Dallas Cowboys Defense: Who is to Blame?
The Dallas Cowboys’ season is officially a quarter of the way over, and we’ve certainly learned a couple things. The offense has been explosive, but the defense has been quite the opposite. So, where does Dallas go from here? Do they fire defensive coordinator Mike Nolan? If so, who is his replacement? If not, what […]
The Dallas Cowboys’ season is officially a quarter of the way over, and we’ve certainly learned a couple things. The offense has been explosive, but the defense has been quite the opposite.
So, where does Dallas go from here? Do they fire defensive coordinator Mike Nolan? If so, who is his replacement? If not, what adjustments can they make to stop wasting fantastic offensive outputs? There are so many questions, but there’s not many answers – yet, at least.
The struggles on defense start with the aggressive scheme that Nolan runs because their personnel is currently not playing soundly enough for a system like his to be effective. This is due to a combination of issues. To begin with, the secondary is still learning. Secondly, the linebacker corps is underperforming. To wrap it in a bow, the defensive line doesn’t produce a lot of pressure from the inside especially.
In a system that expects its corners to understand complex coverages, the young cornerbacks for the Cowboys are destined for failure. This partly stems from the little help they're getting from the other levels of the defense.
Everson Griffen, a beloved late offseason addition, has had a rough start to his Cowboys career. He was brought over to be an impact rusher but has not meshed yet. His overall PFF grade is an abysmal 49.7 through four weeks of the season. For some context, PFF even uses pressures, not just sacks, to increase their defensive linemen grades. Griffen isn’t putting up numbers in either category so far. Meanwhile, Bradlee Anae, a rookie from Utah has shown flashes in very limited playing time. Steam for Anae to play will only increase with Griffen’s struggles.
Dallas has asked Trysten Hill, a young interior defensive lineman, to give them a lot of reps. He is flashing some potential occasionally, but he is consistently getting washed out of many plays by good interior offensive linemen. Alongside veteran Dontari Poe, Hill needs to give Dallas more in order for their line to produce more often on the stat sheet.
Jaylon Smith, their most notable healthy linebacker who they gave a lucrative contract to, has also not played particularly well. He’s often been late at closing in coverage and has not had the same impact in the running game that helped him get that contract. The losses of Leighton Vander Esch and Sean Lee have seemed to give this defense a lack of an identity or leadership.
On a positive note, Aldon Smith has been veteran bright spot for the defensive line group. He has tallied four sacks and trails only Cleveland’s Myles Garrett in that category.
Cornerback Trevon Diggs has played pretty well all things considered after being the team;s second round selection. He’s been as advertised as a raw but extremely athletic and fluid rookie coming out of Alabama.
Diggs has struggled a bit against the elite talents he’s been put on an island with, but he seems to always bounce back. Dallas should certainly be excited about his process so far.
Due to early injuries and an inexperienced defensive depth chart, it’s going to be difficult for the Cowboys to improve this defense quickly. Nolan will have to find ways to best use the talent at his disposal because, even in the NFC East, the clock is ticking for wins.
There wouldn’t be many big-time options for Dallas to choose from to replace Nolan with mid-season. Alas, change will have to happen if performances from the defense like this past Sunday continue to pile up.
Image via USA Today Sports
