Tag: Mike Zimmer

Cowboys’ defense suddenly becoming a top five NFL unit

The Cowboys have quietly become a dominant defense over the past four weeks

Over the first 11 weeks of the 2024 season, the Cowboys had the third worst defense in the NFL based on EPA/play. Mike Zimmer’s first year back in Dallas was as rocky as advertised. His complex system, combined with major roster holes and significant injuries were a recipe for disaster, contributing heavily to Dallas’ 3-7 record at the time.

The past four weeks things have changed in Dallas. Injuries have continued to take their toll, but responsibilities have started to click, and gameplay has started to improve. In fact, it’s done so to a pretty drastic degree. Over the past four games the Cowboys defense shockingly ranks fifth in EPA/play. Their -0.121 EPA/dropback ranks No. 2 in the NFL and their 0.014 EPA/rush has jumped from 32nd to 26th overall per rbsdm.com.

The Cowboys’ run defense has been prone to give up explosive plays here and there all season but where they make up ground is in the success rate against. Over the last four weeks they’ve jumped from 28th to ninth. Like the pass defense, the run defense is starting to make stands and it’s resulting in a top five defense.

Obviously playing against Carolina and New York helps with the rankings, but the last four weeks also includes Washington and Cincinnati, offenses that rank third and sixth respectively. Zimmer’s unit is finally starting to play good ball and they’re doing it with players like DeMarvion Overshown, Trevon Diggs and DeMarcus Lawrence missing significant, if not all, snaps.

The narrative has changed considerably on defense and unlike the Cowboys running game, it can’t be pinned on the opposition. They’re simply playing better.

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Cowboys fans may have been too quick to bury this coach in 2024

Mike Zimmer started slow as the new coordinator in Dallas, but his defense is rounding into form as his players return from injury. | From @cdpiglet

Mike Zimmer had his work cut out for him in his first season back as the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator. He lost Dorance Armstrong, the defensive lineman with the second-most sacks over the last two seasons, to the Washington Commanders, as well as Dante Fowler, Jr., who had 10 sacks across his two years in Dallas. Also gone are starting DT Jonathan Hankins, rotational DT Neville Gallimore and starting middle linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, who sustained a career-ending injury.

Implementing a new defensive scheme, the team only added Eric Kendricks in free agency before training camp. He got a few defensive line additions late in camp, but getting his new ideas to his new players would take time. Tom compound things, the injuries hit. He lost edge rusher Sam Williams for the season and All-Pro corner DaRon Bland for 11 games due to injury. Bad defensive performances against the New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Ravens were the precursor as in-season injuries began to mount.

Both Micah Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence went out against the Ravens, and Marshawn Kneeland went down the following week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. That left Zimmer without his top-four edge rushers after just five weeks.

The coach is trying to get the team better against the run, which is the biggest issue for the Cowboys in the Dak Prescott era, but he has their pass rush eliminated, his biggest weapon. His defensive back luck wasn’t any better.

The team hasn’t had Bland, Trevon Diggs, and Jourdan Lewis together for a single game all season.

The second cornerback spot has been a rotating door. They lost rookie Caelen Carson to injury, called up Amani Oruwariye and Josh Butler from the practice squad, but lost both to injury as well. Markquese Bell and Juanyeh Thomas, rotational defensive backs, are the latest to suffer major ailments.

With all those disadvantages, the Dallas defense has continued to improve. Starting in Week 8, the defense was good in the first half of nearly every game before wearing down in the second half. The San Francisco 49ers scored six points, and the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles scored 14, but each scored off of Dallas turnovers. So did the Houston Texans, who got to 17 at halftime. The Commanders scored only three points, and the New York Giants got to 10, but DeMarvion Overshown scored a touchdown for the defense against the Giants.

Between Week 2 and Week 6, Dallas allowed 19 points on average in the first half, but since it’s down to nine.

Zimmer has Parsons and Bland back, and it has helped flip from one of the worst turnover ratios, to having five takeaways to one turnover in the last two games. The defense is getting sacks now, too, from 20 in the first 10 games to 10 in the last two.

The Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas’ Week 14 opponent, are averaging 35 points per contest over their last four games. Zimmer is going to get tested by his old team, but if his defense can keep a below-average Cowboys offense in the game, then Zimmer might officially put to rest a lot of sentiments from earlier in the season.

