Frisco, Texas – Oh my god, was this music to my ears.
These words have been a major complaint of mine since Cowboys Chief Operating Officer Stephen Jones' 48-32 loss to the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the playoffs on Friday afternoon. This is what I talked about.
And they're about the Cowboys' defense, the biggest game of the 2023 season in which the Cowboys went 12-5 and won the NFC East, but failed miserably against playoff teams like the Suns. In some cases, the reasons this team struggled were completely overlooked. Games against Francisco, Buffalo, Green Bay, and Seattle were also coming up.
Three regular-season games (49ers, Seahawks, Bills) have seen the Cowboys give up 108 points out of 315 over their last 17-game schedule. And while they lost to the Packers in the playoffs by 48, the defense could only pin 41. However, the Cowboys gave up 34.2 percent of their regular season points in just three games, going 1-2.
And look at it this way. Opponents scored 363 points in 18 games against the Cowboys in 2023, but 156 of those points came in just four games, or 42.9 percent. Think about it now – 42 points 9 percent In 4 games, the record remains 1 win and 3 losses. And the only reason they fell short of four wins was because they scored 41 points overall to beat the Seahawks. They overcame a 35-27 deficit in the fourth quarter with 14 straight points, 11 of which came in the final five minutes.
But when it comes to public perception, of course head coach Mike McCarthy has to take most of the blame, and what doesn't fall on his shoulders falls on Dak Prescott's shoulders. Of course, the only people on a football team with records are the head coach and quarterback. You've never heard of Gong 10-7 for defensive tackles, right? But as we know, with a lot of money comes a lot of responsibility, fair or not.
You see, the Cowboys offense was basically a no-show in the first half of the payoff loss, trailing 27-7 (the Packers' No. 6 pick Dak accounted for seven of those points). But just because the offense is struggling doesn't mean the defense has to fall apart. Hey, hold on. It's a team game, right?
And this is not to disrespect defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. In the end, he was given a short personnel stick. After Leighton Vander Esch suffered a career-ending neck injury late in the season, there was a shortage at linebacker, forcing him to play one true linebacker and another big safety. There wasn't. And it was a roster deficit that couldn't play three linebackers when the team was outpacing the Cowboys — Arizona with 222 rushing yards, San Francisco with 170, Buffalo with 266, and most importantly of the season. In the game, Green Bay scored 143 and three rushing touchdowns.
The warts are always exposed in the playoffs, but first Trevon Diggs lost the season to a torn ACL, then Stephon Gilmore needed his season to end and tried to play with a shoulder in a harness, so the load was on. There weren't enough cornerbacks to fill his shoes. He had surgery against the Packers.
And on top of those two deficiencies, Quinn is headed to Washington for the head coaching job, which means the Cowboys are currently searching for a new defensive coordinator.
But Jim came to the rescue.
In all seriousness, Mike Zimmer did little in free agency this offseason, and with accusations that he didn't maintain enough strength, Mike Zimmer was hired to fill the vacant defensive coordinator position. Hiring is overlooked. To me, this is the best and most important free agent acquisition of the year. Much more.
Now, dim the lights and put on some music.
“I think every time you bring in a new coordinator, there's going to be a change,” Stephen said Friday on flagship radio station 105.3 The Fan. “Certainly Mike brings an edge. He coaches in a different way than Dan. Dan was very successful in the way he did it, but I think Mike has been very successful in this league in the way he does it.
“And certainly, philosophically, it's going to be a three-linebacker system instead of the two-linebacker, three-safety system that Dan preferred.”
Oh, preach, preach!
“And the other thing is, I think we're probably going to look bigger and stronger in the middle,” Stephen continued. “Obviously, I think my Achilles heel has been stopping me for the last couple of years.”
“And I think Mike brings an edge and philosophy that should help us improve in that area,” Stephen surmised.
More linebackers. The one in the middle is bigger. Run-stop priority.
For reinforcement, in the words of Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who told Micah Parsons during Super Bowl week to prove run-stopping was a priority, “For us going into the game, The key was we needed to run the ball. That was huge.''Obviously, we played with you all last year and felt like we ran the ball pretty well. ing. ”
That's right, he gained 207 yards and defeated the Cowboys 31-28 in overtime.
Please continue to give us your love.
“Just playing against all of you,” Love said, “I don’t want to talk (slap), but your linebackers (in playoff games), you linebackers (Marquise Bell, I think it was a defensive back who out of necessity played a convert (from safety to linebacker) that was our goal, and running the ball set everything else in place. ”
Brother, you did it. I've never seen so many open receivers in the next zip code since I was born, when they were forced to play so much zone to compensate for Gilmore's shoulder deficiencies. The Packers gained 415 total yards and in Game 5 the Cowboys defense gave up over 400 yards.
Now let's go Stephen. It's one thing to be able to stop the run better, and it's another to have the ability and personnel to do it better.
“I think the philosophy that Jim brings is consistent with what Maji (Smith, a first-round pick) did (at Michigan),” Stephens said. “Obviously, we have a lot more resources, paying first-round picks, using first-round picks. I think it's a better fit for what we do,' and I think that's a big plus for us. ”
And its importance should not be overlooked, considering the signing of veteran free agent linebacker Eric Kendricks, Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, Osa Odighizuwa, Damone Clark, Jordan Lewis, Diggs, With the return of DeMarvion Overshawn, Daron Brand, Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson at safety, up-and-comers Sam Williams, Bell and Juannie Thomas plus potential draft options, the defensive prospects are It's not that dark.
“But we really like the defensive side of soccer,” Stephen said with good reason, if realistic rather than overly hysterical.
Important notes here: Mazi must become The Maz. Kendricks acquisition. Then Diggs and Overshawn are back as good as new. And draft candidates. And while there's a lot of talk about first-round offensive linemen (tackles, centers, guards), behind Osa and The Maz are just Fehoko and Gholston, and do you even know their names?
Hey, if you hear that, form a band.
