The Cowboys defense is currently in uncharted waters. We don’t know how to process this.
As we head into Week 17 with a mighty challenge lurking — and obviously many bigger ones on the horizon — Dallas welcomes the new year with the unthinkable No. 1 ranking in the NFL in takeaways.
But, wait. That’s not all.
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They also head into 2022 with the equally unthinkable No. 1 ranking in the NFL in third-down defense.
They are No. 2 in the NFL in points off turnovers and No. 2 in opponent’s drives without first downs. They are No. 4 in the NFL in points allowed per drive.
It is too much to convince ourselves to declare it as fact, for now, but the evidence is mounting that Dallas has a legitimately excellent NFL defense. The only thing that calls all of this into question is the last four offenses they have played. We should not be afraid to recognize this tremendous caveat. In four games where the opposing quarterbacks were: Taysom Hill, Taylor Heinicke, Mike Glennon, and Heinicke again, the Cowboys have absolutely demoralized four opponents in rude fashion. The games have not been terribly entertaining and frankly the past several have been a chore to work through the second half.
My, how things have changed around here.
It was just a year ago that this defense was an absolute and unmitigated disaster. Who can forget the Tuesday night game in Baltimore when Orlando Brown shouted “easy money” at the Fox cameras after the Ravens bullied the Cowboys defense for yet another touchdown.
Let’s just say if someone properly hires Dan Quinn away to run their franchise as a head coach again, it will be well deserved based on this year alone.
He has had a massive hand in the transformation of a defense without a massive checkbook subsidizing the whole thing. Yes, the Cowboys made an unpopular investment on draft night in their surprising drafting of Micah Parsons, but as we have stated time and time again, there was no other cash outlay in free agency that so much as moved even a slight “breaking news” needle. Nope. This was all done under the radar and to see them at the top of the standings for defensive domination stats is one of the bigger shocks of the NFL season.
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What is strategically different?
It really seems to begin and end with this team’s philosophy about bringing pressure. Dallas hasn’t done this sort of thing in ages. Rod Marinelli was absolutely the opposite of Rob Ryan in this department, with Marinelli strongly believing that “bend but don’t break” was the way. Routinely, Dallas would be in the bottom 5-10 teams in the league in blitz pressure.
In 2019, the Cowboys were 25th overall. In Mike Nolan’s lone year in 2020, they moved slightly up to 22nd.
As we sit here today, Dallas is sixth overall in blitzing.
The chart below is from our friends at NFL Next Gen and you can see how it breaks down across the board:
Now, keep in mind, everything is fractional and also that Dallas does not do this every week. The teams at the top — Miami, Tampa Bay, and yes, Arizona, do it as their principled beliefs about how the game should be played. Dallas does it more as a specific tactic against certain teams.
As we can tell, that generally means that they will unleash Hades against opponents like the four they have just played. They all had unstable offensive line situations and a QB who has not graduated with a Master’s degree in how to attack blitzes. This is why we wonder how Dallas will operate against the Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers offenses that might appear on the schedule in January. Rodgers, in particular, is blitzed rarely, but there is no doubt the best way to rattle any top QB is to be able to “get there with four” and play sound coverage behind it.
Here is how Dallas attacked Washington on Sunday, and we should keep in mind the Cowboys definitely called off the dogs after halftime.
As you can see, 18 blitzes generated three sacks, nine pressures, and a 63 QB rating. Tactical football as old as time says: If you find something that troubles your opponent, do it repeatedly until they find an answer.
Washington and the New York Giants are incapable of that.
So Dallas has shot up the rankings of teams that bring pressure in the last month. As we have stated, we must be mindful of the opponents to explain this, for sure. But, we must also look at the return of DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory from the infirmary to see that now Dallas has a full deck.
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The concept of sending Parsons as a pass rusher is not foreign. He has done that nearly 300 times this season. But, the majority of that was as an edge rusher who was helping the team easily compensate for the absences of its leader. In the past, a three-month absence of someone like Lawrence would be more than this franchise could handle. But, this year, it has only made them more dangerous down the stretch.
Why? Because now, Parsons keeps rushing, but from unknown locations in the form of a blitzing linebacker. Edge rushers usually line up at the same place against the same guy. Lawrence is not moving to avoid a matchup or to pick low-hanging fruit. But, now, Quinn can deploy his two favorite blitzers — Parsons and Jayron Kearse — to a spot where they will either get a tasty matchup, or no matchup at all as a free runner at a terrified QB.
Let’s look at two of these examples from the second quarter on Sunday night:
2Q – 10:34 – 1st and 10 – WAS 25 – T.Heinicke sacked at WAS 20 for -5 yards by M.Parsons.
I know teams love to play bunch formations to cause coverage confusions, but the more you condense your targets, the more you bring blitzers in tight. This is the general concept of a “spread” offense. If you can use wide spaces, you make your quarterback’s job so much easier in determining coverages and blitz packages. But, with everything packed in, Dallas plays Cover 1 and Washington has five-on-five in pass protection. This means that Dallas has its four defensive linemen and Parsons (11) to try to find one guy who can beat his man. Parsons vs. Ereck Flowers (79) was the matchup you might predict they would win the fastest — and they did.
A few plays later …
2Q – 8:13 – 2nd and 6 – WAS 44 – T.Heinicke sacked at WAS 42 for -2 yards by J.Kearse.
This is a fun one because Kearse ends up with the sack, but look what Dallas did. It brought Parsons over to Lawrence’s side and lined him up in the inside gap. Then, he drops into coverage to take away the hot route to Adam Humphries (13). Now look at Gregory (94) who is running a pirate stunt (he stunts around both defensive tackles) to the opposite guard (which is the guy who thought he would have Parsons). That movement from Gregory leaves left tackle Charles Leno (72) looking inside and Kearse (27) sneaks to the backfield and ultimately gets the sack. Watch Lawrence’s closing speed and you can see how Heinicke is running for his life.
