The Dallas Cowboys defense was supposed to be one of the better units in the entire league in 2019. After the Cowboys defense shut down the New Orleans Saints high powered offence in a memorable Thursday night victory last season, most of the football world took notice. From then on, that bunch of young talented players that referred to themselves as “the Hot Boyz” were brimming with confidence and swagger. They proceeded to dominate opponents on route to a division title and a playoff victory over the Seahawks before getting run over in the divisional round against the Rams. It appears that they have never been the same since allowing 273 rushing yards in that playoff loss in January.
Despite the poor showing against the Rams, most fans and experts anticipated that the Dallas Cowboys defense would come back stronger than ever in 2019. They had lost out in the Earl Thomas sweepstakes but they added Robert Quinn to help with their pass rush, drafted a promising young defensive tackle Trysten Hill,, and even brought Sean Lee back to play with their other two young stud llnebackers Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch. Other players, like Maliek Collins and Xavier Woods were primed to have career years and the excitement around the Dallas Cowboys defense was off the charts. Many predicted they would be a top 5 unit and some thought they had a chance at being the best in the entire NFL. This was supposed to be the second coming of the Doomsday Defense…
That has simply not been the case. The Dallas Cowboys defense has struggled right from the start, even during their 3-0 start against some of the worst teams in the league. The slow start was mostly attributed to rust, missing players, injuries, and some other excuses but when the Cowboys traded for Michael Bennett midseason, the real Dallas Cowboys defense was supposed to show up and launch the team into a long playoff run. Statistically, the defense is performing at a top 10 level, but Cowboys fans will not be fooled by a simple measure of yards allowed. This defense has not lived up to expectations, and judging by the last two losses, they may have completely checked out. Now, not only are fans once again calling for Jason Garrett‘s job, but now we find ourselves calling for the heads of the once glorified defensive co-ordinator Kris Richard and the beloved defensive line guru Rod Marinelli. How did we get here and can this be corrected?
The struggles of the Dallas Cowboys defense can be explained in many ways. A simplistic defense that does not attempt to disguise what they are doing or confuse offensive coordinators. Poor execution, bad tackling and pursuit angles, difficulty reading and reacting, lousy communication, and just getting dominated on the line of scrimmage. These types of issues all point to lack of effort and poor coaching but there is a greater issue that all the coaching and hard work in the world could not overcome.
The biggest reason that the Dallas Cowboys defense has struggled so much this season and has struggled in the past, is that they lack something that everyone assumes they have in spades..talent. The Dallas Cowboys defense does have some talented players, but they lack talent at key positions, they lack depth at key positions. While they have some very athletically talented players, guys blessed with speed and natural agility, many of those players are lacking in ball skills, instincts, and football IQ. There are in fact flaws in every single level of the defense.
Think about the pass rush. It has long been the achilles heel for this defense. Recently, Demarcus Lawrence emerged as a legitimate pass rusher. Lawrence is an elite player but he is not on the same level as the elite pass rushers throughout the league. If you watch D-Law play, he is effective because of relentless effort, he is great with his hands, and he utilizes a variety of pass rush moves. He is a complete player who can play the run as well as the pass and he is the leader on the defense. The thing Lawrence lacks is the explosive first step that is rare among the elite pass rushers. it is also the thing that has been missing on this team since DeMarcus Ware was cut many years ago. Cowboys fans have gotten a taste of it from the opposite side with newly signed free agent Robert Quinn. The explosiveness that Quinn possesses, even at nearly 30, shows us Cowboy fans what this defensive line has been missing these past few years. In order to have a top tier pass rush, you need more guys with that type of pure pass rush talent. The deficit of talent is not relegated to just the edge rushers though.
In today’s NFL, even more important than the outside pass rushers are the guys in the middle. Rod Marinelli understands this to a degree, but he is so obsessed with finding a three technique that can disrupt the pocket and get after the quarterback, that he often ignores the importance of the other defensive tackle position. The Dallas Cowboys have consistently devalued the one-technique (nose tackle) position in the draft and free agency. They continuously refuse to spend high draft picks or significant free agent money on the prototypical big, run stuffing defensive tackle. With a lack of size and top tier talent in the middle, it is difficult for the Dallas Cowboys defense to dominate the line of scrimmage, get interior pressure, and ultimately effectively rush the passer. The Cowboys try to compensate for their lack of size with quick penetration up the field involving lots of twists, slants, and stunts, but this often leaves them vulnerable and out of position against the run. They are especially susceptible against quarterbacks who can use their legs. The Dallas Cowboys defense only chance to succeed is to out effort the other team, be disciplined in their “gap integrity”, and to guess correctly more often than not. In other words, they have to be virtually perfect to win the battle up front. That is just not a realistic expectation because too often they are just simply over matched physically or they get completely out coached. If they had some more difference makers on the defensive line, they would have a much larger margin for error. Having talented players with the ability to win the line of scrimmage outright makes everyone else’s job a lot easier.
The defensive line may lack talent, but that is not supposed to be the case at linebacker. The talent at the linebacker position is supposedly the deepest on the entire defense but yet the results leave much to be desired. Vander Esch has battled injuries and that is perhaps why he had regressed so much in year two. Jaylon Smith got a new contract but his play has not warranted the pay raise. There are those that argue because of the deficiencies on the defensive line, Smith is asked to do too much but the poor tackling, over pursuit, and celebrating when his team is down by three scores is not what Cowboys fans expected from him after his breakout season in 2018. Sean Lee has managed to stay on the field this year, but has looked very much his 33 years at times this year, especially in coverage where he has always excelled in the past. It may be that the Dallas Cowboys linebacker unit that many believed was the very best in the NFL is simply overrated.
The secondary has had it’s ups and downs this year as well. They have uncharacteristically given up a ton of big plays and they continue to struggle with creating turnovers. Finally allowing Jourdan Lewis to get on the field has aided in that department but between Chidobe Awuzie, Byron Jones, and Xavier Woods, there are too many instances where they miss opportunities to get takeaways. The biggest issue with the Dallas Cowboys secondary has been and continues to be the safety position. It is a position that the team fails to address year after year. They tried to land Earl Thomas but when they failed on that endeavour, they did not make an effort to sign any other significant free agents at the position despite several viable options available the past two seasons. To make matters worse, they had an opportunity to draft several of the top safeties on the board with the 58th pick in the NFL draft and opted instead for DT Trysten Hill who has been a bust so far.
Whatever happens this offseason. Whoever the new coach of the Dallas Cowboys will be in 2020. One thing that they must understand is that If the Dallas Cowboys defense is going to improve, they need to add more talent. Not just guys that run fast and jump high but legitimate football players. The Cowboys need more guys that can rush the passer, more ball hawks in the secondary, and some big fat guys that can dominate the middle of the field. Until that happens, the dreams of the next coming of the Dallas Doomsday Defense are Doomed from the start of the next regime.
*Photo by Kieth Allisonhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/