You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or YouTube on the Across the Cowboys Podcast.

 

Jets to use The 33rd Team, Rick Spielman for HC and GM search

The Jets will need help with their head coach and GM search. They will use The 33rd Team to help.

The New York Jets are sorting through their issues during the 2024 season. Even with Aaron Rodgers behind center, New York is having another down year and the franchise fired Robert Salah early on.

After Joe Douglas’s firing, the Jets are searching for a new head coach and general manager.

New York is retaining The 33rd Team to help the Jets find new leaders. Former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum and Vikings general manager Rick Spielman will lead the project for the NFL Technology and Media company. The 33rd Team will use its data analysis and experience to assist the Jets in their search for new leadership.

As Viking fans remember, Spielman was the General Manager from 2012 to 2021. During his tenure, the Vikings won four NFC North titles and made the playoffs six times. Spielman helped Minnesota draft Adrian Peterson and current wide receiver Justin Jefferson.

Mike Zimmer coached the Vikings under Spielman.

Former Vikings OC Norv Turner comes out of retirement, joins Raiders staff

Norv Turner will come out of retirement to become an offensive assistant for the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Las Vegas Raiders fired several offensive coaches after Week 9 as the team stands at 2-7 on the season. They have had a rotation of quarterbacks this season and they decided they needed an offensive mind to get things going.

They decided to go deep into the well of great offensive minds and bring one out of retirement.

Norv Turner, former NFL head coach and Vikings offensive coordinator, will come out of retirement to become an offensive assistant for the Las Vegas Raiders. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media first reported the addition to Antoinio Pierce’s staff.

The move also reunites Turner with his son, Scott Turner, the new offensive coordinator for the Raiders. Scott Turner originally joined the Raiders staff in 2023 as their passing game coordinator.

Norv Turner spent three seasons with the Vikings from 2015 to 2016 before he unexpectedly resigned. As a head coach, Turner is 114-122-1 in games coached in the NFL.

Kirk Cousins and Mike Zimmer reunite ahead of Week 9 matchup

The former duo were back in action on Sunday.

Current Dallas’ defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and current Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins were set to face each other this past Sunday in Atlanta. Zimmer was Cousins’ coach from 2018-2021, and they enjoyed a four-year stint together before the team moved on from Zimmer for a young mind like Kevin O’Connell.

The pair was seen talking to one another prior to the game, likely reminiscing about the good times they had in Minnesota.

But Cousins got the better end of Zimmer and Dallas on Sunday. The Falcons took down the Cowboys, 27-21. Dallas moved to 3-5 on the year, while Cousins has Atlanta humming along at 6-3. Zimmer’s former starting quarterback threw for 222 yards and three scores against his Cowboys’ defense.

The Vikings will get a chance to face Cousins on Dec. 8 when Atlanta travels to Minnesota for what will likely be a big contest.

 

This coaching change wasn’t supposed to be Cowboys instant fix, but it’s worse than expected

Did the Cowboys mess up hiring Mike Zimmer to lead their defense in 2024? | From @ReidDHanson

When Dan Quinn left Dallas for the sunny streets of the nation’s capital last winter, the Cowboys had a significant hole to fill on their coaching staff. Quinn had successfully rebuilt the Dallas defense into a force to be reckoned with. Sure, they were prone to massive breakdowns against quality opponents, but overall, they ranked as one of the league’s best, year in and year out.

Complicating matters in the search for Quinn’s replacement was the situation with the rest of the coaching staff. Mike McCarthy was entering the final season on his five-year deal and the rest of his staff was situated to play out the final year of their deals in 2024 as well. The Cowboys wanted their Quinn replacement to join the ranks and similarly play on an expiring deal this season.

As if that wasn’t bad enough the Cowboys made it clear they weren’t interested in being spenders over the offseason either. Whoever came in to fix the defense would have to do so with rookies and the carryovers Dallas had on hand.

It’s safe to say the terms weren’t very attractive and the list of candidates would be somewhat limited as a result. So, when Mike Zimmer’s name came up as the solution, many felt elated such an accomplished coach would even consider the Cowboys, let alone agree to the terms and hop aboard. But that’s what Zimmer did.

Zimmer’s hire didn’t result in parades, but he did receive a fair degree of support from many in Cowboys Nation. As a former coach of the Cowboys, Zimmer had ties to Dallas and as a successful head coach in Minnesota, he had the respect around the league.

