Cowboys defense dealing with Micah Parsons-sized hole, but Kenny Clark has answer to stopping Jordan Love

FRISCO, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys' grand plan to replace the chaos All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons creates when they traded him to the Green Bay Packers a week before the 2025 season kicked off sounded simple.

Jerry and Stephen Jones felt comfortable in new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus' ability to "scheme" pressure to replace Parsons through a variety of blitzes and coverage schemes after acquiring three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first-round picks from the Packers. 

"With Coach Schottenheimer and Coach Eberflus, talking about the defense and obviously getting a player like Kenny Clark is, in addition to the depth, we can scheme pressure as well," Stephen Jones said the night of the trade. "Coach Eberflus has been really good at that in terms of using scheme to get pressure on the quarterback, but what's tough to scheme is to stop the run."  

Yes, Dallas has improved its run defense in 2025 through three games: the Cowboys are allowing nearly 20 yards fewer on the ground (109.7 rushing yards per game allowed, 17th in the NFL) this season than they did last season (137.1 rushing yards per game allowed, 29th in the NFL). 

However, they haven't been able to execute that simplicity to generate quarterback pressure, which is why the step forward in the run game hasn't mattered in the slightest. Trading away Parsons, who along with Hall of Famer Reggie White stands as one of the two only players since sacks became an officially tracked individual statistic in 1982 with at least 12 in their first four seasons, plus with a shallow, banged up cornerback room, the Cowboys defense is getting rocked in 2025. 

Their 30.7 points per game allowed in the team's 1-2 start is the fourth-most allowed through three games of a season in franchise history, and they've allowed the following combined passing production the last two weeks against a now-benched, 36-year-old Russell Wilson and second-year quarterback Caleb Williams: 71% completion percentage, 360.0 passing yards per game, seven passing touchdowns and one interception. That's why Dallas ranks bottom 10 or bottom five in the NFL in nearly every key defensive metric through three weeks with Parsons coming to town helping lead the Packers (2-1) No. 1 scoring defense (14.7 points per game).

"The defense, it's all tied together. Are we getting enough pressure on the quarterback? No. When you look at it, we could do better. Come out of that game [a 31-14 loss at the Chicago Bears in Week 3] with no sacks is not good enough," Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said on Monday when asked if he reflects on the "unanimous" decision to trade Parsons. "Again, there's things that we can do from a scheme standpoint, but certainly a coverage's best friend is the pass rush. ... So we're looking at that. ... Certainly on defense, it takes all 11 to affect the quarterback -- coverage and pass rush."  

The Cowboys' 40.2% team quarterback pressure rate with Parsons on the roster from 2021-2024 was the best in the NFL in that span. Without him in 2025, Dallas possesses a 29.9% QB pressure rate, the seventh-worst in the NFL through three weeks. This season in Green Bay, Parsons is producing the highest quarterback pressure rate (21.8%) among all edge rushers this season even though he's been double-teamed at the highest rate (18.4%) among edge rushers, according to NextGenStats via NFL Media. That's why it is easy to project Dallas would be playing better in 2025 with Parsons because the effect of his absence in Dallas is clear as is the impact of his presence in Green Bay. Packers Pro Bowl edge rusher Rashan Gary's single-season career-high for sacks is 9.5. Rushing the passer alongside Parsons, Gary leads the NFL with 4.5 sacks through three weeks, and he is on pace for what would be an NFL record 25.5 sacks. 

"I would say we have not been playing to the standard we want to play to, but if we had Micah you can't predict that we would be playing any better and you can't predict we'd be playing any better any worse," Schottenheimer maintained on Wednesday. "Are you 3-0? Are you 0-3? You don't know. Those are projections. Again, we're focused on the things we need to get better at. We realize we got to get more pressure on the quarterback. We also have to cover and communicate better. Those things don't change. ... Our job as coaches is to always look for solutions when you're doing things poorly. ... So the process never changes."

"You really can't dwell on the past, you really can't," Eberflus said Thursday when asked about missing Parsons. ... "There's a lot of talk or chatter out there about that, but to me, our eyes are forward. ... We got good enough pass rushers."

