The Cowboys Defensive Size Grows Bigger
Mike Zimmer's first order of business is to toss the dime lineup right into the dumpster
Last year around this time, I spent a lot of time examining the transition from Kellen Moore to Mike McCarthy's offense. The change was made, and people wanted to know why. The cynics were fed plenty of red meat because Kellen's exit was quickly followed by his immediate hiring in Los Angeles with Justin Herbert and the team out there.
Surely, this would verify that the issues were not with the OC, but rather that Dak Prescott was a millstone around his neck, right? Don’t you think that once Kellen gets his hands on the Ferrari by the Pacific, we will see what his beliefs look like on an offense that isn’t incompetent?
I think we saw that this narrative was nonsensical. If you would like to re-litigate that discussion, here is the link from 13 months ago where we went down the list of how Kellen was out of answers about the Cowboys' offense, and you will see some interesting similarities with what he oversaw in LA in 2023.
The Chargers had a year where their offense was still a mess, injuries happened as they always will, the running game was punchless, and the staff was dismissed for Jim Harbaugh’s 2024 relaunch. I finished my piece with this summary:
I don’t mind Moore at all. But, these three things told me it was probably a decent time for Mike McCarthy to make a change. I think Moore has every opportunity to turn into something of a much better coach as he develops, but no, I don’t think they are letting Sean Payton 2 go right now. Moore is still figuring out what he is and believes. He seemed to be running a lot of Linehan’s stuff and when I see Kansas City and San Francisco and even McCarthy’s old offense in Green Bay, they all were able to find far more separation and yards after catch. There must be a better answer.
In five years, is Moore one of the top head coaches in the NFL? It’s possible. But, for now, he seemed to be a man who had a lot of great ideas, but no convincing overview and philosophy that told you he knew the answers to all of the tests.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys' offense was better in many ways, but with its demise, it would be difficult to have a large parade to celebrate. Better did not mean they accomplished much more. In fact, they definitely assisted in their own demise as they started their January wildcard game against Green Bay with four possessions that went: punt, interception, punt, interception (pick-six), before scoring on the final play of the first half to cut the lead to 27-7. A fair look back at the game would blame much on the defense, but the offense was like a fire department arriving and dumping jet fuel on the fire instead of extinguishing the danger.
They made it far worse.
It would be difficult to say Kellen Moore was holding them back, but it would also be difficult to call him some solution that they let get away. All told, though, the offense was objectively better after he left. And the Chargers' promised dramatic upgrade from adding him did not actually come to pass.
Now, this year, we head over to the defensive side of the ball. That same Green Bay game seemed the last straw. Dan Quinn had been beaten the same way over and over again. But, in perfect Kliff Kingsbury fashion (ironically enough), he was bad enough to qualify as the next head coach in Washington!