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Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
CLEVELAND — Nobody on the Dallas Cowboys’ defense knows what a Mike Zimmer defense is supposed to look like more than linebacker Eric Kendricks.
Kendricks spent the first seven years of his career with the Minnesota Vikings when Zimmer was the head coach and defensive playcaller. When the Cowboys signed the veteran to a free agent deal this offseason — stealing him away from the San Francisco 49ers — it was so he could help the rest of the players understand what Zimmer wanted.
In the Cowboys’ 33-17 win against the Cleveland Browns in Week 1, it looked exactly how it is supposed to look.
The Cowboys limited the Browns to 230 yards on offense. Cleveland converted just two of 15 third-down opportunities. Deshaun Watson was sacked six times and hit 17 times. He was intercepted twice. The Browns ran for 93 yards on 19 carries, but 39 of those yards came on Watson scrambles.
Ten of Cleveland’s 14 possessions did not cross midfield. In the first half, they were held to one first down.
“I feel like it’s a different crew now,” Kendricks said. “We have different bodies. We have different guys. We have a different soul. But at the same time, the nucleus is the same and we’re going to build off of today. I keep saying, ‘We’re going to build,’ but it’s true. There’s a lot of things we can still clean up.”
Zimmer had been away from the NFL sidelines after he was fired by the Vikings in January 2022, and he had to follow a coordinator the players loved in Dan Quinn. In three years under Quinn, the Cowboys led the NFL in takeaways, and Micah Parsons led a pass rush that was among the NFL’s best.
Zimmer, who was a Cowboys assistant from 1994 to 2006 and coordinator from 2000 to 2006, was brought in this offseason to shore up a defense that needed to be its best at the most important moments.
The Browns’ longest play from scrimmage was a 29-yard catch-and-run from tight end David Njoku. They had only one other play of at least 20 yards. Amari Cooper, the former Cowboys receiver, caught two passes for 16 yards while lining up mostly against rookie cornerback Caelen Carson.
“Zim was cooking,” DeMarcus Lawrence said. “The whole defense felt it. We was on the same page. It was a beautiful thing. Definitely happy we got Zim in our corner, calling the shots out there, seeing what we see.”
Said cornerback Trevon Diggs: “Everyone’s buying into their responsibility.”
Diggs was playing his first game since tearing the ACL in his left knee in practice last September. He had one of the interceptions. Kendricks had the other.
And it was a bit of Zimmer at his best.
On second-and-14, Kendricks moved to the end of the line next to Parsons. At the snap, Parsons rushed the quarterback while Kendricks dropped into coverage. Reading Watson’s eyes, Parsons deflected the pass that Kendricks was able to corral for the first interception.
The Cowboys turned that into three points and a 20-3 lead with 51 seconds left in the first half.
“I just thought they set the tone with the production,” coach Mike McCarthy said.
Kendricks had his first two-sack game since 2016 against McCarthy’s Green Bay Packers. He became the fifth player since 1982 to have an interception and two sacks in a team debut, according to ESPN Stats & Information. (The only other Cowboy to do so was Tommy Haynes in 1987 in a game featuring replacements during the players’ strike.)
Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, playing his first game after missing his rookie season with a torn ACL, had nine tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss and two quarterback hits.
Parsons had his third straight opener with a sack, tying DeMarcus Ware (2010-12) for the longest streak by a Cowboys player since individual sacks were first tracked in 1982.
Lawrence had his first multisack game since he had three in a win against the New York Giants on Sept. 26, 2022. And he lamented some sacks he missed.
So did Parsons, who had a sack and a team-high eight pressures.
“I think I missed like two or three, bro,” Parsons said. “[Watson] is tough. I’m going to have nightmares tonight for sure. I’m supposed to start this year off with three [sacks], but no, it’s OK.”
Sixteen games remain. The opportunities will be there, but the Cowboys know a defense that has been good in recent years is going to remain that way and maybe get even better.
“It’s just Game 1,” Lawrence said. “We’ve got a long way to go. Lot of learning still do to. Lot of chemistry to bond together.”
