Below are an amateur’s observations on the Dan Quin Defense as seen during week 10 of the 2023 season: Dallas Cowboys 49, New York Giants 17.

Was it good to see Cooks get cooking? Was it good to see Jalen Brooks (my pet cat) catching the ball? Was it good to see Dowdle get more opportunity? It will definitely be "Here we go!" if they continue to play like this!

Special Teams Question

How does a team manage to have two leverage penalties on back-to-back PATs? Did they work on this?

Defensive Overview

The Cowboy’s defense looked different this week. For the first time, the base defense featured five defensive backs, vs. the more usual six. The big change, though was at the linebacker position where Micah Parsons many of his snaps off the ball (only 10 snaps on the line). At times he was the only off-ball LB on the field. Also of interest, was that he didn’t earn any statistics. Not a sack (5 other players got sacks). Not a pass defensed. Not a tackle. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. The defense played very well, allowing the more inexperienced players to earn valuable reps in the third and fourth quarter. And even without Micah getting a sack, plenty of pressure was generated. Was this DQ experimenting with different alignments and personnel groupings during a game that was offensively limited? Probably so. My expectation is that he will try further experimentation next week against Carolina before settling into a new normal that is moderately different from his usual 6 defensive backs and a single high safety that comprises his base defense.

The game started with the ‘Boys using five defensive linemen for the first couple of drives, backing it up with either two linebackers or Parsons as the single linebacker. After they stuffed few drives, they went to four linemen for a significant part of the game.

In the second half they went with five linemen and no linebackers for a couple of plays, allowing some big plays on New York’s first scoring drive. After that didn’t really work out well, and it disappeared relatively quickly from their repertoire.

Snap Counts

Mukuamu and Wright significant snaps this week, though mostly in the fourth quarter. Both broke up passes, with Mukuamu using his 6’-4" frame to particularly good effect by deflecting a pass with his head. Though Wright deflected a pass, he was also faked out of his cleats by a corner route in the end zone that ended up as a touchdown for the opponent. With Rashan Evans having been elevated from the practice squad the maximum number of times and actually starting at linebacker for this game, will Evans become part of the 53? I was initially worried that someone would need to be cut to put Vander Esch back on the roster, but unfortunately that looks extremely unlikely at the moment. If required, I view Mukuamu and Wright as potential candidates to be cut and (hopefully) signed to the practice squad, as is Igbinoghene who has been inactive since the San Francisco game.

With Evans playing about 50% of the LB snaps (which included coming within six inches of forcing a safety on the first series), Bell, the safety/linebacker, was the recipient of a big reduction in his snap count, though Clark lost significant snaps as well. There was also another Tyrus Wheat sighting, with him playing significant snaps in the fourth quarter, though his jersey was as pristine white at the end of the game as it was when the game started. Can’t say I was particularly impressed. Maybe another candidate for the practice squad if something is required.

Along the defensive line, Smith and Williams had about double their normal number of snaps. Williams, I thought, was earning and more respect from the team and making significant contributions so that was not a surprise. Mazi Smith, though solid, had relatively few snaps in recent weeks which I interpreted as reflecting a lack of confidence in him by the coaches, making his increase in snaps a minor surprise. Both Smith and Williams earned Stars this week, indicating that the confidence of their coaches was justified. Losing snaps was Hankins, who had an unusually high workload last week as the Cowboys put in their best run-stoppers to slow down the Philly rushing attack.

The safety position had Juanyeh Thomas getting significant time, and in fact, earning a star for a PBU in the second quarter when the Cowboys were leading by seven. There was a modest reduction in the playing time of the other safeties as they made room for Thomas to pick up some experience, even to the point of trusting him in the game before the Cowboys built a huge lead.

Week 10 Defensive Snap Counts

Star Plays

Star plays are those plays that can make a difference in a game: Things like a pass defended, a sack or a tackle for loss, an interception (two stars), a fumble or fumble recovery, or in some cases, a bonus star for something that is exceptional.

This week 20 stars were awarded, with Daron Bland once again leading the way. Nashon Wright picked up his first star of the season for a PBU.

Linemen and cornerbacks continue to be the dominant positions that earn stars, leaving linebacker and safety under represented.

Gallimore earned 2 stars and one ejection, pointing out one problem that the defense continues to show: PENALTIES. Though the Giants did not convert on any of their 12 third downs, they did manage to earn(?) four first downs due to penalty. Not the best showing by any means!

Cumulative Stars

This week Daron Bland passed Parsons as having the most stars, though Parsons does edge him out in the cumulative star % (AKA the total number of stars/total number of snaps).

One final random factoid:

Cowboy alumni Noah Brown and Dalton Schultz, both now playing for the Houston Texans, followed up their breakout game of last week (combining for 287 yards) with another powerful showing and gaining a combined 243 yards this week. Congrats guys! Keep up the good work.