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By Bob Sturm
Sep 29, 2022
There was a critical spot in the Monday night win in New York when Dallas needed its defense to get to work. The Giants scored on two consecutive drives to start the second half and led, 13-6. The Cowboys were in danger of losing to a Giants team that should be ripe for the taking.
The Cowboys were able to tie it, 13-13, but now the Giants had the ball to start the fourth quarter. A touchy unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Donovan Wilson pushed the Giants to midfield. Moving the chains just a small bit farther would put the Giants in field goal range. Not only that, but DeMarcus Lawrence — already with three sacks on the night — was unable to play with a foot injury.
Micah Parsons was attracting all sorts of attention and unable to accomplish enough. We are back at a familiar spot with the Cowboys defense: How do you get pressure on the opposing QB when you need it most?
If Lawrence and Parsons do not go get the quarterback themselves, is there any way Dallas can collapse the pocket without selling out on a blitz?
The 2022 Cowboys (so far) seem to have the answers.
Eight Cowboys had multiple QB pressures Monday and 11 Cowboys had at least one — 11!
The NFL logged 27 QB pressures and 5 sacks. Again, there was an enormous amount of pressure on the quarterback and if you witnessed those two possessions when the Giants could not handle what Dallas was throwing at them with the pass rush, you were probably reminded of the week before when Dallas did it with Joe Burrow.
Does this team have a pass rush?
And I am not talking about one good sack guy or even two. I am talking about the holy grail in this league. A deep group of guys who take turns and may not get huge individual totals, but can rotate together and eventually wear down an opponent over four quarters. We know that offensive linemen do not rotate. They need continuity and chemistry to do their job as one. The best defenses use that advantage to keep fresh rushers — if only you have them — coming at you in waves. If you can do that, then you don’t need to ask your other defenders to get too involved and they can drop back into coverage. If you get pressure without needing to blitz too much, you have a defense worthy of taking seriously.
And, maybe, the Cowboys have that?
Look at this five-year trend of rankings in the league on not only sacks, but pressures. Pressures are far more trustworthy for consistent distress a quarterback is in and most of us left that game impressed with how Daniel Jones was able to survive the night and show some level of resistance to the constant rush he faced. Look where the Cowboys rank at the end of September in the NFL:
Cowboys Pass Rushing Ranks, 2018-2022
| COWBOYS | SACKS | QB PRESSURES |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 16th | 27th |
| 2019 | 19th | 23rd |
| 2020 | 20th | 16th |
| 2021 | 13th | 4th |
| 2022 | 1st | 1st |
If that continues, this season can go to some pretty special places. A lot of it will depend on being able to sustain this against opponents with better offensive lines, but we know the recipe in this league. Those teams that can “get home with four” are at a different level and with Parsons rushing from the edge constantly, looking elite and Lawrence’s banana-stand-worthy performance of his own, it is OK to wonder what the potential might be of this very overwhelming front.
Don’t get me wrong — there is nothing wrong with blitzes at all. We love them because they can destroy a drive as well. But, there is a big difference between using the blitz as a weapon and relying on the blitz as a necessity.
Sometimes the best way to study that is by this Next Gen Pass Rush log that shows good information.
The Cowboys rushed four or fewer 29 times and 23 times with the standard four-man rush. On those 23 occasions, they had a QB pressure logged on 43.5 percent of snaps. That exceeds even the five-man pressures and generated three of the five sacks.
Dallas blitzed 13 times and was able to generate two sacks and six pressures, so that worked, too. We know Jones was beat up pretty well Monday and while the Cowboys will admit that nobody thinks the Bengals or Giants have top 10 offensive lines, this is a great development.
Also, we know teams can get pressure without having a premier pass rusher, but it is worth noting that drafting Parsons immediately changed everything back to a team pass rush total (above 40 sacks) that had not been breached since DeMarcus Ware was in his prime. We certainly don’t know if this bunch can lead the NFL in sacks as it did in 2008 under Wade Phillips, but it is fun to imagine after watching these first three games.
Weekly data box, Week 3: at New York Giants
If you can play a game and allow just four yards a passing attempt and zero snaps in the red zone, you should feel pretty great about your defensive performance.