These are the real effects of a blitzing team when they have a threat like Parsons. Adding him back at linebacker might hurt his splash-play numbers, but there is no question in my mind it makes Dallas a far better defense.
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Data box: Week 16 vs. Washington
Feast your eyes. Takeaways and third-down stops. This defense is looking like a real problem for opponents. I am very interested in what Arizona tries, especially without DeAndre Hopkins in the mix.
Taylor Heinicke Next Gen throw chart
Mr. Heinicke will be very happy to see no more Dallas Cowboys on his schedule this year. These two meetings have been very unpleasant for a player who has had some very bright moments in the past 12 months against some nice opponents. But, Dallas fans may not believe that after the past three weeks.
Splash plays: Week 16
The DeMarcus Lawrence machine keeps on producing and he is hurrying his way up the charts. It says four above, but he gets a bonus splash for a defensive touchdown which is the sixth this season for the team. It is all getting ridiculous.
For the year, the standings are coming together nicely:
Season Totals - 2021 Splash Plays
Player | Snaps | Total Splash Plays |
|---|---|---|
781 | 48 | |
Trevon Diggs | 881 | 38 |
879 | 35 | |
662 | 30 | |
912 | 26 | |
359 | 20 | |
184 | 18 | |
504 | 16 | |
513 | 16 | |
351 | 15 | |
504 | 15 | |
363 | 14 |
Our leaderboard tells quite a story about a few things. One, Parsons has already locked up the season. Two, Kearse may need a contract extension. Three, Lawrence is incredible to be running up the board this fast. And four, Trevon Diggs will lead off our film study below.
Film study
1Q – 11:33 – 1st and 10 – WAS 28 – T.Heinicke pass deep right intended for T.McLaurin INTERCEPTED by T.Diggs at DAL 29.
Opening snap of the game is to attack Diggs with Terry McLaurin (17) on a go-route against Cover 3. By the way, check out our guy Kelvin Joseph on the other side of the field with his assignment against Cam Sims (11). Here comes Parsons and Heinicke has to unload and this just seems like a really aggressive way to get after Dallas in this game. The courage is not questioned, but the logic might be as they quickly give Dallas a takeaway and will chase the game the rest of the way. I will say it again, Diggs is not perfect and has his flaws. But, challenging him on a play like this has not paid off for anyone all year, it seems. You put a ball near him and he is generally catching it.
1Q – 2:27 – 3rd and 7 – WAS 43 – T.Heinicke pass short middle intended for J.Williams INTERCEPTED by D.Lawrence at WAS 40. D.Lawrence for 40 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
It’s third down and Heinicke is in empty. Obviously, offensive coordinator Scott Turner wanted to now try that “spread them out” strategy and give Heinicke a chance to see a blitz. Dallas is playing coverage here, but this is where you can move Lawrence inside to DT and let Chauncey Golston (59) to the edge opposite Gregory (94). At the snap, Lawrence is going to get into the lane where Jonathan Williams (35) is running to get underneath the coverage and try to get to the sticks. But, it won’t matter because Lawrence is going to actually tip the ball and catch it himself. Then, in an act worthy of the banana stand, he will take it the whole way with elite fluidity to his sprinting. Unreal athleticism.
1Q – 2:17 – 1st and 10 – WAS 25 – T.Heinicke pass deep middle to D.Brown to DAL 27 for 48 yards (T.Diggs).
Here is another drive-starter. First play off the sideline and Washington wants to go deep again. Now, this might fly in the face of what we said about challenging Diggs, but Washington definitely doesn’t think it is a fruitless endeavor and it proved as much hitting Dyami Brown here on a deep pass on a Cover-1 defense from Dallas. Brown is a 4.4 guy and will be a deep threat for years to come, we suspect. It looks like Damontae Kazee was unable to recover from watching the over route to Ricky Seals-Jones (83) which was also open and Brown just got inside Diggs and made a heck of a play. Credit to Washington for finding a 48-yarder here.
1Q – 0:49 – 1st and Goal – DAL 7 – T.Heinicke sacked at DAL 8 for -1 yards (D.Lawrence).
Here is a non-blitz sack but just shows again how insane an athlete Lawrence is. Very few guys his size can change direction in the open field and close down an athletic QB as he can. He makes it look easy. Don’t sleep on Tank.
2Q – 14:53 – 3rd and Goal – DAL 8 – T.Heinicke pass short left to A.Gibson for 8 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
A few plays later the Cowboys get beat on this third-and-goal when Anthony Brown gets out-leveraged by Gibson to the pylon. You can see how tough this assignment is to deal with half the field in a one-on-one footrace, but that is the job. Gibson was a college WR so you have your work cut out for you, but you would like to see Brown start a bit wider and be able to out-leverage Gibson back to some help. Tough league.
Finally, shoutout to the special teams remaining special.
3Q – 6:12 – 4th and 15 – DAL 10 – T.Way punt is BLOCKED by C.Clement, RECOVERED by DAL-C.Golston at WAS -1. TOUCHDOWN.
It doesn’t really seem like Dallas has any sort of special punt-block on here other than Corey Clement (32) just deciding he is going to beat his man. When he does, he flies by the punter and gets his arm up in a way that avoids contact and bats the ball down to the goal line where a very pleased Golston has it bounce right up to him. When things like this start happening, it is OK to wonder if it might be your year.
But, Arizona will ask better questions than Washington did. Let’s see the answers.
(Top photo of DeMarcus Lawrence: Wesley Hitt / Getty Images)
