OXNARD, Calif. — Christian Parker did not have a call sheet in his hand Saturday night. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer gave him grief about it Monday, two days after watching the film.
Saturday was Parker’s first game calling plays as the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator. Seattle scored on its opening drive and never again in a 17-7 Dallas win at Lumen Field.
“The belief of what he wants to run, the conviction,” Schottenheimer said. “There were some really cool adjustments that he made, where there was a call he made early in the game, I won’t get into specifics, that he didn’t really like based off what they were doing, and he immediately adapted. I think that shows experience. It shows understanding of coverage.
“I did give him a hard time, because I don’t think I could call a game without looking at a call sheet,” Schottenheimer continued. “That’d be pretty hard.”
Parker changed that call when he did not like what the Seattle Seahawks were showing. Schottenheimer would not say which one.
“It shows you that he knows what he wants. And overall I thought it was a really good start, but one game, and there’s things he’ll take away from that,” Schottenheimer said. “Our sideline communication across the board, all three phases, even to the box, the coaches, it can be better. But it’s a good start with Christian.”
Christian Parker Is The Youngest Defensive Coordinator In Cowboys History
Dallas hired Parker on Jan. 22. At 34, he is the youngest defensive coordinator the franchise has had, and the fourth in four seasons.
He spent the previous two years with the Philadelphia Eagles as passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach, winning Super Bowl LIX. Before that he coached defensive backs in Denver from 2021 through 2023 and worked in defensive quality control for Green Bay in 2019 and 2020.
Parker built out his own staff over the weeks that followed, and Dallas announced the completed group in February with Derrick Ansley running the defensive backs.
What Brian Schottenheimer Was Listening For
Schottenheimer called the offensive plays himself and listened to Parker on the second headset channel during the game.
“It’s more I like to hear the flow of the information that he’s receiving,” Schottenheimer explained. “Because when you’re a play caller on the field, I’ve been that, and the information flow was more that I was listening to, how he was getting information from the box, from Ryan Smith and guys like that.
“He’s exactly the way he is in practice. Very cool, very calm, knows what he wants, quick to make adjustments,” Schottenheimer detailed. “But I do think that for the first game, it was very, very clear that the staff was aligned with communication and getting information to him. And I thought he called a good game.”
Smith is in his first season as the Cowboys secondary coach. He spent the previous three years coaching cornerbacks for the Arizona Cardinals, the team Dallas visits Saturday.
What Curtis Robinson Hears On The Field
Curtis Robinson wore the green dot and relayed Parker’s calls. He finished with a team-high 8 tackles, and preseason substitution patterns meant the group around him changed from series to series.
“He’s super urgent with all the communication,” Robinson said. “Like, when I’m on the mic, he’s talking through, like, hey, let the safety know this. Let the corner know that. Tell the D-line such and such if we get such and such.
“For me, it’s a lot of process,” Robinson continued, “but it’s also good, because I can relay the coaching to the guys in those scenarios that you might not necessarily get from every type of coordinator.”
What The Defense Did
Dallas had 3 sacks for 27 yards and held Seattle to 49 net passing yards and 156 total. The Seahawks went 6-of-12 on third down and did not convert either of their fourth-down attempts.
The defense also survived two short fields after halftime. Rashad Rochelle returned a punt 52 yards to the Cowboys’ 27, and Seattle reached the 6 before Dallas stopped Velus Jones Jr. 4 yards behind the line on fourth down. A muffed punt later gave the Seahawks the ball at the Dallas 5, and they lost 10 yards over four snaps before Isaiah Land sacked Jalen Milroe at the 15.
The Seahawks made four red-zone trips and came away with 7 points.
The Defense Parker Inherited
Dallas allowed 511 points last season, most in the NFL, and finished 30th in yards allowed. The Cowboys rebuilt around that, drafting Caleb Downs 11th overall and Malachi Lawrence 23rd, trading for Rashan Gary, and adding Von Miller on Sunday night.
Downs started in the secondary and came off quickly by design. Lawrence made 3 tackles in his first NFL game, and Schottenheimer said a couple of his rushes affected the quarterback.
James Houston, Land, Tyrus Wheat, and Reddy Steward accounted for the three sacks. Schottenheimer said Dallas forced Seattle into situations late in the game where the Seahawks had to use double chippers.
Next Test
Parker’s group gets its next look Tuesday against a New Orleans Saints offense coached by Kellen Moore, who spent eight years in Dallas as a player and coach, including four seasons as offensive coordinator. It is the second joint practice of camp after the Los Angeles Rams came to Oxnard on Aug. 11.
Open practices in Oxnard run through Tuesday. The Cowboys play at the Cardinals on Saturday at 9 p.m. CT on NFL Network.
