ARLINGTON, Texas – What if your quarterback has an MVP-caliber season, but your defense is so bad you can’t even make the playoffs? Call it the Joe Burrow effect.
It was one thing when the Cowboys scored 40 and managed only a tie against the Packers, another when they scored 27 and still lost to the Panthers.
So, this past week, in defensive meetings, the message was clear and urgent for Dallas players: Don’t let an amazing season by Dak Prescott get buried in high-scoring losses.
“We talk about it all the time: When you’ve got an offense like this, that’s a championship offense, and we don’t want to let that go to waste,” defensive tackle Kenny Clark said. “I’m just being real. We have to keep improving and keep stepping up, because they’re balling. They’re putting up points, and you saw today, we got a chance to have fun, get some sacks, pick-sixes and all that kind of stuff.”
Even Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, with a bit more swagger in his postgame comments, was happy to have a complete team win to celebrate – and he highlighted the defense.
“Obviously, every Cowboy fan should be excited about how that defense played,” Jones said. “They really did some impressive things out there … It certainly gives us a lot of hope as we look to the future, as how this defense can play as we evolve.”
The Cowboys defense helped them pull away in the second half, knocking Jayden Daniels out of the game with a sack-fumble that Dallas recovered. After Dallas turned the turnover into a touchdown, the defense put points of its own on the board. Commanders backup quarterback Marcus Mariota was pressured and threw a pass that was picked off by corner DaRon Bland and returned 68 yards for a touchdown and a 41-15 lead midway through the third quarter.
“It motivates us when our offense is playing great, and we have to step out into that same bubble,” said Bland, who led the NFL with nine interceptions and five pick-sixes in 2023 but hadn’t had any since that year before Sunday. “We want to see the whole team playing better and playing complementary football.”
Daron Bland picks off pass and returns it for a TD, extending Cowboys’ lead over Commanders | NFL Highlights
Daron Bland picked off the pass and returned it for a TD, extending the Dallas Cowboys’ lead over the Washington Commanders.
As much was made of the Cowboys’ decision to trade All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Packers just before the season started, the defense has new pieces settling in and contributing more. Linebacker Kenneth Murray, signed from the Titans in the offseason, had his first sack as a Cowboy, as did edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney, who joined the team a month ago and appreciates how much easier a dominant offense can make life for the defense.
“I done played on seven teams, and offense isn’t like that everywhere you go,” Clowney told me. “If you have an offense that can power like that, can put it in the air or run it, it’s great for the defense because all you have to do is rush the passer. They put us in a lot of those situations, and we just have to execute on defense.”
Rookies made an impact Sunday as well, like second-round pick Donovan Ezeiruaku, who got his first NFL sack among four tackles and liked the way the defense listened to what they told each other all week in preparing for the Commanders.
“Our biggest thing that (we) talked about all week was that we’re blessed to have an offense that performs the way they perform,” Ezeiruaku said. “We have to do our part. We took last week (vs. Carolina) very serious. That wasn’t our standard. The conversation all week was, ‘We know what’s coming. We’ve got to do our part.'”
Daron Bland (left, 26) and Donovan Ezeiruaku (41) each stepped up on Sunday against the Commanders. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Dallas’ defense had allowed former teammate Rico Dowdle to rush for 183 yards in a loss to the Panthers last week. With Washington down its top two receivers, the Cowboys knew the Commanders would want to run the ball. Washington’s top two rushers Sunday were its quarterbacks, as Dallas held rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt to 33 yards on 13 carries.
“We took it personal, especially in the defensive line room,” Ezeiruaku said. “We take full accountability for what happened last week, and know that sick feeling we got watching that tape. We don’t want that, and this week was a really good step.”
Prescott went into Sunday’s game with three straight games of at least three touchdowns and no interceptions, but because of defensive struggles, the Cowboys were just 1-1-1 in those games. Prescott had, you guessed it, three touchdowns and no interceptions again on Sunday, the first time he’s had four straight games with three or more touchdowns and no picks in his 10-year career.
This time, the defense stepped up to match its quarterback’s performance.
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer had two very different halves to his team before Sunday. His offense led the NFL in total offense, but the defense was dead last in total defense. He said his defense heard the criticisms they were getting from fans, from the media, from the scoreboard itself, and they responded.
“They’re aware of what’s being said about them, and they don’t like it,” Schottenheimer said. “There’s pride in that room, there’s great players in that room, great coaches in that room … This is not the worst adversity we’ll go through this season. So, what do you do? You get back to work, you make changes, you make adjustments.
“To go out and put a performance like this together is really good for confidence, and I thought the communication today was outstanding. (Defensive coordinator) Matt Eberflus and that defensive staff put together a hell of a plan, and the players went out and executed.”
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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