The Baltimore Ravens took the left of Orlando Brown Jr. se headed to the camera, pantomimeant while taking imaginary silver sashes.
“Easy money,” Brown said on national television Tuesday night as Ravens offensive runner JK Dobbins glided smoothly in midfield, racking up five more yards and six more problems in a discouraged Dallas defensive.
The Cowboys’ 34-17 defeat marked their fourth feature this season, allowing at least two hundred yards on the ground, another six yards and being hooked for 300.
“Three hundred yards is astronomical,” chief coach Mike McCarthy said after the game.
The Cowboys’ newest and most neglected defensive feature is far from an outlier in its 3-9 season. They entered the game with the worst defense in the league and returned home with an average of 167. 8 yards on the court consistent with the game. the second-worst unit in the NFL, but has allowed 203 fewer yards on the court than Dallas.
The Cowboys’ struggles come after their 2019 running defense allowed 103. 5 game-consistent yards (11th) and a 2018 unit gave up just 94. 6 (fifth-best). The players are usually the same. However, the training and program have been replaced dramatically.
“We’re far enough away to blame a plan,” McCarthy said. “Our execution is obviously not where it was intended. This reflects the giant pieces that come out. “
“We knew it as a component of the dynamics that comes in the game and we didn’t know it. “
AUTO-GONFS BLESSINGS’: Cowboys can’t do anything right those days, as proved their defeat in Baltimore
DeMarcus Ware, a former Pro Bowl advocate who spent his 12 seasons in the NFL in Dallas, discusses the Cowboys’ defense and distinguishes between his physical and intellectual preparation.
“They have a lot of athletics that I can see,” Ware told USA TODAY Sports on Monday, “but it’s a challenge when a lot of guys are in the wrong place. “
The Cowboys players don’t deny it.
Of course, the current Ravens league offense and current MVP Lamar Jackson are a force. But the Cowboys had 12 days to prepare for the delayed COVID contest and a lot of movies to study. They had had 11 games to adapt to Mike Nolan’s multi-front trend after spending years on Rod Marinelli’s easiest four-front that emphasized speed.
“When you got Marinelli there, Marinelli looked more like a type of steak and potatoes,” Ware said, at Wednesday’s release of his new Driven to Win fitness app that users can customize a workout with his virtual stimulus. NFL players.
“I’m talking about 4 guys in front, and we’re going to beat them up front, we’re going to have games and it’s going to be very undeniable in front. The cornerers and supporters are going to make a lot of paintings but now, when you move on to a hybrid defense, the supporters fit in more and more internal players who have to face the escorts, and they’re not used to that. games and contain, but also what policy they are in at the same time.
“It’s a lot more on the players than on a singles court. “
Baltimore had no challenge not to be followed on Tuesday, with three other Ravens snatching runs of at least 30 yards, the heinous maxim was the fourth and final minute of the first quarter, when Jackson simupast made a move to Dobbins before bursting in midfield. Linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, whose eyes had turned to Dobbins, saw him too late while Jackson was running.
“I’m 100 percent,” Vander Esch said. I questioned myself and the idea that I had given it to the ball carrier. But that wasn’t my job. Then I want to do my job.
“This one hurts. “
The Cowboys’ LB, Leighton Vander Esch, said 37 yards per ground at 4th and 2″100%” on him. He thought Lamar went to RB. LVE: “That’s all about me. I read it perfectly and guessed it. That’s my job. I want to do my job . . . There’s no character for me. “Pic. twitter. com/UFryVShCTR
Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence also claimed his service percentage after Jackson passed for 107 yards, ran for 94 and represented three touchdowns.
“It’s just betting on diving,” Lawrence said, sympathetic to Vander Esch’s moment assumption.
“Now you have to play as a quarterback. Now you have to play the pass. There are many keys that you don’t see in the videos that we have to recognize. And we have to recognize them in a fraction of a second, otherwise. “our game can explode.
Ware suggests that the off-season was hampered by the Cowboys’ COVID if the coaches did not install the new defensive assignments. Still, it questions players’ communication between them. Do supporters identify trends temporarily enough to call the keys?supporters in time for data to go to high school?
“Usually, there’s a guy, the central supporter or the outside supporter, who tells everyone, first and foremosm, to run (or) pass, what scenario he’s on,” Ware said. “But it also says, “This is the one you’re about to play. . . Everyone looks at their keys. “
“It’s almost like you’re doing it quietly. But, again, I don’t see much of that, a lot of that communication from where the defensive line holds (signals) here, and says, “Hey, it’s a race. “
“You’re going to have to have this guy there. “
Mental as the bust of the fourth and the base of the moment led to Jackson’s 37-yard run, the longest landing on a quarterback in Dallas history. Detroit Lions 31st time. The Cowboys have not had an opponent below 20 numbers once this season, the 12-game streak is now the longest in franchise history.
“These are self-inflicted wounds, ” said Lawrence.
There are doubts remaining as to whether the Cowboys’ staff, many of whom have completed Marinelli’s less complex 4-3 plan, are compatible with the philosophy of Nolan, who said he particularly canceled the full implementation in September, when that was not maintained, but the players still agree. they’re not on the same page.
At best, according to Ware, the off-season will allow players to deepen their understanding of the playbook while the front evaluates features to bring production to life. Cowboy Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman wonders if that’s enough.
Airing Tuesday’s game on Fox, Aikman saw something in Brown’s mockery of “easy money. “
“They’ve been running all year, ” said Aikman. ” I’ll tell you, what would be complicated as a professional is when an opponent shouts ‘easy money’. I just don’t know where this organization is headed, where it’s going’. goes. “
“There are so many things that want to be solved this off-season. “
Follow Jori Epstein of USA TODAY Sports on Twitter @JoriEpstein.
If you love to communicate about football, we have the best position for you. Join our Facebook group, The Ruling Off the Field, to engage in friendly debate and verbal exchange with other football enthusiasts and our NFL connoisseurs. Do whatever it takes, log in now!