Cowboys defense makes debut under new DC Mike Zimmer

CLEVELAND – No one on the Dallas Cowboys defense knows better what a Mike Zimmer defense should look like than linebacker Eric Kendricks.

Kendricks spent the first seven years of his career with the Minnesota Vikings when Zimmer was their head coach and defensive playmaker. When the Cowboys signed the veteran as a free agent in the offseason—taking him away from the San Francisco 49ers—it was so he could help the other players understand what Zimmer wanted.

In the first game, the 33-17 win against the Cleveland Browns looked exactly as it should.

The Cowboys limited the Browns to 230 yards on offense. Cleveland converted just two of 15 third-down opportunities. Deshaun Watson was sacked six times and hit 17 times. His pass was intercepted twice. The Browns ran 93 yards on 19 attempts, but 39 of those yards came from Watson's running attempts.

Ten of Cleveland's 14 possessions failed to cross the halfway line. They only managed one first down in the first half.

“I feel like it's a different crew now,” Kendricks said. “We have different bodies. We have different guys. We have a different soul. But at the same time, the core is the same and we're going to build on what is today. I always say, 'We're going to build,' but it's true. There's still a lot of things we can improve on.”

Zimmer was out of the NFL after being fired by the Vikings and had to follow a coordinator the players loved: Dan Quinn. In three years under Quinn, the Cowboys led the NFL in takeaways and Micah Parsons led a pass rush that was among the NFL's best.

Zimmer, who was an assistant from 1994 to 2006 and coordinator for the Cowboys from 2000 to 2006, was brought in to bolster a defense that needed to play its best in the most important moments.

The Browns' longest play was a 29-yard catch-and-run by tight end David Njoku. They had only one other play of at least 20 yards. Former Cowboys receiver Amari Cooper caught two passes for 16 yards while mostly lining up against rookie cornerback Caelen Carson.

“Zim was at his best,” DeMarcus Lawrence said. “The whole defense felt it. We were on the same wavelength. It was a wonderful thing. I'm definitely glad we have Zim on our side, calling the shots out there and seeing what we see.”

Cornerback Trevon Diggs said: “Everyone takes their responsibility.”

Diggs was playing in his first game since tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in practice last September. He had one of the interceptions. Kendricks had the other.

And it was a bit of a room at its best.

On second and 14, Kendricks moved to the end of the line next to Parsons. At the snap, he rushed the quarterback while Parsons dropped into coverage. He read Watson's eyes and deflected the pass, which Kendricks caught for the first interception.

The Cowboys converted that into 3 points and a 20-3 lead with 51 seconds left in the first half.

“I just thought they set the tone with their production,” coach Mike McCarthy said.

Kendricks had his first two-sack game since 2016 against McCarthy's Green Bay Packers. According to ESPN Stats & Information, he became the fifth player since 1982 to record an interception and two sacks in a team debut. The only other Cowboy to do so was Tommy Haynes in 1987 in a game with substitutes during the players' strike.

Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, playing in his first game after missing his rookie season with a torn ACL, had nine tackles, one sack, one tackle for a loss and two quarterback hits.

Parsons had his third consecutive opening game with a sack, tying DeMarcus Ware (2010-12) for the longest streak by a Cowboys player since individual sacks were first counted in 1982.

Lawrence had his first multi-sack game since he recorded three sacks in a win over the New York Giants on September 26, 2022. And he regretted some sacks he missed.

The same was true for Parsons, who recorded one sack and eight pressures, the highest on his team.

“I think I missed two or three, brother,” Parsons said.[Watson] is hard. I'm going to have nightmares tonight. I'm supposed to start with three this year [sacks]but no, it's OK.”

There are 16 games left. The chances will be there, but the Cowboys know that a defense that has been good the last few years will stay that way and maybe even get better.

“It's only Game 1,” Lawrence said. “We still have a long way to go. We still have a lot to learn. It takes a lot of chemistry to grow together.”