Porous Cowboys defense is wasting Dak Prescott’s sparkling QB play

The previous time the Dallas Cowboys looked this bad on defense five years ago, their one-and-done defensive coordinator at least made it to the end of the season.

Dak Prescott’s gruesome ankle injury in Week 5 might have played a role in that, leaving Dallas in a spot where not much else mattered with the franchise quarterback sidelined so long in a season with the COVID-19 pandemic.

This time, Prescott is showing his near-MVP form of two years ago, and it’s not making much of a difference.

In the past three games, Prescott has produced 11 touchdowns (10 passing) without a turnover and has a QB rating of 127.4. Yet, the Cowboys don’t have a winning record, going 1-1-1 as part of their 2-3-1 mark heading into Sunday’s home game against Washington.

If defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus’ job is in jeopardy just six games into his pairing with Brian Schottenheimer, the first-year head coach isn’t saying so.

“That’s a great coach,” Schottenheimer said after the league’s 32nd-ranked defense gave up 216 yards rushing and a huge fourth down conversion on a short pass when Dallas couldn’t get the ball back in the final six minutes as Carolina won 30-27 on Ryan Fitzgerald’s game-ending field goal.

“He’s been around,” Schottenheimer said of the former Dallas defensive coach who was fired as head coach in Chicago last season. “Everywhere he’s been, he’s had good defenses. It’s not just Matt by himself. You know, Matt’s trying. The players are trying. This is not a lack of effort.”

There is one big difference from 2020, when Mike Nolan lasted one season under first-year coach Mike McCarthy while directing a defense that gave up a club-record 473 points.

These Cowboys traded their best player, star pass rusher Micah Parsons, a week before the coordinator debut for Eberflus, who once coached Dallas linebackers before going to Indianapolis as defensive coordinator.

Anyone willing to give Eberflus a break over that jarring personnel change has to consider how lost the secondary has looked trying to deploy his zone scheme.

Blown coverages returned as a major problem against the Panthers after appearing to improve the previous couple of games. And that wasn’t even the most embarrassing part for the Cowboys.

Rico Dowdle, let go by Dallas in the offseason after becoming the franchise’s first undrafted running back to rush for 1,000 yards, had 239 scrimmage yards. He had 15 carries of at least 7 yards while finishing with 183 on the ground and added a 36-yard touchdown catch.

And yes, Dowdle, who tried to warn the Cowboys to “buckle up,” was wide open down the field on the scoring grab.

“We all watched the same game,” said Kenny Clark, the defensive tackle who came from Green Bay in the Parsons trade and was hyped by owner Jerry Jones as a fix for a run defense that has struggled for years. “It’s a little bit of everything, from communication to missed tackles.”

What’s working

WR George Pickens has been phenomenal in three games with top Prescott target CeeDee Lamb sidelined by an ankle injury. Acquired from Pittsburgh in an offseason trade in an attempt to add a playmaker opposite Lamb, Pickens is averaging 120 yards in Lamb’s absence. He has a five-game touchdown streak, with six TDs on the season.

What needs help

Whether it was a mistake by CB DaRon Bland or a scheme problem, it was a terrible look for the player who recently signed a $92 million extension to be lined up well beyond the first down marker before Hunter Renfrow’s 7-yard catch in front of him on fourth-and-4 on the final drive. Dallas’ chance to win plummeted on that play.

Stock up

A week after taking a short pass and bulling his way to a first down to keep a touchdown drive alive in a 37-22 victory over the New York Jets, fullback Hunter Luepke had his first career TD grab with a 3-yarder on fourth-and-1.

Stock down

Schottenheimer had a rough fourth quarter as the play-caller. Although a fumble by Prescott ruined the first play on first down from the Carolina 8 with Dallas trailing 27-24, the Cowboys did nothing on the next two plays — a pair of incompletions — before settling for a short field goal. After the beleaguered defense got a rare stop, a first down screen lost 5 yards, leading to a three-and-out. Dallas didn’t get the ball again.

Injuries

Lamb and rookie RG Tyler Booker could return against the Commanders after missing three games with high ankle sprains. WR/KR KaVontae Turpin has said the plan is for him to return from a foot injury this week.

Key number

32 — The NFL ranking (last) for the Dallas defense in total yards (411.7 per game), passing yards (269.5) and first downs (24.2). The Cowboys are 31st in points (30.7) and yards per pass play (7.85).

Next steps

For all the great things from quarterback Jayden Daniels’ rookie season in Washington, beating the rival Cowboys wasn’t among them. He lost at home to Dallas, which finished 7-10. Daniels watched Marcus Mariota’s winning drive at the Cowboys in the regular-season finale. The AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year sat out the second half with Washington’s playoff berth already secured before that 23-19 victory.

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