After yesterday’s awful 31-14 loss the Chicago Bears, the vaunted Dallas Cowboys Defense has come under fire. That game still exposed some major defensive issues. Most alarmingly, it gave up a long, 19-play, 76-yard touchdowns drive in the third quarter that took an unfathomable nine minutes and 54 seconds to finish. This drive tied the longest one ever documented by the Cowboys this century. It fueled doubt over the team’s poise in moments of high stakes.
The Cowboys came into the season with Super Bowl aspirations. They’ve only managed to score a measly 92 points over the span of three games, fourth fewest points allowed to start a season in franchise history. The recent loss was an indication of a larger pattern. They’d just opened the floodgates to a long, 19-play Bengals drive back in 2022. The Cowboys’ defense was on the top 10 worst end of explosive plays allowed this season. It gets worse, as they’ve given up five touchdown passes of 25 yards or more.
The good part of Dallas’ run defense has notably changed from 2022. In their first three games last season, they gave up a grotesque 190 and 274 rushing yards respectively. Unfortunately, their pass defensive struggles continue to haunt them. Last week, quarterback Russell Wilson threw for 450 passing yards and three touchdowns against the Cowboys, further exposing their defensive frailties.
As for the Cowboys, they cemented some early-season optimism and continued their ascent to a more imposing run defense. They have yet to make the playoffs during that span as three-straight years started off poorly. In 2000, under coach Dave Campo, the team gave up 94 points in their opening games and finished with a 5-11 record. Likewise, Mike McCarthy’s first season in 2020 97 Points Allowed, going 6-10 on the year.
The Bears took advantage of these big plays to great effect during their game. Rome Odunze caught a critical 35-yard touchdown pass, while Luther Burden III exploited the Cowboys’ defense for a 65-yard touchdown on a flea-flicker play. These types of explosive plays have been a major point of focus and concern for the coaching staff and players as well.
Here’s what Dallas’ defensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer had to say after realizing his team had poorly performed.
“We didn’t play well enough to win. That’s why we’re sitting here with a loss. They converted third downs; we didn’t. They protected the ball; we didn’t. They hit explosives; we didn’t,” – Brian Schottenheimer
Trevon Diggs said the most important thing is holding each other accountable. He even stressed that they had to do a better job of reducing large plays and getting off the field in general.
“We’ve got to eliminate the big plays, just get stops and get off the field,” – Trevon Diggs
Even Jerry Jones, owner of the Cowboys, admitted that the team’s defensive failures were egregious. He stressed that bad pressure and bad coverage utterly wrecked their act.
“We weren’t getting there, plus we weren’t covering them. That’s a bad combination,” – Jerry Jones
For Cowboys issues, it feels like they have been exaggerated by their failure to execute on plays. Schottenheimer admitted that even though he put more heat on enemy signal-callers—he just didn’t do enough to make their lives miserable.
“I thought we got pressure on him; we just couldn’t finish it. We were around; we just couldn’t get him on the ground,” – Brian Schottenheimer
As Kenny Clark further emphasized, teams get tired when they have to stay on the field for long stretches. He emphasized getting better with hard work in watching film and holding each other accountable.
“It’s tough. We got to find a way to get off the field. Teams get worn down the more plays they get. So got to just do a better job with that,” – Kenny Clark
Looking ahead with defensive struggles all but assured to plague the Dallas Cowboys moving forward, the focus now is on recharging and recalibrating. They’re getting ready for new tenants. Affected leaders and departments simply want to hone strategies and execution to avoid any more missteps.
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