Kenny Clark: Cowboys defense has to ‘look in the mirror’ after loss to Giants in season opener

The Dallas Cowboys lost to the New York Giants in the season opener on Sunday, and defensive lineman Kenny Clark and the rest of the defense are taking accountability. On Tuesday, Clark spoke about the defense’s communication issues in the 28-20 loss.

“Everybody has to look in the mirror and ask: ‘What can I do better?’ And fix it,” Kenny Clark said, per Jon Machota of The Athletic. The Cowboys allowed 394 yards of offense to the Giants, who also converted 9-of-11 third downs.

Dallas outside linebacker Rashan Gary believes the Cowboys’ defensive issues that happened on Sunday can be fixed. “We’ve been taking steps in the right direction,” Gary said. Every mistake that was made is fixable.”

Gary also shared his thoughts on new defensive coordinator Christian Parker. “He’s been the same guy. Had a meeting, understand where we can be better at, came out with a plan of what we’re going to do this week to make sure we get better at those things,” Gary said. “He’s an even-keeled guy.”

One reason the Cowboys finished 7-9-1 last year was the struggles on defense. Dallas finished 30th in the NFL in total defense (377 yards allowed per game), last in passing defense (251.5 yards), and was the only team to allow 30 points per game.

After Sunday’s game, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer reacted to his team’s performance. “I thought overall we were really, as a football team, we were pretty poor,” Schottenheimer said, per Tommy Yarrish of DallasCowboys.com. “Just give Coach [John] Harbaugh and his team a bunch of credit. They were the more physical team tonight. That’s certainly not our standard. That’s certainly not how we see our identity playing.”

Schottenheimer also discussed the defense not applying pressure on Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart. “We did not get enough pressure on him,” Schottenheimer said. “He looked pretty comfortable back there. I thought we had some good shots on the ball, but the pass rush does have to be better, for sure.”