Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker (right) hugs New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore following their preseason game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, August 28, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON — Bill Parcells’ record is safe, just in case you didn’t think he owned any from his time with the Cowboys. The 2006 team remained the last Cowboys team to traverse the preseason with an unbeaten record (3-0-1) when the current edition of the franchise lost to New Orleans 27-24 Friday night at AT&T Stadium.
Before we decipher the meaning of anything from this preseason, let me say that losing to the Saints is not, of itself, embarrassing. Yes, Kellen Moore’s team was 2-10 at the end of November but managed to hit the 2025 finish line with a 6-11 record. The Saints are something of a weirdly trendy pick in the lowly NFC South, although when I told beat writer Calvin Watkins I was picking the Saints to win their division this year, he looked at me as if I’d just announced I would not be eating anything from the halftime press box spread.
But with Spencer Rattler playing the first half as the Saints’ backup quarterback to Tyler Shough and TCU-ex Kendre Miller darting through holes in the Dallas defense (I think I am credentialed to write about Miller but not entirely sure of TCU’s policy there), the Cowboys indeed backtracked from their first two preseason games. In those affairs, Christian Parker was properly anointed as the greatest defensive coordinator hire of the century as his backups held Seattle’s backups to seven points and Arizona’s backups to 13.
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On this particular night, with barely five minutes gone in the third quarter, the Saints had a 24-9 lead and sizable advantages in all relevant categories — first downs (18-9), total yards (254-145), rushing yards (147-64) — along with three rushing touchdowns for New Orleans while the Cowboys had zero red zone penetrations. Their only points had come on lengthy Brandon Aubrey field goals.
Related: Five takeaways from Cowboys-Saints: Will Joe Milton or Sam Howell be backup QB?
“I got after them pretty good at halftime, wasn’t our standard in the first half,’’ head coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “We were giving up 6.8 yards per rush and we had three penalties on offense. Basically told them, ‘third preseason game, my ass’ and said it a little more colorfully than that. But the defense, you know, really stepped up in the second half. The pass rush was good, the coverage was good and we kind of fed on that.’’
The Cowboys turned a 24-9 deficit into a 24-24 tie with Sam Howell throwing touchdowns to Jordan Hudson, who is more likely to return to SMU than to make the Cowboys’ 53-man roster, and to tight end Mitch Van Vooren, who wasn’t on the roster a week ago and was signed basically to provide reps in place of injured players.
The Saints pushed across another long field goal by former Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson, and that was the difference. No one will lament the end of the preseason. While the reduction to three games feels like progress, the result is that almost no starters — certainly not those with experience — touch the field for any of the 32 teams.
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That’s why I asked Schottenheimer what he thinks he can make of the praise for Parker and the defense the last two weeks alongside the poor play of the defense in the third and final game.
“I hope it means we have some pretty cool depth pieces,’’ he said. “I think that’s part of it. You know, it’s a violent game, and there’s going to be injuries. Guys have to step up. But I think it was good for CP to have to step up and make some corrections and adjustments. Like, let’s do that now and not wait till we’re in the Meadowlands Sunday night and the [stuff] hits the fan, and all of a sudden you’re having to solve problems.’’
What will those problems be? Will the new look Giants under coach John Harbaugh sport an entirely different look from the Brian Daboll teams the Cowboys mostly pushed around in recent years? Here’s something to watch. In the Giants’ 23-6 win over the rival Jets Friday night, Odell Beckham Jr. grabbed three passes for 53 yards. The man who made the famous one-handed grab against the Cowboys’ Brandon Carr in what feels like a lifetime ago (2014) is back. That may not be as big a problem for Dallas as Malik Nabers being back from injury, but just something to watch for in two weeks.
On the other hand, remember when the Cowboys’ first-round trade helped the Eagles secure wide receiver Makai Lemon as the replacement for A.J. Brown in April? Lemon made his Eagles debut Friday — five targets, three catches, 3 yards, one tipped pass to the Bengals for an interception.
You never know exactly what might happen in the preseason that will serve to foreshadow good or bad news for your team or your rival’s.
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In the Cowboys’ case, they lost linebacker Marist Liufau to a fractured wrist Friday night but, for the most part, they will take a healthy squad to New York in two weeks. The guessing games end at that time. The thrill ride of professional sports’ shortest season more than makes up for a preseason in which the major players hide in plain sight and results are best examined with one’s tongue planted firmly in the cheek.
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