Modified calendar; the defense did not

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – I don’t know if you believe in New Year’s resolutions. They always sound good at that time, but let’s also remember that most people who blurt out the “changes” they want to see next year usually do so around 12:01 a.m., so who knows how overloaded they might be.

My point is that changes need to be more than words and they almost never happen immediately.

Well, no exception here with the Cowboys defense. Whatever defensive coaches and players might have said to try to right the ship or at least end this dismal season on a positive note, it didn’t come to fruition in Sunday’s season finale.

In fact, you could even say that this “2026” version of the Cowboys defense looked even worse than 2025. I didn’t even know that was possible.

But aside from Jadeveon Clowney, who turned in one of the best defensive performances we’ve seen in recent history, and that includes Micah Parsons’ tenure, the Cowboys defense was once again an absolute mess.

It’s one thing to let Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert or even talented players like Justin Jefferson and Saquon Barkley beat you for four quarters. But when Jaxson Dart, who has won three games in his career, or players like Tyrone Tracy or (wait, let me look that guy up) Gunner Olszewski leave for their careers, you know it’s bad.

And you know what’s worse (and yes, it’s possible)? The Cowboys didn’t really position their guys on defense. It’s not like they cut Quinnen Williams or Kenny Clark. Man, can you imagine if Clowney hadn’t played? He was the only one to really wreak havoc on defense.

Now, to be fair, the starting cornerbacks for the game were Trikwese Bridges and Caelen Carson in a year when it was supposed to be Trevon Diggs, with DaRon Bland and Shavon Revel coming in midway through the season. And while they all played, none of them ended up on the active roster, with Diggs now in Green Bay. Needless to say, the cornerback situation needs improvement, but it’s not the only one.

We’ll see what happens with Clark, but I have a feeling he’ll come back, perhaps with a restructured deal. He’s the type of guy we need in the locker room. But I imagine the defensive tackle is in good shape for next year. Other than that…. Anything else?

This team needs a passer in the worst way. It’s almost like they had one of the best in the league and traded him. But that’s enough. Parsons made his bed – which also looked like a workout table on the side – and slept in it (literally). So the Cowboys had to move on, and they did. But let’s not think for a single second that they didn’t miss him. Clowney had a monster game on Sunday to finish with 8.5 sacks to lead the team. This is still the lowest sack total by a Cowboys leader since 2020, when DeMarcus Lawrence had 6.5.

Need major help. Obviously, the Cowboys need to draft linebackers who can cover and hit and read the defense and get off blocks and… everything you need to do to be an NFL linebacker. Corners and safeties are also essential. Sure, the Cowboys have two first-round picks, but as it stands, they only have two picks total over the first three rounds.

So it can’t just be the draft. If the Cowboys want to take advantage of this elite offense with a Pro Bowl quarterback coming off one of the best seasons of his career, they can no longer just draft good players and develop them. Free agency needs to be in play here, especially when your defensive needs far exceed the draft’s resources.

And as good as the offense is this year, it’s also not untouchable for the draft, especially if a competent offensive tackle is in play. But that’s for another day and another column.

To say the defense hasn’t been good enough this season is just being nice. I think we all know that there will be changes within the staff and, of course, at the personnel level. Almost everything about defense by 2025 needs to be overhauled.

And while you’re at it, go ahead and erase those few days of 2026 too.