For the second time in as many home games, the Dallas Cowboys defense turned in a historically bad performance. If you can believe it, the showing from Mike Zimmer's group in Sunday's loss to the New Orleans Saints was worse than that of Dan Quinn's in the playoff loss to the Packers.
The Cowboys allowed a touchdown on each of the Saints' first six possessions. What was most alarming is that Dallas had no semblance of a pass rush. After leading the NFL in pressures and sacks in Week 1, Micah Parsons and Co. didn't even make Derek Carr break a sweat in the pocket.
That is a testament to Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, but it is equally a poor look for Zimmer, who is getting raked over the coals on social media.
It is hard (basically impossible) to come to Zimmer's defense after a performance like that, but Parsons led that charge on social media with a passionate response to a tweet from our friends at Blogging The Boys.
Those are very strong words from Parsons. It is impossible to say on first watch if it was Zimmer's scheme or the players' performance that caused the meltdown. Perhaps it was a combination of both, but Zimmer cannot be blamed for Dallas' nose tackles playing like their feet are stuck in mud.
Shit ain’t have nothing to do with zim but everything on us!! Zim ain’t the one playing! https://t.co/ZeQ23Brx4c
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) September 15, 2024
The Cowboys ran into a similar problem last year. While the linebacker room is much-improved relative to 2023, it's impossible for Eric Kendricks, Damone Clark, DeMarvion Overshown and Maris Liufau to fill gaps and get downhill when the nose tackles are hanging them out to dry.
It brings into question why Dallas only signed one external free agent before August. Adding vets Jordan Phillips and Linval Joseph bolstered the depth of the defensive line, but it's possible that Cowboys fans were a little too bullish projecting their respective impacts.
Regardless, the entire defense was bullied by New Orleans, which used motion on over 70% of their plays and averaged 9.5 yards per play on them. Pre-snap motion and play action stained the Dan Quinn era and those struggles reared their ugly head on Sunday.
Maybe Zimmer had a serviceable game plan that his players failed to execute. The Saints ranked first in pre-snap motion in Week 1 and third in play action. Parsons and the Cowboys' pass rush were a non-factor as a result, generating only six pressures on 17 dropbacks.
It's commendable that Parsons defended Zimmer, but he was brought in to fix what Quinn couldn't. Sunday was his first test in that regard and he failed in spectacular fashion. Both Zimmer and the players deserve blame. Plain and simple.
