The Dallas Cowboys had another excellent season defensively. They finished no.1 in turnovers for the second consecutive year (33) and were fifth in scoring defense.

Despise their success on defense, the Cowboys got a little bulletin board material this week. Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver, Mike Evans, claimed that the Cowboys are a simple team defensively and don't do anything special.

As harsh as they criticism may have been to some, future Hall of Famer and former Cowboy, DeMarcus Ware, agrees with Evans.

“The [pass rush] package has been watered down. I don’t see a lot of the plays that they ran early,” Ware said. “When you first start the season, you start doing all these NASCAR, crazy packages and you see it become really effective and then you get comfortable.

"You get comfortable with ‘alright, well then we’re just going to put guys here and say we’re going to beat you.’ Yes, we can do that. But that’s when the offenses can scheme and say ‘we’re going to double team Micah and slide to DeMarcus Lawrence.”

Ware certainly has evidence to back up his statement. The Cowboys' defense finished third in the NFL with 54 sacks. However, they only tallied six in the final five weeks after averaging four per game in the first 12 weeks, a significant drop off.

Dallas faces the ultimate challenge on Monday as they try to solve the puzzle of Tom Brady who has the most playoff victories in history (35) and has never lost to the Cowboys. The quick release of Brady and the ability of the Buccaneers' receivers coupled with question marks at the cornerback position for the Cowboys outside of Trevon Diggs make the matchup even more difficult.

The defensive front of the Cowboys will need to show up to to combat this deficiency by getting pressure because if they don't, it could be another first-round nightmare for them, much like last season against the San Francisco 49ers.

Ware continued to stress the importance of the Cowboys' defense switching things up and letting it loose against the Buccaneers.

“I think we gotta get back to being dynamic, said Ware. "You got a lot of dynamic players on that defense. Don’t water it down, let those guys go out and do what they need to do,” said Ware. “Yes, big plays will be given up, but the big plays will happen [on defense too], so Dak can score those points.”

Creating turnovers and giving Dak Prescott and the Cowboys' offense short fields is a recipe for success. Like all football games, this one will be decided in the trenches, and if the Cowboys win that battle defensively, they will likely break the Brady curse.

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