ARLINGTON, Texas — One week ago, it was the Dallas Cowboys and their defense holding court against a very talented Cleveland Browns' offense that featured a lot of firepower at the skill positions. That was then, however, and this is now; and the "now" features the defense in Dallas being thumped by Derek Carr and the New Orleans Saints in the home opener at AT&T Stadium.
Though it's two entirely different contests and seasons, it's impossible to ignore the parallels between what happened on Sept. 15 and what took place on this very field in January. Carr teamed with Alvin Kamara and Co. to score touchdowns on their first six possessions of the game.
You heard that correctly: six.
"Humbling," said former First-Team All-Pro linebacker Eric Kendricks. "[We] can't give up big plays and start the game off like that — get us on our heels. Got to come out faster. Obviously, we've got to stop the run later in the game, but I think we all played a part on it, on defense, so it's a good piece of humble pie for sure."
At one point, the Saints' offense was a perfect 5-for-5 on third down and, ultimately, Kamara put the Cowboys' defense in a torture rack to the tune of four touchdowns — three on the ground and one in the air that went 57 yards for a score — with wideout Raheed Shaheed adding a 70-yard touchdown to the effort.
The defense allowed the Saints to march up and down the field en route to 432 total yards of offense and 44 points, only four points fewer than what the Packers delivered in January.
"Yeah, when it's like this, we've got to feel this for the next 24 hours for sure," Kendricks said. "I feel like you look around the locker room, you can sense it. Everyone's obviously disappointed. We didn't want that, and especially at our home opener. But the NFL will humble you like that.
"And this isn't the first time I've been a part of that, but we've got to make a stand. We've got to come back to work tomorrow. Let it hurt for a little bit. I think that's a good thing. And then put it in our rear view and work towards the next."
Speaking from the locker room as well on Sunday after the disappointing showing by the defense, Micah Parsons had a similar view on how it all transpired. He made it clear he doesn't believe it was a scheme issue that cost them the game, but rather lack of execution on the field.
"To me, it had nothing to do with the scheme," said the three-time First-Team All-Pro. "I thought Zim called a pretty good game. … At the end day I believe that we just got outplayed. I don't think whoever played on that field — everyone didn't play to a hundred percent. That's just me being accountable and saying the truth and everyone, we've all got to play better."
But what exactly does Parsons believe went wrong, in real time?
"Just focus on the keys, man," he explained. "We've got guys. Just focus on the little things. And the little things matter in games like this because everyone's trying to make a play now and then, at the end of the day, we've got to use our hands and feet.
"We're not tackling well. We're arm tackling. We're trying to pull down. We've got to be aggressive."
As noted, Kamara mutilated the defense and it wasn't always an abstract play that led to a home run or a chunk of yardage being gained by the Saints. Sometimes it was as simple as a handoff to the left edge, or the right edge, and he also got one running off of the left guard in the end zone that saw him shrink himself and disappear amongst the trees before reappearing to nothing but green grass and the end zone in front of him.
It was as if the Cowboys were out of sorts from the moment the ball was kicked off in the first quarter and never regained composure thereafter.
"We got to create penetration and do a much better job tackling," said Parsons. "So I'm trying to ride the guys and get everyone to calm down. Let's focus in, we're here. This is adversity. We need to hit this ball. We need to get better. Don't shy from 'em.
"... There's a lot of things that I believe need to get fixed."
It'll begin with every player on defense looking themselves in the mirror, and then getting ready to face the reigning NFL MVP, Lamar Jackson, who just happens to be in desperation mode after getting off to an 0-2 start this season.
The defense aced the test against Watson and flunked the one against Carr.
Another exam awaits next weekend.
