Dallas Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith
Getty
Dallas Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith
If you had a hard time watching the Dallas Cowboys defense in 2025, when the team gave up a league-worst 511 points under coordinator Matt Eberflus and seemed to lack any answers whatsoever on how to fix it, you can at least feel comfortable knowing you’re not alone. Even one of the all-time great Cowboys, Emmitt Smith, had a hard time watching that mess, too.
In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, as he was promoting the “Ready to Rescue” initiative–encouraging the use of Narcan nasal spray to help save lives amid the opioid addiction crisis–Smith revealed that he found himself muttering the same things at the TV as the rest of us did as the Cowboys played defense like the Keystone Cops.
Smith was asked about how hard it was to watch the Cowboys defense last year by Dallas Morning News reporter Joseph Hoyt. He said: “Extremely. It was painstakingly hard. Guys out of position left and right. In my mind, that had a whole lot to do with coaching.”
(Read all of Hoyt’s conversation with Smith here.)
Emmitt Smith Sees Pressure on Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Christian Parker
Eberflus is gone, of course, and in his place is rising 34-year-old coordinator Christian Parker, who was hired in January after an extensive search. Parker was a well-regarded defensive backs coach with the Eagles for the last two years, and is known for his ability to teach and develop young talent.
But now he is stepping up a level for a defense that was awful last year. And Smith said there is pressure inherent in that, especially with the visibility of doing it for the Dallas Cowboys.
“There’s always pressure,” Smith said. “When he accepted the damn job he was under pressure. So being the new defensive coordinator is under the pressure. The question is: how do you meet that pressure? I think he understands he has to coach better, other coaches around him have to coach better, he has to call defensive schemes that affords his player to be in the position to make a lot of plays, and Jerry has to do his part: upgrade the defense.”
New Cowboys defensive end Rashan Gary
GettyNew Cowboys defensive end Rashan Gary
Emmitt Smith: Cowboys Defense Was a ‘Pinto’
Smith offered an analogy and a rather colorful metaphor there to show how much of this is on the Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones.
Said Smith: “You can’t give the guy a Pinto and all you do is paint it and put some new tires on it. It’s still a damn Pinto. But if you give a guy a Ford F-150 that’s got a brand new engine — has a hemi engine in it or hybrid engine that can run all day — now you’ve got something to work with. It ain’t a Pinto. That Pinto can’t do what that Ford F-150 can. It’s two different things. And last year we had a Pinto of a defense. We couldn’t stop a cold in Alaska butt-naked.”
Cowboys Made Upgrades to Defense
It is fair to question whether the Cowboys have done enough to fully upgrade the defense. There is still a massive hole at linebacker that needs at least two players to fill. Another pass rusher is a must. And there needs to be at least one potential starter plucked from the upcoming draft who could start at cornerback.
But the Cowboys did bring in new starters. Rashan Gary will man one defensive edge after his trade from the Packers. Jalen Thompson was given a $33 million contract to start at safety, and PJ Locke could start, too. Cobie Durant will at least get a chance to win a starting corner’s job.
It’s not an F-150, maybe, but it is not a Pinto, either.