How Cowboys can try to slow down Packers QB Jordan Love in the words of Kenny Clark

Downfield passing takes time to set up and block offensively, and because of Dallas' struggling pass rush, they have allowed their opponents to have the time to hit on five passing touchdowns of 20 or more air yards this season -- the most in the NFL through three weeks. All of them have come in the last two weeks against the New York Giants and the Chicago Bears. The most such deep passing touchdowns the other 31 teams in the league have allowed this season is two. No defense has been worse than Dallas' when it comes to surrendering explosive passing touchdowns through the air. 

That makes the Cowboys' Week 4 matchup against Packers quarterback Jordan Love poorly timed: Love averages 9.1 air yards per pass attempt this season, the fourth-highest in the NFL. Dallas knows he and Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur will look to stretch the Cowboys' defense deep downfield on "Sunday Night Football" in Week 4. 

"That's what their offense is, they push the ball down field. They're hunting shots all the time, and that's what Matt does a great job of. Really good offensive coordinator, one of the best in the league," Eberflus said. "So that's their offense, and couple that with a talented quarterback that can push the ball downfield. Very strong arm, accurate, very elusive in the pocket. Can get out and run as well when he needs to, so it's a big challenge."

It's been a challenge for both Eberflus and the Cowboys to slow Love down in their separate meetings with Aaron Rodgers' Green Bay successor. Love's Packers beat Eberflus' Bears, when he was their head coach from 2022-2024, in all three meetings, and he lit up his Chicago defense, throwing for 274 yards per game, 6 touchdown passes and one interception while completing 72.4% of his passes. That was good for a sparkling 128.3 passer rating. 

The last time Love faced the Cowboys, in the 2023 wild card round that served as his NFL postseason debut, he lit Dallas up at AT&T Stadium, helping power Green Bay to a 48-32 victory in a game they initially led 27-0. He threw for 272 yards passing and three touchdowns on 16 of 21 passing (76.2% completion percentage). That box score made Love the Packers' single-game playoff record holder for yards per pass attempt (13.0) and passer rating (157.2).

"He looked pretty good in 2023 that last game I saw him play. I think the command of it, he's been in the system a while. You see him getting through progression. You see him knowing where everybody is, checking the ball down. The guy is really an excellent passer, but I think you see the mastery in the system a little bit," Schottenheimer said on Wednesday. "Really good at the play-action stuff. They obviously run the ball very well because of the [running] back. Josh (Jacobs) is a great player. I like what they do. I think what they're doing with Jordan in the system is excellent because they can run the ball. But the play [action] passes are excellent off of it. I just see a guy that's maturing. You see his eyes move through his progression. He's balancing the defense in zone. He does a good job of people to the right when he wants to go back to his left. For a guy that likes watching quarterback play, it's been fun for me to watch his evolution."

So what can the Cowboys do to slow him down? Clark, his teammate for five seasons from 2020 to 2024, has an idea.

"[Packers head coach Matt] LaFleur is giving him more of the load for the offense. He is able to control more stuff at the line. He sat behind a Hall of Famer like Aaron and got all of his movements and all that kind of stuff," Clark said on Wednesday. "He does a great job with that. The biggest thing with him is making sure we get pressure on him. Whether it's with four or sending more than four, whatever it is. We got to get pressure on him because when he has a clean pocket, he can dice you up."

Clark's observation of his ex-teammate is astute. Love leads the NFL in completion percentage (84.3%), yards per pass attempt (11.0)  when not pressured this season. He ranks second in the NFL in passer rating (136.9, behind only Lamar Jackson's 136.9 passer rating) as well when given a clean pocket. There's a big difference when that's not the case. 

* Bottom five in NFL 

** Top five in NFL

However, for the Cowboys to actually pressure Love, they'll likely have to play more aggressively and blitz like they did under previous defensive coordinators Dan Quinn (2021-2023) and Mike Zimmer (2024). Eberflus is also simplifying defensive coverage calls for his players in the secondary down to one word that means the whole call to tighten things up.

"That would be a simple answer," Eberflus said of blitzing more. "Blitzing is good, but rushing four and dropping the rest of the guys [back into coverage] is good too. So you have to mix it and match it up."

* Weeks 1, 2 and 3