Well, tell me if you have heard this before, the Dallas Cowboys run defense is once again an issue.
Dallas has struggled to stop opposing run games for years now, and didn’t do all that much to upgrade the defensive interior this offseason.
If Mazi Smith does not take another step forward, this team is going to once again be at the bottom of the league in terms of stopping the run.
I understand it is not all on him, but Smith being a no-show doesn’t help.
Guys like Solomon Thomas and linebackers Marist Liufau, Kenneth Murray, Jack Sanborn, Damone Clark and rookie Shemar James will have to pick up the slack until Demarvion Overshown returns from his gruesome knee injury.
Just Preseason?
The Cowboys have not really shown any answers for their run defense this preseason. The Ravens had 148 yards on the ground and on the first four or five drives, moved the ball at will.
The week before, the Rams put up 181 yards on the ground, Tyrus Wheat looked decent from time to time, and James Houston has really been the only bright spot for this defense thus far. He has made a good enough case to make the final roster.
The Cowboys’ defense have no answers for the run game. They’ve given up a league-high 5.4 rushing yards per attempt!
last week the excuse for the cowboys poor run defense was because they tackled too high. So they did more tackling drills in practice.
What's the excuse this week.— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) August 17, 2025
On average, teams have been able to run the ball twice to pick up a first down against the Cowboys.
A defense can’t succeed like this. Opposing offenses can run incessantly, grind the clock down, minimize turnovers and consistently get within scoring range without even having to throw five passes a quarter.
I feel like we say this every year, just wait until the regular season starts, and once it does, teams just beat up on the Cowboys defensive line.
I honestly think Barkley is going to rush for 150 plus yards in week one against Dallas.
The only chance that they probably have is to load every single person in the box on almost every play, and the problem is, with that, you leave another weakness, the corners playing one-on-one coverage.
We will see how things pan out, but I do not trust this run defense, and honestly think it may be worse than it was the last few years.
If Micah Parsons holds out and does not play, it will be even worse. Things are looking very dark on that side of the ball. I wish the starters would play in the last preseason game, but you know how Jerry rolls. He calls all the shots.
Who writes this crap. You know nothing about the defense from pre season games. And Dallas doesn’t need to be the top run stopping team, just top ten. So stop setting random unnecessarily high expectations for that. This defense has everything needed to be top ten. Dang Casual writers.
Last year, the Dallas Cowboys defense gave up an average of 355.2 yards per game. 28th in the league in terms of total defense, 137 of that was ON THE GROUND, the 4th worst in football! They got worse on defense, and you are sitting here calling me a casual? This defense does not have what it needs to in the top ten? Lol what.
Shane is spot on on this one. This is the main issue that has not been addressed with anything except a 7th round draft and a FA signing from the UFL. Hopefully one pans out, but so far, nothing.
Exactly, Joe. Jerry trying to do it all his way so he can say “I told ya so” and it never works!
Not sure why they are having Mazi lose weight again. Sure recipe for disaster.
Right, makes no sense, Joe.
Commented a number of times here about this obvious problem and the fact that the front office has been horrible at drafting to solve it. DT should have been addressed in the 1 or 2 first rounds this last draft. Maybe Toia will outplay his draft spot.
What I have seen of Toia has been less than stellar. Of Akingabote – the other 7th round DT – has been likewise disappointing. The difference between college offensive lines and pro football OL’s are stark! Those two, if they survive the cuts, are in for a grinding!
For being a late round pick and only playing in two preseason games, I think Toia has been—at least on par or better than Mazi. I see upside with him. There is some aggression in Toia’s attempts and I think he will only get better. I root for Mazi, but honestly, I don’t think Dallas will get any more from him. At this point, Dallas needs to trade him, as there are likely some team(s) out there that believes they can coach up his potential.
a Dallas Cowboys fan, since the 70’s it doesn’t matter if it’s preseason or regular season the Cowboys run defense is garbage the good players they have on defense is DeMarvion Overshown the problem with him he can’t stay healthy 2nd nobody knows if Mich Parsons is going to be trade when because Jerry Jones continue to refuse to talk to Micah Parsons agent so I just answered the question
The one thing imo that needs to be really emphasized is that this is Mazi’s performance against backups and possibly guys not in the league in a few weeks.
Shouldnt Mazi, at the very least, be showing flashes of dominance against 2nd and 3rd stringers?
What kind of performance is expected against opposing starters?
Not good.
So yeah, Good call Shane.