Matt LaFleur takes a savage shot at Dallas Cowboys player, and it points to a recurring problem on defense
The Dallas Cowboys defense needs more from the edge rusher Matt LaFleur is seemingly mocking after Week 6.
The Dallas Cowboys defense held the Green Bay Packers to only six points in the second half of a Week 6 loss at Lambeau Field, but Packers head coach Matt LaFleur keeps adding insult to injury.
On Monday, he threw a jab at a Cowboys defender during a press conference. To be fair, the reporter set him up but LaFleur sure bit.
LaFleur takes his chance to roast Cowboys defender
You see, LaFleur called an offense that converted nine of 10 third down attempts in the first half as the Packers earned a commanding 17-0 lead. One of those was a third-and-five zone read play in which QB Jordan Love kept it and ran himself.
It was a very successful play, as Love picked up 13 yards on the keeper plus another five as a result of a Cowboys penalty on Joey Porter Jr. (illegual use of hands).
The defender Love was reading? Cowboys edge rusher and former Packer Rashan Gary. Green Bay successfully takes him out of the play through the option play without even blocking him.
Asked if he was targeting any player specifically with Love’s zone read, LaFleur couldn’t help but laugh.
“I know what you’re trying to do to me,” LaFleur said. “No, not specifically, but when I saw him there, I was like, ‘Oh, okay.”
“Him” is clearly referring to Gary, who bites hard on the running back and takes himself out of the play. Thanks to this, the TE acting as a split flow blocker (running across the formation from the backside of the play) is able to arc around Gary and block Cowboys safety Markquese Bell in the second level—which leads to Love’s big gain.
Had Gary taken on that block, Bell would’ve had a shot at stuffing the run. Perhaps most disappointing is the fact that Gary is jogging to the ballcarrier later in the play, which has been a common occurrence on his film.
This is a recurring problem
If the above play looks familiar to you, it’s because we’ve seen it before. Take Week 3 as an example. The Baltimore Ravens run a zone read in which the exact same thing unfolds. Gary bites way too hard, the TE is able to execute his arc block perfectly, and Gary shows poor effort afterwards.
The jogging in particular is a significant problem when the Cowboys head coach is opening the postgame press conference saying “The effort is right, the fight is right.” It can be better on Gary’s side.
Gary is doing good things, to be fair
To be fair, Gary was able to record nine QB pressures per Next Gen Stats. I will argue this is turning out to be a similar story than the one with Donovan Ezeiruaku, who has high pressure numbers but isn’t finishing plays to get sacks. Ask Packers media and that isn’t quite new, either:
Gary also had a solid performance versus the Houston Texans anticipating CJ Stroud’s scrambles and other runs.
But setting the edge and playing more disciplined in the run game is an area to imrpove urgently for the entire Cowboys defense. It starts with Gary, who leads the edge rushers in snaps.
