USA TODAY International Edition
Cowboys focus on defensive adjustments
FRISCO, Texas – Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson danced in the pocket for a few seconds before launching a pass 56 yards in the air for receiver DK Metcalf to snag fewer than 10 yards from the end zone.
Just after Metcalf caught it, Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs pounced and punched.
What almost became Seattle’s second score of more than 40 yards in the first quarter instead was ruled a touchback.
Diggs, a rookie secondround selection, compensated for Metcalf beating him down the stretch with an extra dose of hustle.
“That’s exactly what you’re looking for in that situation there,” head coach Mike McCarthy said Wednesday, after Seattle ultimately won 38- 31. “I think the play by Diggs will be on everybody’s highlight tape.”
For Cowboys defensive coaches, the highlight- reel menu is slim.
Coaching staff members declined this week and throughout the season to share any player grades publicly. But coordinator Mike Nolan acknowledged Monday of his defensive backs, “I don’t know that there’s a lot of winning grades going around on the back end.” No position group on defense has been consistently solid, much less shined.
The result: During Dallas’ 1- 2 season start, the team has allowed a franchise- worst 97 points through three games. Opponents have scored 77 against the Cowboys over the last two weeks alone. It’s a flood that threatens to make moot a dangerous Cowboys of
fense that currently leads the league with 490.7 offensive yards and ranks eighth with 29.3 points per game.
The reasons for struggle vary, but the risk remains.
“We’ve anticipated some bumps in the road,” McCarthy said. “We’re fully in tune with the things we need to do better.”
The Cowboys stated a few goals in the offseason as they introduced their new scheme under Nolan. They sought to be more multiple along their defensive front and introduce
scheme flexibility that would better cater to the talent of any available personnel they acquired. The Cowboys front office staff also sought a defense that was less predictable than in previous seasons.
“It’s about the predisguised looks,” cornerback Chidobe Awuzie said. “Last year, everybody knew what we were running.”
Instead, this season, Cowboys defenders too often haven’t known what they were running. Chalk it up to the truncated offseason, a significant personnel shift or the growing pains of a new staff. Regardless of the reason, players and coaches alike see the struggles.
“We have the ability to do a lot of things, but we don’t currently do very much in the game,” Nolan said Sept. 21. “I think that’s because we’re trying to win a game like everybody else. … We don’t want to clutter their mind too much on defense so that they can’t really learn what their opponent’s doing.”
Even with simplification, miscommunication has led to busted coverages and failure to halt drives. Against Seattle, defensive backs drew three penalties in a single drive.
“Most of the plays that we gave them were because of us,” Diggs said. “We’ve got to fix that. If we fix that, the score may be different. So, it’s communication.”
McCarthy acknowledged the team had “way too many” mental errors in an improbable 40- 39 win versus the Falcons in Week 2. The coaching staff was more pleased with presnap arrangement in Seattle but disappointed in the explosive plays allowed, red- zone protection ( Seattle scored on all three chances in the red zone) and anticipation.
The Browns arrive Sunday with their first winning record ( 2- 1) since 2014. First- year coach Kevin Stefanski and his team won’t wait for the Cowboys to find a replacement for the four defensive starters they lost in free agency or hesitate on account of the Cowboys landing four more defensive starters on injured reserve.
“These games count,” defensive tackle Dontari Poe put it.
Dallas will hope the communication and scheme familiarity it believes is growing takes another step against Stefanski, who duped the team last year with the screen game when he was Vikings coordinator.
“Each and every Sunday, it’s a different week, a different challenge,” cornerback Daryl Worley said. “Everything is getting on the right page. … We look at is as, these last three weeks, at the end of the games we were right there being able to win it. So it can’t do nothing but go uphill from here.”