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.
“It’d been 973 days since Mike Zimmer coached in an NFL game. Zim’s @dallascowboys D came out there and was downright dominant. What a return to the sidelines.” 💪😤
– @PSchrags pic.twitter.com/1IXlAvPXfa
— Good Morning Football (@gmfb) September 9, 2024
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.
Mike Zimmer showed this double B gap blitz in the preseason with two DEs dropping back multiple times.
Gets home here. pic.twitter.com/8Q9opxFcgi
— Mauricio Rodríguez (@MauNFL) September 8, 2024
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.
Consistency
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.
Mike Zimmer's Cowboys defense had fun today. Putting Micah Parsons in multiple spots, bluffing pressure, sending pressure, and catching deflections for INTs pic.twitter.com/daALC3fjt1
— Shawn Syed (@SyedSchemes) September 9, 2024
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.
