DQ Report, Wk 16 - The Blown Save in Miami
Is Micah Parsons able to make the same impact in December as he always does?
The Dallas Cowboys enter the final two weeks in the season with stories on both sides of the ball. Some are very positive and I hope my writing reflects the good that this team is offering and the reasons for optimism as they attempt to “do something in January” once again here in a few weeks time.
Granted, it would be far more rosy around here if we knew they could play home games, but in binge-watching Mike McDaniel in the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Knocks series this week, I really enjoyed his take on these matters regarding his team and the prospect of having to now play on the road in the playoffs after a recent bad loss to Tennessee.
"If that game forces us to go places and play football not here, so be it. Who gives a F—-? We are about getting to our best and that definitely was not it."
That is how I would describe the Cowboys defense right now. The Dallas offense will get the ink spilled and the segments burned, but honestly, my concerns about their work is far less than where this defense seems to be headed at the moment.
Let me be clear. We all think this defense is still “good.” Sure. But, we once – about six weeks ago, or so – thought this defense was close to “great,” and now, we are starting to see that might not be the case at all.
For years – almost all of Jason Garrett’s era – the Cowboys defense played a bend-but-don’t-break style that was safe and conservative. They did not generate many takeaways because that is unsafe to have corners jumping routes and even going for sacks might allow an escape route for a QB. Rod Marinelli was the architect of a defense that had 11 guys helping each-other and flying to the ball. It had its moments, for sure, but overall, it always seemed like it lacked the big moment and the big play.
Well, on Sunday, It sort of felt like we had a Rod Marinelli game plan and I wonder if there are some underlying issues that this defense is telling us.
They tried to bend-but-don’t break style and it almost worked. The Dolphins had nine drives on the day and were able to march into Dallas territory and scoring range (scoring range was anything inside the Dallas 40 as Jason Sanders was in the kicking zone and Miami needed every single one of them) on seven occasions. We can safely argue that the Cowboys only “won” two drives all day as you see below: