FRISCO, Texas – There is a saying that has permeated NFL football since its inception, “Any given Sunday.” Meaning, on a Gameday in the league, anything is possible: underdogs can become victors and the teams beyond reproach can lose. For the Dallas Cowboys, the latter is true. Having won six consecutive games and sitting atop the hierarchy with the No. 1 offense in the NFL and the No. 3 scoring offense, Dallas seemed immortal heading into Sunday’s matchup against the 4-4 Denver Broncos. A team who had lost to four teams with a record over .500 and had beaten four teams with losing records. Sure enough, the Broncos came to town and demoralized the Cowboys in a 30-16 win, proving the Cowboys are indeed mortal.
Even then, the Cowboys’ 14-point deficit is not an accurate depiction of the team’s hammering at AT&T Stadium. Now, it is back to the drawing board for Dallas and a period of time to assess the damage commences in the aftermath. Hard to do when anything and everything that could go wrong for a squad, did go wrong. However, a glaring (albeit uncharacteristic) debacle emerged for Dallas in the defeat: tackling. That led to both Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon III imposing their will on the ground. The duo combined for 191 rushing yards with consistent yards gained after contact against an otherwise ascending Dallas defense.
“I think the biggest thing on defense was our finish and our pad level as far as yesterday’s performance,” head coach Mike McCarthy expressed on Monday. “We didn’t get as many hits on the ball. Our tackling — missed tackles was way up. We lost the tackling battle. We always, the tackling battle is how many broken tackles vs. how many missed tackles. I would say those are the things we need to correct.”
Sure, it would be nice to be able to point to one overarching issue as the contributing factor to the tackling woes on Sunday, but it is not that simple. Not every missed or broken tackle is created equal. In going back and watching film, several attributing elements emerged. Both poor eye discipline and pad level – at the point of collision, a player’s pads are lower than the opponent they are hitting or tackling – served as incriminating evidence. When a player’s pursuit angle is off, so will the pad level. Over pursuing or simply trying to knock the ball out, instead of wrapping-up the tackle and getting the ball carrier to the ground, will result in getting gashed.
In addition, on many instances, the physicality that had been synonymous with Dan Quinn’s crew was nowhere to be seen on the gridiron. If a player leaves his primary gap assignment or run fit, another player must fill the secondary gap. If not, a large hole forms for a rusher to break to the second level. That is why communication is of the utmost importance on the field to eliminate big gains.
“I think the biggest one would be the finishing of plays,” Dan Quinn stated. “To have 14 missed tackles, that’s a lot of missed tackles. If you’re going to play defense, you’d better be good tackling. This game, there were just too many one-person tackles for our liking. That, to me, was the story of it…There were six explosive runs in the game and there were plenty of runs we fit and did great, there were a bunch of tackles for loss. But, when you get one that’s a misfit and the next guy is not hauling ass to get there, that’s when the explosives come. That was disappointing, for sure.”
The battle is often won in the trenches and on Sunday against Denver, that did not play out in Dallas’ favor. Many times, as plays broke down, the Cowboys defensive ends either jumped inside or were trapped inside, not able to get off blocks. They did not effectively set the edge, resulting in getting out leveraged to the boundary and chunk plays on the ground ensuing with wide open rush lanes. Even when defenders were able to get past their blocks, they were carried for additional yardage. Whether it was wide zone runs or a downhill attack through the tackles, Dallas struggled to find answers or rally to the ball.
Now, the horrific loss will be placed in the rearview as players and coaches begin preparation for the Atlanta Falcons in Week 10. Tackling will most assuredly be an emphasis this week as Quinn looks to right the ship. The Cowboys’ first-year defensive coordinator will face his former team on Sunday for the first time since his dismissal as head coach midway through the 2020 season.
When asked about facing off against his former team, Quinn had a candid response.
“You guys saw the performance yesterday so there is no time to take a stroll down memory lane. We got some shit to fix. So, I’ll be right where my feet are, right where I’m supposed to be going after it as hard as we can. Worry about the jerseys I coach now all throughout the week.”
