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By Jon Machota 3h ago
FRISCO, Texas — Nobody was confusing the Cowboys defenses of the last decade with the 1985 Chicago Bears or 2000 Baltimore Ravens. Dallas statistically ranked in the top six in 2016 and 2018, but neither team caused enough turnovers to seriously consider them a top-five group in the league. There were also plenty of really ugly years during that stretch. But one thing that was never questioned with those defenses was their effort.
That has changed this season, especially after last Sunday’s 49-38 home loss to the Cleveland Browns.
Several plays have been highlighted through All-22 footage, which showcased questionable effort as Dallas’ defense gave up a franchise record 307 rushing yards.
“I just didn’t think the effort was there,” former Cowboys Hall of Fame quarterback and current Fox NFL analyst Troy Aikman said Tuesday on 1310 The Ticket (KTCK-AM). “I didn’t see one guy on defense that I’d say had a good game. … To me, I’d be embarrassed as a player to put that kind of performance on film; that’s going to be seen by your peers for the rest of the season.”
Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence criticized the team’s defense after the game, saying the group played soft. Head coach Mike McCarthy and defensive coordinator Mike Nolan declined to go that far when assessing what they saw during the game and after watching the film.
“You’ve got to be really careful when you start challenging professional athletes about effort, especially from a distance,” McCarthy said. “We don’t have an effort issue. If we had an effort issue, that game would have been over in the middle of the third quarter. Our guys fought all the way to the end.”
Nolan agreed.
“I think the effort’s been good,” he said. “The issues that we had (Sunday) were more technique-wise, in my opinion. And when one technique breaks down for one player, obviously it affects another player next to them. We didn’t play very well. I’m not skirting the issue at all. We played very poorly. I hope we don’t have to live through another one of those. But if we don’t get things corrected, it could happen. I believe that we’ll get those things corrected, the guys will see the urgency in what we’re doing and we’ll bounce back.”
The players have also said that they didn’t believe effort was a problem in a game when they at one point allowed 34 unanswered points, then failed to make a stop after the team rallied to pull within 41-38 with 3:42 remaining.
“Effort isn’t the issue,” linebacker Joe Thomas said. “I think guys are playing physical, but we need it on a more consistent basis. … That (effort criticism) is outside-the-building noise. It doesn’t really affect us inside the building. If there was an effort issue, it would’ve been addressed inside the building. I don’t think that was an issue at all. It’s just communication. When we’re all on the same page and we know what’s going on, we play faster, and it looks a lot better.”
When asked specifically about Lawrence’s claim that the group played soft, Thomas said “some plays” on Sunday were not up to their standards.
“Our effort’s been good,” safety Xavier Woods said. “I mean, on certain plays some guys — I mean, me included — there may be a lack, but overall the effort is there. I mean, you don’t expect — we’re in the NFL — you don’t expect guys full-speed for 70 plays. That’s not possible. But you’re going to push all you can. I mean, we know. You don’t expect a backside corner to make a play on the opposite side. If he’s running full speed the whole time, it’s just not possible, to be honest.”
It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that the coaches and players are defending their effort. The team is only four weeks into the season with a new coaching staff.
They’d have even bigger issues if that was being criticized publicly from within this early in the season.
But it’s difficult to re-watch that film and not question everything about this defensive unit. The talent doesn’t appear to be there. Several key injuries have played a role. Everyone is clearly not on the same page. Dallas has allowed a franchise-record 146 points through their first four games. They haven’t kept the lead for an entire defensive series once. The defense is ranked last in scoring, 30th in total defensive yardage (430.5 yards per game) and 31st in run defense (172.5 yards per game).
There isn’t one area where they are playing well. They have created only two takeaways. For comparison’s sake, 23 teams have at least twice that many. The pass rush was supposed to be their greatest strength yet they’re only averaging two sacks per game. Opposing quarterbacks have thrown 12 touchdowns to only one interception and are averaging a 114.3 passer rating against Dallas’ defense, third-worst in the NFL.
Some will say, this must be rock bottom. But what if it’s not? Sunday’s game is again at home, only it’s against a New York Giants team that is averaging a league-low 278 yards per game and a league-worst 11.8 points per game. They don’t have star running back Saquon Barkley. Their offensive coordinator is the Cowboys’ previous head coach.
What if Jason Garrett’s offense puts up 30 points on this defense? Everyone can agree that that would be a new rock bottom.
When things start heading in this direction, it usually leads to critics calling for change. The Cowboys have said all week that there are no plans to make any significant coaching or personnel changes.
“We just have to be better,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM]. “We’ve got to go to work. Now’s not the time to think about things like that. I’m very convicted about this staff. I’m very convicted about this team.”
“We are going to stay the course,” McCarthy said. “My confidence is very high in Mike Nolan.”
To this point, everyone in the organization is saying the right things publicly. That could change. It’s more difficult than ever to avoid hearing the criticism and not responding, whether in an interview or on social media.
“There was a day in this league that you would talk about ‘don’t pay attention to the outside’ and things like that,” McCarthy said. “I know in my personal experience as a head coach, that’s not realistic, that’s not practical. The locker room access through social media and the other media emphasis and the popularity of our sport, it’s really a part of our industry. I’m not naive to the fact that our players — and, more importantly, we all have family, we all have friends — so they’re all aware of what they’re saying about each person. But at the end of the day, it’s about the commitment inside the locker room.
“I said it the first day I arrived here: The locker room is my primary focus. I know I have the responsibility to speak openly and frank as best I can to the media, to our fans. But my primary focus will always be about the development and the integrity and trust of the locker room. That’s the way we’re going to get to where we want to go. That’s something I believe in. That’s been my process as a head coach my whole career.
“I probably didn’t handle it the best way in my prior experience. Being BBD, Boring By Design, was probably not the best method. I’m trying to be as charismatic as hell with you as you can tell, it’s coming out of my ears right now. I think you do the best you can, and we’re learning each other with the way everyone asks questions. But I’m only going to go as far as I can because I do believe the growth of the locker room operates best that way.”
The offense deserves its share of the blame for the 1-3 start, particularity as it relates to their struggles with taking care of the ball. They have put their defense in some poor field position situations with their NFL-worst nine turnovers. Running back Ezekiel Elliott, who is responsible for three of those turnovers, says the team isn’t concerned about outside criticism.
“You can’t really focus on that,” Elliott said, “because I think honestly everything will flip if we win on Sunday. Everything is going to flip, you guys are going to be praising us. I think we can’t really worry about what we can’t control, the talk outside the building. All we can focus on is this team and how to get better and how to get back on track, how to win these next couple ball games.”