Regarded as a disciplinarian, Zimmer looked like he was just what the doctor ordered for the Cowboys. Discipline had long been an issue on the Dallas defense under Quinn, with players freelancing all too often. It resulted in wide swings in run defense and avalanche-like breakdowns against the league’s more nuanced attacks.

Zimmer didn’t just offer discipline and accountability, but he brought a track record of success against offenses like Kyle Shanahan’s. Shanahan offenses have been Dallas’ Achillies heel for years and its growth in popularity has made Shanahan one the NFL’s most prominent coaching trees in the league today.

Seven games into the 2024 season and Zimmer’s defense looks even worse than it was before. While much of the differences can be blamed on injuries to players like DaRon Bland, Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence and Sam Williams, discipline towards run fits appear every bit as bad as they were under Quinn.

Was Zimmer the wrong man for the job?

It’s understandable if hindsight prompts this question. The Cowboys have a historically bad defense and don’t appear to be on the road to recovery. Letting the injury-depleted 49ers roll over them for 30 points in Week 8 showed it doesn’t take offensive All Stars to post All Star-like performances against the Dallas defense.

But asking Zimmer to fix the defense under the Cowboys’ circumstances in 2024 is almost an impossible ask. Dallas horrifically misevaluated their situation at defensive tackle. Even when the players show a knowledge and commitment to the task, they get beaten and bullied out of position.

The ramifications of which aren’t hard to see as linebackers and safeties are regularly met with 300+ pound linemen squaring up with them at the second level, running play after running play.

Zimmer’s playbook itself takes time to digest and perfect. As a coach who likes to disguise and misdirect, he’s more complicated than many defensive coordinators around the league. It’s not something a coach can impart in just seven games and given the chronic issues on the defensive line, it’s probably not something that can be fixed in Dallas without upgrading the talent.

Zimmer was given an impossible task and the results, while worse than any of us imagined, shouldn’t be overly surprising given the circumstances. It’s possible a more vanilla scheme would be easier to digest for players, but Zimmer isn’t teaching rocket science here either. At some point the accountability has to fall onto the players themselves and these Dallas defenders look like they are the biggest problem.

Zimmer’s first seven games back in Dallas have been an unmitigated disaster but he was never supposed to be an instant fix. He’s a culture coach and a disciplinarian who needs the right pieces and viable alternatives to properly implement his defense. Neither time nor alternatives have been afforded the coach.

Zimmer needs blame because at the end of the day he’s responsible for the defense, but he’s not the problem with the defense. The problem is the impossible circumstance and dearth of talent given to him. That falls on a different man.

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Cover 1, Cover 3, Cover your eyes: Cowboys defensive flip hasn’t worked

The Cowboys are doing something funny with their safeties and it isn’t working. | From @ReidDHanson

Most will agree, the Cowboys’ biggest shake up of the 2024 offseason was their change at defensive coordinator. Gone was Dan Quinn. After coaching the Dallas defense for three successful seasons, Quinn earned a head coaching job in our nation’s capital. Replacing him at the helm was long time coordinator Mike Zimmer. Zimmer brought with him his infamously demanding defensive scheme, a nonsense attitude and an acceptance for timely split safety looks.

While the Cowboys were still expected to lean on man coverage in 2024, they were also expected to show more two-high safety looks. Zimmer was known to disguise coverage frequently and split his safeties over the top from time to time. It was a departure from his predecessor who both preferred single high safety formations and didn’t put much value is disguises.

2024 has proven to be surprising but not quite in the way many imagined. Zimmer has indeed disguised coverages, rolling safeties and linebackers at the last second to catch passers off guard, but he hasn’t moved Dallas off the single-high safety reliance.

https://x.com/fball_insights/status/1848828006363529723

Between Cover 1 and Cover 3, the Cowboys play a combined 61% of their snaps in single high. While that may be down from the seasons prior, it still represents their two most popular coverages seven weeks into 2024.

It’s understandable since the Cowboys have two fairly different safeties starting on their defense. Malik Hooker, traditionally their free safety, has been one of the better centerfielders in the NFL. In his last two seasons under Quinn, he ranked inside the top 15 of the 88+ safeties Pro Football Focus graded. Donovan Wilson, their primary box safety, didn’t grade as well by PFF but since the majority of his splash plays come near the line of scrimmage with him running downfield, his positioning seemed appropriate as well.

