The Dallas Cowboys generated pressure at an elite clip last season, yet their pass defense collapsed completely. According to Blogging The Boys, the 2025 squad ranked sixth in pressure rate despite finishing just 22nd in sacks.
Pressure only works if the secondary can hold up after the ball leaves the quarterback’s hand. The 2025 Cowboys secondary earned a 109.6 defensive passer rating, ranking 31st in the league and proving anything but good. Rushing the passer is only half the battle.
The Short Game Problem
Opposing quarterbacks rarely held the ball long enough for the Cowboys’ pass rush to matter. Data from ProFootballFocus.com shows that opponents completed 282 of 327 passes thrown for less than 10 yards. That is an 86 percent burn rate on short throws.
When a quarterback finds a receiver with a seven to 10-yard cushion, pressure from the front four becomes useless. The defense simply couldn’t stop the easy completions. If only they’d had more sacks, the story might’ve been different, but the short passes were too frequent.
The breakdown shows a clear pattern where the offense exploited the space between the line and the linebackers. As one analysis noted, you should be fine simply targeting whoever is covered by a linebacker. That is exactly what opponents did all season long.
A Historical Pattern
This failure isn’t a new problem for the team in Arlington. Micah Parsons remained on the roster while the Cowboys were third in total sacks during 2024. Despite those high sack numbers, they also finished at the bottom of the league in defensive passer rating.
The lesson is hard to ignore for any fan watching the games. Generating pressure is only half the equation for a winning defense. For the Cowboys in 2025, what happens after the ball leaves the quarterback’s hand mattered a lot more, and it matters just as much.
The stats from Blogging The Boys highlight how the team struggled to cover receivers even when the rush was effective. The defensive passer rating formula accounts for completion percentage, yards per attempt, touchdowns, and interceptions allowed. The 2025 numbers failed in almost every single category.
Why This Matters
Fixing the pass rush alone won’t save the defense next year. The front office and coaching staff must address the secondary before worrying about adding more pass rushers. The data proves that pressure without coverage leads to high scores for the other team.
Fans expect the team to be dominant on both sides of the ball. A defense that ranks 31st in passer rating can’t win in this league. The Cowboys need to stop giving up easy yards underneath or the season will suffer again.
The path forward requires a complete rethink of how the defense operates. They must force quarterbacks to hold the ball longer while also tightening coverage on short routes. Until they solve this specific puzzle, the pass rush numbers will remain a misleading stat.
