A Dallas Cowboys football blog

Hiring Mike Zimmer was the best offseason move for the Dallas Cowboys

3 Comments

The Dallas Cowboys had plenty going against them in the first game of the season against the best defense in football, the Cleveland Browns.

Yet, it was the defense of the best offseason move for the Cowboys that made them look like the best in the league.

The Dallas Cowboys adding Mike Zimmer as the defensive coordinator to replace Dan Quinn was the best move they made all offseason.

Flying Around

The Browns only managed 10 points before they scored a garbage-time touchdown in the final minute of the football game.

This defense was flying around, making Deshaun Watson uncomfortable from the start!

Watson failed to complete a pass more than five yards downfield on seven tries and was 0-of-4 when pressured and 0-of-4 against the blitz.

The only thing Watson did well was break tackles. Micah Parsons got him once, but he broke out of multiple sacks, both by him and others on the defensive line.

Before Dak Prescott signed his contract early Sunday morning, Watson was making the most guaranteed money in all of football.

He finished the game 24-of-45 (53.5% completion rate) for 169 yards and one touchdown (while trailing 27-3) to two interceptions. He averaged a ghastly 3.8 yards per attempt and posted a 51.1 passer rating.

Every time you looked, DeMarvion Overshown and Eric Kendricks were lightening quick to the football, flying around in the backfield. Making tackle after tackle, it was so refreshing to see!

Overshown was listed as a backup on the Cowboys’ Week 1 depth chart, but he started on Sunday. It would not have been a surprise if Overshown showed some rust in his first-ever regular season game, but he looked two years removed from the injury.

The 2023 third-round pick led Dallas with 11 tackles (five solo), including a sack of Watson.

Now I understand the Saints just beat the breaks off the worst team in football, the Panthers, but they scored on their first NINE possessions. I am not sure if that has ever happened in the history of the NFL.
https://twitter.com/NFLonFOX/status/1832932757778882880
Before the season started, I said the Cowboys would start at least 1-1 if they lost to the Browns. They would win this game, but the Saints’ offense looked good.
Mike Zimmer’s defense is going to need to show that same dominance over the next two weeks to really get people starting to believe they are the best in football, because they can be.

Quick To Forget

All we heard was about what the Cowboys lost, and about how nothing would have mattered about what they added.

Folks in the media are easy to forget coaching also matters in the NFL.

Zimmer has run a 4-3 defense for the majority of his career but was the defense coordinator under Bill Parcells and ran a 3-4 scheme, so he has shown versatility. That is exactly the type of defense that suits the personell!!

Zimmer had proven over the years that his defense works and Dallas has more talent than any of his teams he had when he was the Vikings head coach.

The Vikings’ defense was top-12 in points allowed in each of Zimmer’s first six seasons with the team, including a top-five finish in 2015, ’17, and ’19.

They shocked me with the way they played, but man, it was so nice to win against a good team on the road. Good start to the season, thank you, Mike Zimmer. Big test the next two weeks.
Shane Taylor

Staff Writer

Shane Taylor is a Dallas Cowboys fan from the Midwest. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and works at a Junior College in the Institutional Effectiveness department. Taylor has written for two publications in his lifetime. The first was as a Sports Reporter for Journal Star while in college. He also spent a year as a Regional News Reporter for Shaw Media. When he is not working or writing for Inside The Star, he enjoys bowling competitively. Feel free to connect with him on his social media outlets listed below!

Follow this author:

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

3 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments