Via David Helman
Writer of FOX Sports Dallas Cowboys
Despite the praise thrown at this Dallas Cowboys defensively, don’t expect Dan Quinn to become complacent with the group’s position.
After all, the Cowboys defensive coordinator saw what this could look like at its best. Long before he led this change in Dallas, even before that fateful Super Bowl with Atlanta FalconsQuinn oversees NFL greatness as Seattle Seahawks football team and the iconic Legion of Boom.
Recalling a famous moment from the great former Seahawks Prime Minister Kam, Quinn can vividly recall the process of watching great things become special.
“By a playoff game he had an interception at 80 or 90 yards against Carolina that he’s back anyway,” Quinn said. I remember seeing it at the time and saying, ‘That’s what it looks like. That’s what can defend the championship. ‘”
Needless to say, the Cowboys have a long way to go for anyone to compare them to a unit that has terrorized the NFL for about five years, helping Seattle to two Super Bowls and a championship.
But it’s not so much about comparisons as the idea of graduating from good to good, and then from excellent to exceptional. And while it didn’t happen to this group in four weeks, Quinn knew exactly what to look for in the assessment.
“There’s usually a moment or two in the first 10 or 12 games where you answer a challenge, you take it – there’s something that says, ‘Oh,'” he said. “You don’t know what the game is going to be like. You’re not even sure who the opponent is, but there’s just one performance that says, ‘This is the ability of this group.'”
Quinn has certainly said that his current team hasn’t delivered a single “whoa” moment. After all, beat on Giant and Command not quite the same as some of the missions before Cowboys. That includes a trip to Los Angeles this Sunday to face Rams the group is looking for a way out of the post-Super Bowl fun (4:25 p.m. ET on FOX and FOX Sports App).
But watching this defense throughout the first month of the season – even during the loss Tampa . Bay – it’s easy to assume the time is coming.
All the basic stats speak for themselves and can be easily looked up. The Cowboys are seventh in total defense and third in defensive points. Their 15 sacks ranked second in the league just behind Philadelphia. They are yet to have multiple touches on the ball in any of their four games, which is a big part of the reason they haven’t given their opponents 20 points yet.
It becomes more interesting at the micro level. There’s a lot of irony when you look at the NFL’s win-over ratio for the first four weeks. The league leader, by a considerable margin, is Denver’s Randy GregoryThe unfortunate man has just been dropped on the bench with a knee injury.
Gregory, if you recall, was on the verge of re-signing with the Cowboys in March – just before he picked up Denver, where he signed a five-year, $70 million deal. Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones was quick to point out that the savings allowed them to sign multiple alternative accounts in Dorance Armstrong, Dante Fowler Jr. and Anthony Barr.
“We’ve got three players for what we’ve got Randy, and that’s exciting,” Jones said.
The funny thing is, despite the spin, Jones is proving himself right. The Cowboys lead the league in win percentage on passes, a match win rate of 56%. And while Gregory may be at the top of the list, the Cowboys now boast three players in the top 20. Micah Parsons ranked sixth, winning his attempt 17.6% percent of the time, while DeMarcus Lawrence Ranked 13th with 13.8%, and Armstrong is right behind him with 15th with 13.6%. Fowler is proving himself worthy of the $3 million investment so far, as he has chipped away in three quarterback hits, two encirclements and one forced hit while just playing. 29% of the team’s defenses so far.
This is not to say that the Cowboys have it all figured out. After all, that “Whoa” moment hasn’t happened yet. However, it feels like it’s coming and there’s no time like the present. The Rams, have allowed 16 sacks over the course of four weeks, and they have nine transfers to go with that.
We’ll see what happens, but the potential is there. That deserves to be celebrated.
“I think we have a long way to go,” Quinn said. “But what excites me about the group is that I think we can improve a lot. That really excites me.”
David Helman covers the Dallas Cowboys for FOX Sports. Prior to that, he spent nine seasons covering the Cowboys for the team’s official website. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in producing “Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion” about the quarterback quartet’s time at Mississippi State. Follow him on Twitter @davidhelman_.
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