We spent most of the offseason talking about the wrong problem for the defense.
Every conversation about the Cowboys’ defense circles back to the same stuff, like the pass rush, secondary, turnovers, and linebacker play. It’s not wrong, but I dug a little deeper.
After I looked through the numbers, I think I’ve found the biggest problem. I found the stats tell a story, much like a crime scene, and once you start connecting the stats. We get a clear picture of the main issue.
The defense last season made playing offense look too easy.
We would see a 48-yard touchdown or a busted coverage all over social media, but the five yards on first down, another six on second, and a fresh set of downs before the third down ever showed up.
Before you knew it, you would look up at the TV and the other team was already across midfield, and Dallas didn’t make them earn any of it.
The Numbers Kept Getting Uglier
I started with opponents’ points per play, where Dallas finished dead last, but the problems just compiled the more I researched.
The Cowboys were also dead last in opponent first downs per play, 31st in yards allowed per snap, 31st in touchdowns allowed per game, 30thin first downs allowed, and to put the cherry on top, 27th in opponent punts per play. This all fit like a glove.
This wasn’t just one position group or a couple of bad games that created these numbers. It was the whole defense letting offenses do whatever they wanted.
Then, I hit the third-down stat, and it threw me off for a minute.
Dallas faced the sixth-fewest third downs in the NFL. At first, I thought that sounded like a good thing. Until you realize why.
Teams weren’t getting to third down because they didn’t have to. They were picking enough yards on first and second down to not need a third down.
The thing is, when the Dallas defense got an opposing offense to third down, it wasn’t a third-and-nine. More often than not, it was third-and-two or third and three.
How would any offense be uncomfortable with that situation?
Teams Were Getting Too Much Without Doing Much
Opponents averaged 6.1 yards every play against the Cowboys.
Think about that for a second. That’s more than half a first down on every play.
I didn’t have to think too much about why teams didn’t have to punt very much, or why first downs kept piling up. Dallas didn’t force offenses into obvious passing situations where the defense could pin their ears back and go after the quarterback.
Then I noticed a number that didn’t seem to fit this puzzle.
The Cowboys finished in the middle of the league in opponent time of possession.
What this told me was this wasn’t always about long, drawn-out drives. Offenses were getting down the field in a hurry. A couple of easy gains, one chunk play, another first down, and all of a sudden the extra-point unit was jogging onto the field.
This bothered me more than anything because the defense didn’t force many long drives. Dallas let teams take the shortcut to the end zone.
Just Make Somebody Work
I’m not expecting the Cowboys to become the best defense in the NFL in 2026. I just want offenses to have to earn something.
Is it too much to ask the defense to stuff a run, tackle the receiver when he catches the ball, or make a quarterback come off his first read? Those things are what make sacks show up on the stat sheet, where bad throws happen, and we actually get to watch an opposing team punt the football.
It seems like everybody wants turnovers and highlight plays.
I want the defense to handle the boring stuff first and then those will come. Quit giving away easy yards and hoping the other team gets in its own way. That isn’t how to play football, but that’s what we are used to seeing.
Maybe the defense ends up average, or a little better than that. None of us know what we will see yet.
I do know this.
If teams are picking up five and six yards without breaking a sweat, we’ll be having this same conversation next January.
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