Are opponents licking their chops to target a suddenly suspect Dallas Cowboys defense?
While the rest of the football world is having a conniption over quarterback Dak Prescott’s overblown surge in interceptions, the Dallas Cowboys have more pressing concerns in regards to their presumably declining Super Bowl hopes.
A dominant defense that was suppose to be key to be the Cowboys being real contenders in 2022 and possibly end a 27-year championship drought has suddenly become suspect due to injuries, attrition and questionable replacements.
Once feared for it’s ferocious pass rush, the Cowboys defense has just one sack in the past two games and gave up a season-high 318 yards passing and four touchdowns in last Sunday’s shocking 40-34 overtime loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Add in 192 rushing allowed by the Cowboys already dubious run defense and the front offense and coaching staff are scrambling for answers and contemplating lineup changes with three games left season.
Instead of simply focusing on Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles (13-1), the Cowboys (10-4) trying to find their defensive mojo again that at one point had them comparing themselves to the great championship Doomsday defenses of years past.
“That game exposed several areas for us to work on,” owner Jerry Jones begrudgingly admitted on his radio show on 105.3 the Fan. “I look at it as a go-to-work, use these next three weeks to basically look at if we’re going to put different personnel in different places as well as how we’re implementing the personnel.”
“We need to re-evaluate and look these next three games if we’re going to put some different personnel in there if we don’t put a different player. If we’re going to play it that way, then look at the communication.”
Injuries have certainly taken their toll on the defense with left cornerback Anthony Brown (torn Achilles) and nickel cornerback Jourdan Lewis (foot) lost for the season and defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins (pectoral) and linebacker Leighton Vander Esch (stinger) likely out until the playoffs.
The most glaring issue is at left cornerback where 2021 second-round pick Kelvin Joseph has proven to be a failure as a replacement for Brown. The Cowboys are going to give Nahshon Wright, Travon Mullen and Kendall Sheffield looks at the position.
“I’m more concerned with the health of our team,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “We have had a rough stretch here the last three games. We have lost a number of starters, but our guys are jumping in there. The things I pay close attention to is the communication and the interaction, and [Cowboys defensive coordinator] Dan [Quinn] was able to still have enough calls to stay competitive. We were in a bunch of situational calls in the fourth quarter and so forth, and you don’t have your young guys in there on that, so that shows where they were in their development.
“Let’s be honest, we’ve hit a little bit of an injury cycle here.”
Again, injuries are one thing but the unit’s subpar play has included missed assignments, poor tackling and a lack of focus the past two weeks against allegedly inferior opponents in a closer than expected 27-23 victory vs. the Houston Texans (1-12-1) and the Jaguars (6-8).
A Cowboys defense that allows 19.2 points per game, 324.6 yards and 191.6 passing yards gave up an average of 31.5 points, 415 yards and 262 passing yards to the Texans and Jaguars.
But the past two weeks? Dallas has allowed 31.5 points per game, 415 total yards per contest and 262 passing yards.
“We talk about being one of the best defenses in the league,” safety Jayron Kearse said. “And the past two weeks, we haven’t shown it at all. You are what you put on tape. At this point, we haven’t gotten the job done. Giving up 500 yards to, no disrespect, but that Jacksonville squad, shouldn’t have happened. Or go back two weeks ago, where, oh, it’s the Texans. Not coming into the game with that edge … as a defensive unit, not having the complete hunger that was shown earlier in the year.
“Our offense should not put up 34 points and we lose the game. I’m a fan of great defenses. We haven’t been up to that caliber as of late, and it shows on film. When you turn the tape, you see it. We scored 34 on Sunday. We should’ve come out with a victory, and it should’ve been a comfortable victory, if we claim to be the defense we think we are.”
One thing is for certain, if the Cowboys don’t figure it out opponents will continue to exploit and thrive on a Cowboys defense that began the season talking about being a new version of the Doomsday but is now looking like will be the doom and gloom to their playoff hopes, again.
“The road is not going to get easier,” Kearse said. “It’s just going to continue to get tougher, and we have some things to figure out. Just like we’re watching tape on other guys, they’re watching tape on us. And I can assure you, right now, they’re licking their chops.”