Next Gen throw chart: Daniel Jones
It will be interesting where these three QB situations in the NFC East go from here. Jalen Hurts is in the MVP conversation. Jones is on an expiring contract and his exit from New York seems likely. Carson Wentz appears to be keeping the seat warm in Washington for someone else. I thought Jones played one of his better games, but this chart will not confirm that. The Giants lost Monday night, but it would be difficult to say it was because they were betrayed by Jones. It was a tough spot for the kid and he has endured multiple coaching and scheme changes. But, I would not count him out as a potential starter in this league even if the Giants already have.
Next Gen run chart: Saquon Barkley
Objective one on Monday had to be keeping Saquon Barkley corralled. No easy task, for sure, and the Cowboys got badly burned one time on a play that could have cost them the game if things went slightly different. Overall, I think the marked improvement against Joe Mixon and Barkley vs. what we saw against Leonard Fournette on opening night is exciting. It looks like the Cowboys were able to really get sorted after that Week 1 reality check.
I want to show you something else about the Cowboys’ defense. Many of you probably know this, but the Cowboys play almost no base defense with just four defensive backs under Dan Quinn. Yes, I know the entire league has moved from this, but Dallas is at the extreme end of the spectrum.
In 2021, the average NFL team played 258 snaps with four DBs on the field. The Seattle Seahawks, ironically as Quinn’s main employer in his earlier years, were tops in the league with nearly 500 snaps with four DBs. Dallas was 32nd in the league with just 10 snaps with four DBs for the entire year.
This year? They are 32nd again — but with five snaps in three games they are well ahead of last year’s pace.
Here are the groupings from Monday:
Under Quinn since the start of 2021, Dallas is 32nd in four-DB snaps, second in five-DB snaps (nickel) behind Buffalo, and 11th in six-DB snaps (dime). Know this: Dallas wants as many defensive backs flying around as it possibly can.
This leads us to:
Splash plays, Week 3: at New York
This is part of the equation, too. Wilson led the team this week in splash plays and has taken over the season lead. I bet I could have given you five guesses and you might not have guessed him. But, that Jayron Kearse/Wilson hybrid LB/safety role is a huge part of this defense and Wilson has always been a missile. As he becomes a free agent this year, the Cowboys might have to decide what they want to do with his situation.
2022 - Cowboys Splash Play Leaderboard
| PLAYER | SNAPS | TOTAL SPLASH PLAYS |
|---|---|---|
 Donovan Wilson | 185 | 10 |
 Micah Parsons | 174 | 8 |
 Trevon Diggs | 191 | 8 |
 DeMarcus Lawrence | 117 | 6 |
 Leighton Vander Esch | 170 | 6 |
 Dante Fowler | 54 | 5 |
 Dorance Armstrong | 97 | 4 |
 Osa Odighizuwa | 104 | 4 |
 Anthony Barr | 133 | 4 |
 Anthony Brown | 196 | 4 |
Film study
Just one play today because it is a short week (don’t miss the banana stand look at Lawrence’s sacks) and my time is running out. I want to look at what happened on this one big play to Barkley.
Third quarter – 5:41 – first-and-10 – DAL 36 – S.Barkley right guard for 36 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
It is first-and-10 and the Giants are driving. They are in 12 personnel and the Cowboys are playing nickel, but also in a simple Cover 3 look because they are expecting a run. The Giants take this run to its power side on the right and immediately Osa Odighizuwa (97) is causing big issues for the Giants right guard and turning Barkley back inside — which is his job here, but when he turns it back into more help, the help doesn’t arrive fast enough.
Anthony Barr (42) has a chance to crash down, but ankle tackles on Barkley won’t work. Big Quinton Bohanna is getting turned inside by center Jon Feliciano (76) and that was a major factor and now there is a gap that needs a hard run fit by a safety because Evan Neal has taken out Leighton Vander Esch (55). That leaves Malik Hooker (28) and Wilson (6) both arriving on the scene. Hooker has the angle and probably the play, but it looks to me like Wilson is trying to help, but actually hurts and takes out Hooker at the moment Hooker is trying to tackle Barkley.
It certainly isn’t a great look when both safeties run into each other and Wilson needs to read the play quicker. But, it is also a massive testament to Barkley’s cut-back ability and the moment he sees Hooker, he realizes he can use that foot in the ground to change the impact spot and he is gone. Once his receiver gets in Trevon Diggs’ way, it is over. That is a special player the Giants have running the ball. Fortunately, the Cowboys were able to overcome it.