CHICAGO – For anyone who has ever thought the pass rush vs. coverage debate is a chicken-and-egg theory, let’s try to end that conversation right now.
Sorry, but great coverage (not that we’ve seen much of it) doesn’t lead to a great pass rush. But a great pass rush most definitely will make your coverage better.
The Cowboys had a great pass rush. Most of it is in Green Bay at the moment and will be here next weekend.
But to me, that is the BIGGEST problem this Cowboys football team has right now. Sure, they have issues in a lot of areas, but none bigger than the simple fact they can’t generate any pressure on the quarterback.
I’m sorry, I don’t care if Caleb Williams was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. He’s not as good as the Cowboys made him out to be. Just like Russell Wilson is no longer the quarterback the Cowboys made him out to be last week either.
I get it, the secondary has looked terrible, with the corners and the safeties being equally bad. But honestly, is it possible they’ve always been this way? It’s not like Trevon Diggs, Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker haven’t been here a few years. Sure, there are some different pieces, but it doesn’t seem like those were the major problems.
I don’t think the aforementioned players forgot how to play football, but it does look like the Cowboys forgot how to rush the passer.
And we know the biggest reason: Micah Parsons was traded to the Packers just before the start of the season. The return, two first-round pick, isn’t helping you right now, of course, and Kenny Clark, as physical as he is, is not a true pass-rusher.
I’m not – in any way – hating on the trade. After learning a few things about the situation with Micah, he had to go. The Cowboys wanted to keep him, even at $41.5 million per season, but that clearly wasn’t enough. And it was clear Parsons was going above and beyond to make sure he didn’t have to play without a new deal.
So while I didn’t like the trade at first, and still hate that they couldn’t get it done, I understand now that he had to go.
Saying that, Micah has not been replaced – at all. The Cowboys got no sacks on Williams Sunday in Chicago. Sure, he was pressured a few times, but it certainly wasn’t consistent.
That was the one thing that just had to happen for the Cowboys to have success against the Bears. They had to rattle Williams, make him uncomfortable, put him in positions where he had to make a perfect throw. That just never happened.
Let’s be honest, no one expected any of these pass-rushers to be the next Micah. If we’re really, really honest, we can say that no one expected Micah to be Micah. If so, he doesn’t get down to the 12th pick. My point here is that pass-rushers can emerge over time and sometimes they develop down the line.
But collectively, the Cowboys had to be hoping for better than this. They had to think Dante Fowler would at least resemble the guy who got 10.5 sacks for Washington last year or even the guy that averaged five for the Cowboys in 2022-23. They had to think Sam Williams, Marshawn Kneeland and even Donovan Ezeiruaku would make a leap in their own right.
I get it, we’re only three games into the season, but it’s still three games. And in three games, there hasn’t been a consistent pass rush at all.
Of course, Jadeveon Clowney was signed to at least help in this department, and while it was supposed to be a “game-time decision” on him playing, it sounded like the Cowboys had decided by Friday he wasn’t ready to play. Maybe it was more conditioning than anything – let’s hope so for everyone’s sake. Because if Clowney can’t be better than what we’re seeing out there right now, then there’s a huge problem.
I have to make sure I don’t get too far down the road here before reiterating this one point – there are a lot of problems on this team right now.
- Turnovers again. Lose that battle 4-0 and good luck not only winning but not getting blown out. The fumble forced was a great play by the Bears, but the interceptions are really on the quarterback. Maybe George Pickens could’ve caught the pass that he deflected up in the air, but the pass wasn’t on target. The last two – both in the end zone – were just poor decisions by the quarterbacks.
- The passing game couldn’t take advantage of a depleted Bears secondary to make big plays down the field. To be fair, Chicago tried to take it away and give Jake Ferguson all the catches, and it worked. But down in the red zone, the Cowboys couldn’t convert enough to keep up.
- I think it must be said the offense suffered a major blow when CeeDee Lamb went out. It was very unfortunate that it happened with him actually playing running back. Makes me wonder if we’ve seen the last of that play. Still, not having him the rest of the game was a major factor.
- Statistically, it looks like the Cowboys are stopping the run, but at this point, why would teams need to run? These quarterbacks know they can not only complete the pass, but they will have time to do it. Even so, the tackling hasn’t been good enough. Too many times we’re seeing plays that should be no gain or maybe 1- or 2-yard runs that are getting 5 and 6. That changes the course of the drive and the play-calling.
- Let’s not forget the coaching. In a loss like that, everyone gets the blame. I thought the clock before halftime was mismanaged. Only because if you’re going to call a timeout with 1:30 left after a first-down run, why not do it again on second down? And then with 30 seconds left, why call the last one at all? It only gave Chicago a chance to get the right play called. I bet more than anything, if the Cowboys hadn’t called it so quick, the Bears would’ve taken it. Either way, the Cowboys should have kept their timeout to try to get Brandon Aubrey into field goal range.
- And let’s not overlook how big that Bears touchdown was before the half. The Cowboys were down by 10, which maybe aided the decision to sit CeeDee for the second half. It sounds like they’re not too worried about him playing, and there was a shot he could’ve played had they really needed him to. But watching this game, it looked like they really did need him.
But to me, they don’t need anything more than they need a pass rush. Something tells me we’re about to get a really good reminder how much they miss one this next weekend.
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