The Dallas Cowboys special teams unit has been a sore spot since 2017. It was the unit of misfit toys. It reached it’s breaking point last season when it performed so poorly that it knocked the team out of playoff contention and got everyone fired.
So to say there was hope that the January hiring of John “Bones” Fassel would result in vast improvement is an understatement. And to say that special teams has been a disappointment through three games would also be understatement. Outside of the onside kick in Atlanta and a modest boost to the punt return game, which is likely due more to CeeDee Lamb than anything else, the results have not been good. Field goals and extra points have been missed and blocked, fake punts have failed miserably. Kickoff returns have pinned the Cowboys inside their own 20 on multiple occasions.
Still, Fassel remains optimistic, and there’s reason to find hope, even in the worst special teams play of the year so far.
With the Cowboys trailing 7-3, running back and kick returner Tony Pollard muffed the ball on the ensuing kickoff. There was a clear mental debate on whether or not he should pull the ball back into the end zone and down it or attempt to take it out.
In the past, Dallas has been bad at situational football. The team seemed unprepared for the stranger moments that are sure to come up throughout a 16 game schedule. And while Pollard hesitated, he ultimately did the right thing.
Here’s Fassel’s thoughts on the play:
The first one is a tactical one where if he muffs it while he was still in the end zone and if the ball stayed in the end zone he can just take a knee and he knows that from a Pittsburgh-Tennessee play years ago. Once the ball kind of leaked into the field of play, quickly he thought about pulling it back into the end zone but he knows he can’t do that because we showed him that Pittsburgh-Tennessee play from years ago. And so at that point he knew he was screwed and he had his eyes on the ball because they’re coming. He was just in a real tough spot right there. He made the right decision on getting on it because you can’t pull it back in for the immediate safety.
This is coaching situational football. At some point it will be the difference between a win and a loss. Through three games there’s not a person on earth who would suggest that the Cowboys special teams has performed at a high level, but the attention to detail suggests that it can improve throughout the year.
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