got to just keep standing, and think of what we're doing. The season isn't away from us from any means, but we've got to definitely just have a sense of urgency and play ball."
