Mccarthy optimistic despite loss
PHILADELPHIA – The more receiver Amari Cooper watched the Cowboys defense on Sunday night, the more he began to sense it.
“It almost seemed like they were playing for us,” Cooper said after the 23-9 loss. “I mean, playing to make our lives easy. Make our jobs easier.”
Cowboys defenders, well aware that a seventh-round rookie would make his first start at quarterback in the divisional matchup, confirmed they were.
And for that, among related reasons, head coach Mike Mccarthy left the 18 miles-per-hour gusts at Lincoln Financial Field more optimistic that for the Dallas Cowboys, the winds were blowing in the right direction.
Don’t confuse that with false optimism that the 2-6 Cowboys’ woes are suddenly fixed.
“We’re running out of time,” Mccarthy said. “We understand that as far as where we are in the season. [But] I thought our defense played with tremendous pride. We knew we needed to stop the run. And I told our guys we needed takeaways.
“I thought clearly that our defense took a huge step.”
Players and coach alike were careful to qualify their boosted spirits, cautious about finding too much solace or joy in what essentially amounted to a moral victory. But consider Dallas’ last two games since they lost franchise quarterback Dak Prescott for the season with an ankle injury. The Cardinals stomped on the Cowboys in North Texas, 38-10, in a nationally televised “Monday Night Football” matchup. Then came a 25-3 blowout divisional loss to a one-win Washington squad.
Mccarthy had zero areas of improvement he thought his team had addressed when asked on Oct. 20, as injuries mounted and clean football play disintegrated. Simple fundamentals had come undone, from four-time Pro Bowler Ezekiel Elliott losing four fumbles in fives games to previously stout defenders tackling from bad angles and failing to uphold gap integrity.
The Cowboys arrived in Philadelphia allowing a league-worst 34.7 points per game. They left ceding to the Eagles 23 total points, only 15 of which were scored by the offense. The Cowboys defense stepped onto Lincoln Financial Field with a resume boasting a league-worst three takeaways in seven games. They then demoralized Carson Wentz to more than double that number, as they recovered fumbles on each of two strip sacks and paraded end-zone interceptions by rookie cornerback Trevon Diggs.
“That’s the brand of football and identity we’re focused on playing,” Mccarthy said.
And the energy was contagious among defenders, linebacker Leighton Vander Esch explained when asked about his own head-on strip sack of Wentz.
“Honestly I was hyped that we were all making plays out there,” said Vander Esch, who missed a month of the season with a broken collarbone. “It wasn’t just me going in and getting in there and getting a strip sack. It was the defense taking it one play at a time, focusing on doing their jobs and that’s what created that opportunity. So I mean, it’s the guys around me. I think, like I said, where we’re making strides and most importantly I think we’re sticking together through it.”
The Cowboys’ only wins have come on last-minute field goals against the 2-6 Falcons and 1-6 Giants. The franchise has been hobbled not only by injuries but also by blatantly obvious growing pains in adjusting to a staff led by the first new head coach in Dallas since 2010. Discord had marred early weeks, particularly on defense, as multiple players first mildly criticized coordinator Mike Nolan’s scheme on the record and then took to anonymous reports to apparently blame the staff for failing to adjust. Even without names attached, Mccarthy deemed anonymous quotes reported by NFL Network substance substantial enough to address in a team setting.
Sunday night in Philadelphia, coaches and players appeared more in sync than they had all season.
On offense, coaches understood they were about to start a quarterback who was intended as purely a developmental asset through at least 2020.