Cowboys vs. Saints day after thoughts: There is no reason it should have been this bad
You are going to lose games in the NFL. As Dak Prescott noted in his postgame press conference, only one team in NFL history has gone undefeated and that occurred over 50 years ago. By the way, the last team to beat those Miami Dolphins before their run started was the Dallas Cowboys, mind you.
As things relate to the current version of America’s Team though, we can compartmentalize them losing because winning in the NFL is a very difficult thing. We understand that.
But getting absolutely destroyed the way that the Cowboys did at the hands of the New Orleans Saints is not a common thing. Allowing an opposing team to score touchdowns on their first six possessions is unheard of.
We are here today to discuss our Day After Thoughts which is an exercise born out of the idea of letting emotions fade and context set in.
Unfortunately as those things have happened things still look quite bad for Dallas.
Maybe the Mike Zimmer hire was not the greatest thing ever
On Sunday the Saints had 432 total yards, scored 44 points and held the ball for over half of the game. This is obviously quite the beating to put on your opponent.
Mike Zimmer’s Cowboys watched it all happen and do you know who the last team was that the Saints administered this kind of effort towards? It was Mike Zimmer’s Minnesota Vikings back in 2020.
Now this is an unfortunate coincidence obviously, but maybe just maybe the Mike Zimmer hire was not the answer to all defensive concerns for the Cowboys. Last week certainly made us believe (or at least want to believe) that it was the necessary antidote that was lurking in plain sight, but nothing about what we saw from Zimmer looked like a coordinator who can go shot for shot with scheming and matchups against his rival.
That is what is most concerning from the effort on Sunday. The Cowboys obviously lost and did so badly, but New Orleans was so explosive and did not seem to have to really try all too hard. They had a phenomenal gameplan that Dallas seemed to have no idea how to stop it, or that was even coming despite constantly getting destroyed by Kyle Shanahan and his disciples.
Zimmer was supposed to be the answer. We are only two weeks in and are now wondering if he is just another question.
The lack of playmakers after CeeDee Lamb is an issue
Predictably, the Dallas Cowboys have a skill position issue.
This is predictable because it has been the case for a while now. When Dallas lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round two seasons ago, after Tony Pollard’s injury there was nobody who could make a play on the offense outside of CeeDee Lamb.
Lamb is an immense weapon and one of the best in the NFL for what it’s worth. But football is a team game and he alone is not enough in today’s game where teams have a bevy of them to work with.
As noted this was thought to be an issue for Dallas throughout the offseason and the roster construction process. The issue was exacerbated by Jake Ferguson’s absence in the contest as the likes of Luke Schoonmaker, Jalen Tolbert, Jalen Brooks and KaVontae Turpin were relied on for serious and important offensive production.
It is certainly fair to place blame on these players for not delivering because they are responsible as well. But to act like it made sense to run into the 2024 campaign with Lamb and a handful of maybes would not be fair.
Not having an answer for the Kyle Shanahan-ness of the league is an ongoing problem that is not changing any time soon
Back to our point about Mike Zimmer and whether or not he answers any question – to be fair the Cowboys have been failing this test for a while now. Changing study habits or the type of pencil you are using on the scantron (are those still a thing?) is hardly going to be what dramatically changes things.
Kyle Shanahan, Matt LaFleur, Mike McDaniel and recently now Klint Kubiak are all people who learned from or are Kyle Shanahan himself. These are offenses that break the Cowboys and put them in a blender with an inability to fight their way out.
It is not a secret whether to the Cowboys, or the league as a whole, that Shanahan is among the game’s most innovative minds. He is arguably number one in that sense. There is a reason his former staffers decorate the league whether in head coaching or offensive coordinator positions (play-caller spots in general), and there remains to be seen an instance where the Cowboys are able to fully and totally shut it down.
Consider that Saints OC Klint Kubiak “only” spent last year with Shanahan as far as serious time is concerned and that he was able to completely eviscerate the Dallas defense and that it was only his second game ever as the offensive coordinator for New Orleans. This is an issue.
Kubiak was an offensive coordinator for one season in the past though and it was for Mike Zimmer’s Minnesota Vikings. Like Shanahan and his crew relative to Dan Quinn, the Cowboys now have a defensive coordinator who’s former staffers have the kryptonite to take down.
It is hard to trust that this issue will be fixed. But it has to be. Will it? We simply do not know.