Creeper
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The facts is, Dallas was the 5th ranked scoring defense in the league this year giving up a little over 18 points per game. They were 5th in yards allowed, 16th in rushing yards allowed. 5th in passing yards allowed - despite not having Diggs. They were 1st in defensive TDs with 7. 13th in sacks, Tied for 15th in yds per carry allowed, which is better than the Eagles, Packers, Bills, Steelers, Browns, Ravens and Chiefs, and tied with the Rams. These are all playoff teams. This is yards per carry, not total yards so point differential should not come into play. The Cowboys were 9th in interceptions.
Given these facts/statistics is the Cowboys defense good or bad? Over a 17 game schedule these numbers look pretty good. Certainly good enough to compete with the Packers.
So how do we view the absolute breakdown against the Packers? It seems to me they went away from who they are. This is a defense that has been successful stopping passing teams. Their identity is pressuring the QB and playing man coverage to force incompletions or interceptions. Where was that against the Packers? Why did we come out in some weird zone which the players were clearly not comfortable playing? This led to blown coverages missed assignments and easy chunk plays for the Packers. I think it also confused the player which may have made the run defense worse.
It is one game but it was a big game. If you are in favor of cutting loose from Dak because he fails in a big situation, they why not Quinn whose failure may have been even more significant. Dak eventually found a groove and it may have been in garbage time, but Quinn never figured it out. Go back and watch the Eagles-Bucs game late in the 4th quarter. Look at the Eagles defense flooding the LOS to stop the run when they knew the Bucs were running out the clock. Then look at Quinn's defense playing small personnel. I go back to the Lions game and I cannot get that 4th quarter two minute drive by the Lions. It was so easy. No pressure, not tight coverages anywhere on the field. Easy score which should have tied the game. The Dolphins did the same thing the week before and kicked a game winning FG.
I don't know what Quinn's excuse is but his performance on Sunday was worse than anything I saw on the field, including Dak's miserable first half. Maybe if he just played the defense that got the Cowboys to 12 wins, they may have gotten #13 that day. I think Dallas can do better and they should try to do better. They have good players. Maybe they need a couple more, but only the facts indicate the defense is much better than they performed on Sunday. I think that is on Quinn.
Given these facts/statistics is the Cowboys defense good or bad? Over a 17 game schedule these numbers look pretty good. Certainly good enough to compete with the Packers.
So how do we view the absolute breakdown against the Packers? It seems to me they went away from who they are. This is a defense that has been successful stopping passing teams. Their identity is pressuring the QB and playing man coverage to force incompletions or interceptions. Where was that against the Packers? Why did we come out in some weird zone which the players were clearly not comfortable playing? This led to blown coverages missed assignments and easy chunk plays for the Packers. I think it also confused the player which may have made the run defense worse.
It is one game but it was a big game. If you are in favor of cutting loose from Dak because he fails in a big situation, they why not Quinn whose failure may have been even more significant. Dak eventually found a groove and it may have been in garbage time, but Quinn never figured it out. Go back and watch the Eagles-Bucs game late in the 4th quarter. Look at the Eagles defense flooding the LOS to stop the run when they knew the Bucs were running out the clock. Then look at Quinn's defense playing small personnel. I go back to the Lions game and I cannot get that 4th quarter two minute drive by the Lions. It was so easy. No pressure, not tight coverages anywhere on the field. Easy score which should have tied the game. The Dolphins did the same thing the week before and kicked a game winning FG.
I don't know what Quinn's excuse is but his performance on Sunday was worse than anything I saw on the field, including Dak's miserable first half. Maybe if he just played the defense that got the Cowboys to 12 wins, they may have gotten #13 that day. I think Dallas can do better and they should try to do better. They have good players. Maybe they need a couple more, but only the facts indicate the defense is much better than they performed on Sunday. I think that is on Quinn.
