It's same ol', same ol' with Cowboys defense as hype gets pushed aside by reality

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Same old Dallas defense.

Even with a new defensive coordinator — the youngest in franchise history in 34-year-old Christian Parker — and an overhaul of the roster, the Cowboys were just as bad as a year ago in a season-opening 28-20 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday night.

Maybe worse, if that's even possible.

The Giants had the ball three times in the second half. They had two eight-minute touchdown drives, then ran out the final 5:21 on the third possession. New York was 9 of 10 on third down for the game before Jaxson Dart's kneel-down on third down on the final play.

Receivers ran free in the secondary, just as they did a year ago when the Cowboys gave up the most points with the fewest interceptions in franchise history. The run defense was porous in key moments — just as it has been for years now.

There was so much hype about the arrival of Parker and first-round draft pick Caleb Downs. So much hype about the Cowboys sticking to the business of football in the offseason while avoiding the soap operas that often surround them.

Hype has been replaced by reality with the home opener set for Sunday against Washington in a matchup of NFC East rivals trying to avoid an 0-2 start in the division.

“Don’t flinch,” coach Brian Schottenheimer said when asked what he would say to Parker. “You’re going to get humbled at times. It happens. He’ll learn from it. We’ll learn from it. He’s going to be hardest on himself anyways, he and the defensive staff.”

Schottenheimer went off on the young players, unleashing an expletive while trying to explain why Dallas simply didn't cover running backs in the flat, repeatedly.

“Those are going to happen, and we have to coach the young players better,” Schottenheimer said. “But when you play young players, it’s part of the deal, and they need to learn quickly.”

While Dak Prescott led the offense to touchdowns the only two times the Cowboys had the ball after halftime, his interception on an attempted throwaway late in the first half was the most pivotal moment in the game. New York scored touchdowns on either side of halftime because of it, breaking a 7-7 tie.

One of the problems the defense posed a year ago was giving Prescott and company little margin for error. Prescott wasn't buying talk of a 2025 replay, though.

“No, they did a hell of a job on the other side,” Prescott said. “I’m in this year, sorry.”

The Cowboys mostly matched the Giants with third down efficiency. Dallas was 8 of 11. The first of the three failed conversions came on the first series, when George Pickens caught a slant for what appeared to be a first down before replay assist turned it into fourth-and-inches. Schottenheimer elected to punt, making it a three-and-out.

The Cowboys had one game last season when both CeeDee Lamb and Pickens failed to reach 50 yards receiving. It was the meaningless finale against the Giants when both played less than 50% of the snaps. Lamb did have a touchdown among his 44 yards on Sunday night. Pickens finished with 28 and had a huge drop on a deep throw four plays before Prescott's critical interception.

CB Cobie Durant, who led the NFL with three interceptions in the playoffs last season, is making a case to be a full-time player. He was in on 72% of the snaps and had the only pass breakup among defensive backs while also forcing a fumble.

RB Javonte Williams had little impact — until his taunting penalty on the last Dallas touchdown when he held the ball out toward an opponent as he crossed the goal line. Schottenheimer said he planned to go for the 2-point conversion to try to get Dallas within six. Instead, Brandon Aubrey missed the 48-yard PAT try.

Schottenheimer said safety Malik Hooker may have fractured a forearm, which would mean two starters and a key backup are already on injured reserve just a week into the season.

The Dallas defense entered Monday last in the NFL in Week 1 with an expected points allowed per play of 0.34. Even Carolina was better at 0.33, and the Panthers lost to Chicago 59-37. A year ago, one of the worst defenses in franchise history finished at 0.13 expected points allowed per play.

The Cowboys haven't opened with consecutive losses since 2010, when Wade Phillips was fired midseason with a 1-7 record as Dallas went on to finish 6-10.

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New York Giants wide receiver Malachi Fields (88) attempts but is unable to make a catch in front of Dallas Cowboys cornerback Shavon Revel Jr. (28) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ceedee Lamb (88) tries to pull a catch against New York Giants defensive back Andru Phillips during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) talks to head coach Brian Schottenheimer during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo (44) is brought down by a host of Dallas Cowboys defenders during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Giants tight end Isaiah Likely (9), with teammate guard Jermaine Eluemunor (72) reacting, scores a touchdown run between Dallas Cowboys cornerback Daron Bland (26) and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown (0 ) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency said Monday it is repealing rules that limit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas, an action the agency said would remove more than $300 billion in costs for the industry and help “unleash” American energy. The rule change, first proposed last year, represents a fundamental shift from efforts by Democratic Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama to address climate change and clean up industrial pollution. EPA officials said the change would allow utilities to make the best decisions for their ratepayers rather than be forced to closed aging or inefficient plants.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to repeal rules that limit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas, an action that Administrator Lee Zeldin has said would remove billions of dollars in costs for the industry and help “unleash” American energy.

