The Dallas Cowboys had some egregious errors on Sunday afternoon when it came to their special teams. It wasn’t anything new, the club has been abysmal in that department over the last two seasons, but Sunday had no less than eight different errors that fell on the staff of the third phase of the game.
Following the 13-9 loss to the Patriots, owner Jerry Jones ripped into his coaching staff, making several statements how he believed the miscues on the field were the direct result of the position the coaching put them in. Some wondered if that would lead to a changing of the guard and a firing of ST coach Keith O’Quinn come the return to Dallas, but according to ESPN’s Ed Werder, no such move will be made.
Source: Despite the intense criticism from owner and GM Jerry Jones, the #Cowboys will make no immediate changes to Jason Garrett’s coaching staff. Jones criticized the special teams specifically. But special teams coordinator Keith O’Quinn will remain in that position.
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) November 25, 2019
This, of course, is a problem. Cowboys Wire wrote extensively about O’Quinn’s failures last month as the special team’s mistakes piled up.
Marcus Mosher has an updated list of Dallas’ ranks in certain areas.
Let's check in on the #Cowboys ST ranks for 2019:
21st in Opponent KR average
26th in FG %
27th in Punt Return Average
32nd in KR average (by a good margin)
32nd in Gross Punt Average
32nd in Net Punt Average
T-32nd in blocked kicks forced
T-32nd in punts blocked
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) November 25, 2019
Special Teams Blunders in Week 12
- Blocked punt resulted in Patriots taking over at Dallas’ 12, scored game’s only touchdown
- Missed 46-yard field goal into the wind
- Pollard muffed kickoff return on pop-up kick to Dallas 12
- Schultz muffed kickoff return on pop-up kick to Dallas 24
- Delay of Game because of indecisiveness over Patriots only having 10 men on the field
- Illegal motion on subsequent punt attempt
- 32-yard punt fair caught on subsequent punt attempt, losing 20 yards of field position
- Pollard muffed kickoff return on pop-up kick to Dallas 11
The Cowboys have a short week to prepare for their Thanksgiving Day game against the Buffalo Bills, so perhaps there isn’t much time to make a change before the next game. On the staff they have Carlos Polk and Phillip Tanner as assistants to O’Quinn.
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