Under Zimmer that has changed somewhat.

Hooker’s snap percentage at deep safety has dropped from 84 percent under Quinn to 66 percent under Zimmer. Wilson’s snap percentage at deep safety has jumped from 38 percent under Quinn to 57 percent under Zimmer. While the slight increase in split safety looks accounts for some of that, the two players can be seen routinely playing each other’s roles throughout a game.

Hooker can often be seen sneaking up into a box role while Wilson positions himself back as the single high. What would have been a unicorn moment in 2023 now looks commonplace on the Cowboys defense in 2024 and it’s hard to understand why.

Deception is one thing, but these are typically pre-snap alignments, so the intention is stated at the start. This is just a case of role swapping and based on early returns it isn’t working out great. Based on PFF grades Wilson is having the lowest graded season of his career in 2024. He’s flashed a nice play here and there, but most will agree it’s been a pretty poor season for the man who’s on the books for $7,370,575 this season.

Hooker is having a season to forget too. The former first-round pick is also having the lowest graded season of his career and is having a hard time justifying his more modest $3,985,296 cap hit as well.

It seems the two players were better when they were focused on their respective expertise. Maybe run fit discipline led to change or maybe it was matchups that has Zimmer playing mix and match with his two playmakers but whatever the reason, it doesn’t seem to be worth it.

The Cowboys are still leaning heavily on single high safety looks under Zimmer but where the new defensive coordinator differs from his predecessor is which safety he uses where. That may not be a good thing.

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Steelers the perfect opponent for Cowboys to try changes against

The Steelers’ struggles on offense should provide the Cowboys a chance to experiment. | From @ReidDHanson

The Dallas Cowboys’ defense is going to look significantly different when they take the field in Pittsburgh on Sunday night. For the first time since 2020, Dallas will play without Micah Parsons. Parsons, a perennial defensive MVP candidate, will presumably be out this week with a high ankle sprain suffered against New York. Joining Parsons on the sideline will be fellow pass rusher DeMarcus Lawrence. Lawrence also fell in Week 4 and could miss up eight weeks with a Lisfranc injury.

With the two top pass rushers out, it would be an understatement to say this defense is going to look fairly abnormal in Week 5. Dallas will likely tinker with substitution packages, blitzes, stunts, and personnel groups in order to compensate for the loses. Just to even remotely replace the missing production, things may need to get extremely creative for Mike Zimmer and company.

And Week 5 is the perfect week to do it.

The Steelers, Dallas’ opponent Sunday night, are still trying to figure things out on offense. They rank 20th in EPA offense this season and have been having significant struggles running the ball. Their rushing EPA ranks 29th in the NFL with a success rate of just 35.5 percent. Even with one of the best rushing quarterbacks in the league in Justin Fields, the Steelers have struggled to move the ball on the ground.

It just so happens run defense has been Dallas’ biggest issue in 2024. Parsons and Lawrence may represent most notably the Cowboys’ pass rush, but they also rank as two of the most capable run defenders. Losing them impacts both phases of the game.

Facing a below average offense that’s struggling to run the ball is just what the doctor ordered at a time like this. Zimmer can experiment with new players, new alignments and blitz packages he may not otherwise feel comfortable with.

With the Lions and the 49ers next up on the schedule, the following two matchups aren’t so inviting. The first-place schedule they face in 2024 certainly isn’t doing them any favors, so all things considered, the injuries fell at a good time for the Cowboys. Now is the time to experiment on defense and try to figure some solutions because things get much harder down the road.

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Mike Zimmer’s coverage philosophy just isn’t working for the 2024 Cowboys

Cowboys coverage calls are much different than 2023, and the results haven’t been good. Causation or correlation? | From @KDDrummondNFL

It’s always tough to make a one-to-one comparison between coaching staffs in the NFL. From year to year, so much changes about team personnel that it’s sometimes tough to pinpoint what changed philosophically or what changed out of necessity.

Take the Dallas Cowboys for instance. Last year’s starting cornerback tandem of Stephon Gilmore and Daron Bland have played zero snaps for the team in 2024. Can a change in the way the secondary schemes be tethered to a necessary change with Trevon Diggs return and a fifth-round rookie in Caelen Carson playing opposite him? Or is it more about Mike Zimmer implementing what has always been a much different philosophy when it comes to coverages than his predecessor Dan Quinn?