The rule change, proposed last year, could be announced as soon as Monday, according to two people familiar with the proposal, and represents a fundamental shift from efforts by Democratic Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama to address climate change and clean up industrial pollution, often in low-income and majority Black or Hispanic communities.

The rule, which is expected to face immediate legal challenges, also could prevent future administrations from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, the people familiar with the proposal said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the final rule had not yet been made public.

The EPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Zeldin, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright are hosting a G20 ministerial meeting on “energy abundance” in Houston, where the rule change is set to be announced. The site is both a nod to the important role the oil-rich state plays in the energy industry and a potential snub of European and other international allies in attendance who have pursued environmentally friendly policies that the Trump administration has moved to undo.

Republican President Donald Trump called climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” at a speech to the United Nations last year, and his administration withdrew the U.S. — for the second time — from the 2015 Paris climate accord that sets voluntary goals to curb planet-warming emissions.

Trump has boasted of U.S. energy abundance even as the Iran war continues to disrupt global fuel markets and gas prices top $4.31 a gallon, up more than a dollar from a year ago.

The plan to make the power plant rule final was first reported by the New York Times.

The rollbacks are meant to fulfill Trump’s repeated pledge to “ unleash American energy ” and make it easier for utilities to supply electricity for homes and businesses.

The power plant rule is among nearly three dozen environmental regulations that Zeldin targeted in early 2025 when he announced what he called the “most consequential day of deregulation in American history.”

Zeldin said in proposing the new rules last year that they were meant to end the Biden and Obama administrations’ “war on so much of our U.S. domestic energy supply.”

Environmental and public health groups called the rollbacks dangerous and vowed to challenge the rules in court.

“Tearing down our national protections against climate pollution from power plants will have enormous costs for the health, safety and well-being of families across the country,” said Vickie Patton, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund. “Americans everywhere are already suffering from record-breaking heat, more dangerous floods and storms, and skyrocketing insurance costs.”

The EPA has a legal responsibility to protect the public from harmful pollution, Patton said, adding that “clean, affordable and reliable technologies are widely available to power our homes and businesses.”

Coal, gas and oil-fired power plants are responsible for about one-quarter of the nation’s total climate pollution, second only to the transportation sector. Pollution from power plants is one of the largest sources of climate-changing pollution in the world.

The rules targeted by Trump’s EPA could prevent an estimated 30,000 deaths and save $275 billion each year they are in effect, according to an Associated Press examination last year that included the agency’s own prior assessments and a wide range of other research.

Even a partial dismantling of the rules would mean more pollutants such as smog, mercury and lead — and especially more tiny airborne particles that can lodge in lungs and cause health problems, the AP analysis found. It would also mean higher emissions of greenhouse gases, driving Earth’s warming to deadlier levels.

Biden, a Democrat, had made fighting climate change a hallmark of his presidency. Coal-fired power plants would have been forced to capture smokestack emissions or shut down under a strict EPA rule issued in 2024. Those rules are now being upended.

In its proposal last year, the Trump EPA argued that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from fossil fuel-fired power plants “do not contribute significantly to dangerous pollution” or climate change and therefore do not meet a threshold under the Clean Air Act for regulatory action. Greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas-fired plants “are a small and decreasing part of global emissions,″ the EPA said.

Zeldin, a Republican and former New York congressman, said Biden-era actions were designed to “suffocate our economy in order to protect the environment,” with the intent to regulate the coal industry “out of existence” and make it “disappear.”

The coal industry and groups representing coal-fired power plants have denounced the Biden rule as “overreach” by the EPA and urged its repeal. Lifting the rule will protect grid reliability and shield electricity consumers from higher costs at a time of surging demand from data centers, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing, according to America’s Power, a trade organization for the U.S. coal fleet.

FILE - A barge on the Ohio River moves past the Mountaineer Power Plant, a coal-fired power plant near New Haven, W.Va., March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE - Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin listens as President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, June 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)