The Dallas Cowboys are looking to stack good games on top of each other, as former head coach Jason Garrett liked to pronounce. As they prepare to take on the New Orleans Saints in Week 2 of the young 2024 season, they will likely look to their defense to come through for the second-straight contest in hopes that a trend is developing.
Last season, Dallas wasn’t competitive in contests where quarterback Dak Prescott didn’t play a great game. They lost to the Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, and Philadelphia. In every one of those games, the Cowboys quarterback played poorly, and the defense couldn’t step up to make the game competitive.
The team went as the offense went in 2023, but in the first game of 2024, Prescott had average numbers for his standards, and the team dominated behind an excellent performance from the defense.
The Cowboys had the fifth-best performance according to Pro Football Focus grades and third-best according to DVOA numbers. Micah Parsons (9) and Demarcus Lawrence (8) led the entire NFL in QB pressures in Week 1. Lawrence and Eric Kendricks tied for the team lead in sacks with two.
Kendricks and Trevon Diggs each intercepted passes, and DeMarvion Overshown was all over the field, leading the team in tackles with the third-highest PFF grade amongst linebackers with an 88.6.
If Dallas continues this level of performance, the team could flip to a defensive-leaning team from now on, taking a significant amount of pressure off the QB. If the team can hang on whenever Prescott has slow starts, they will be much better off when the playoffs begin.
You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or YouTube on the Across the Cowboys Podcast