So far in 2024, there’s been a major difference between the way the secondaries have been deployed. And while it was expected for their to be a learning curve for the secondary players as Zimmer’s coverages are notoriously complicated, it’s been a dramatic shift in results.

Last season, the Cowboys were equally as likely to deploy their secondary in Cover 1, man-to-man with a centerfield deep safety, as they were in Cover 3, where the two corners play zone along with said deep safety.

This year though, Zimmer greatly cut back on the man-to-man philosophies. Cover 1 calls have dropped from 34% of snaps in 2023 to just 17% through the first four weeks of 2024. 2-Man calls, man-to-man corners with two deep safeties, have disappeared completely, going from 3% to 0% accotding to data colleted by Football Insights.

Cover 3 calls have risen from 30% of all defensive calls to 38%, but the biggest riser has been the use of Cover 6. That’s where half the field plays quarters coverage (four-deep zone) and the other half of the field is in an underneath zone.

Are the changes working?

Last year the Cowboys ranked fifth in defensive dropback EPA (expected points added) at -0.06 and seventh in defensive passing VOA (value over average). EPA measures on a per play basis how well a defense does in preventing the expectation of a score for the offense at -3.3%.

VOA is a metric that takes into account game situation and opponent strength to measure how well a unit is doing. A negative rating means the opponent is seeing less success than the average opponent.

In 2024 those numbers have plummeted. Dallas currently ranks 18th in defensive dropback EPA, allowing opponents to increase their chances of scoring with each pass at 0.041. They’re also 21st in pass-defense VOA at 12.3%.

Things have gotten decidedly worse, but the question is are these issues due to other factors, or the philosophy? Everything about the Dallas defense is worse than it was a year ago, from their run stopping ability to their pass rush. So is the coverage calling a result of trying to compensate for what’s happening in the front seven or a symptom of the same core issue?

Attitudes, lack of effort likely highlight Cowboys systemic issues that rain from top down

The Cowboys issues the past few games may go beyond just X’s and O’s, says @ReidDHanson

Following Dallas’ loss to the Ravens in Week 3, the Cowboys are at an extreme low point in their storied history. Three of their last four games played (dating back to last postseason) have qualified as nothing short of embarrassing. Their 1-2 record has them tied for last in the NFC East and key areas of their performance are even falling into the history books (in a bad way).

According to ESPN Research, the 557 yards Dallas has allowed on the ground this season are the most allowed since 1963. During the same stretch their defense has set a record in rushing touchdowns allowed while allowing the highest yards per carry against since the 1970s.

With the Cowboys run defense playing this poorly the problems extend beyond scheme or select members of personnel. To fall this flat takes a group effort and probably something deeper rooted.

Scanning the sideline mid-game, it was impossible not to notice visibly deflated body language and the many forlorn faces amongst the team. The impressions given on the sideline bled into the game with Cowboys players appearing dejected and even exhibiting suspect effort in plays in which they were actively involved.

Calling into question someone’s effort is dangerous business in sports. To say someone isn’t trying or has given up is one of the most damning things you can say about a competitor. With that said, it’s hard to argue the issue doesn’t exist in the Dallas these days.

The Cowboys had a handful of landslide losses in 2023 where players appeared to be done playing by halftime. The scheme change this offseason didn’t change that nor did the move from Dan Quinn to Mike Zimmer. The Cowboys even churned the bottom of the roster, rolling out new players and new roles in their defensive front-seven. It offered up the same optics as before with the same poor results as before.

To say the issue is systemic is to say the issue is engrained in the culture of the team. Several members of the offense even seemed to fall victim to it this time around.

Only after a handful of role players like Brandan Aubrey, Hunter Luepke, KaVonate Turpin and Jalen Tobert stepped up and got the Cowboys back in the game did some of the attitudes and effort appear to return, but even then, effort and attitude looked suspect.

Play calling and schemes certainly bear massive responsibility in the loss and those suspect gameplans very likely contributed to players’ attitudes in the huddle and on the sideline, but that doesn’t excuse questionable effort.

There might be a culture issue in Dallas and that’s far more damaging than just losing two games in a row and an even harder issue to fix. The Cowboys have issues in scheme and in personnel but it’s time effort and attitude also get called into question.

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