Dallas Cowboys: 3 coaching adjustments that saved week two
By Reid Hanson
The Dallas Cowboys aren’t exactly known to be a franchise who thrives on adversity. For years they’ve shown they are completely incapable of adapting to adverse situations or adjusting to new circumstances.
This staple trait from the Jason Garrett era demanded “next man up” from the players, without offering much of anything from the coaches. But those days appear to be behind us because Sunday illustrated multiple examples of how a good coaching staff adapts and helps players succeed.
The Dallas Cowboys adjusted their secondary, their pass-rush personnel, and their blocking scheme brilliantly
This season has certainly seen it’s share of adversity. Just one week into the season the Cowboys lost their starting right tackle and both starting defensive ends. Facing off against one of the best and brightest young quarterbacks in the NFL, their secondary looked like easy pickins’ in Week 2 as well. Until the coaching staff decided to do something, that is…
The Dallas Cowboys Secondary
The Dallas Cowboys secondary was absolutely picked apart in Week 1 by Tom Brady and the Bucs. Everyone not named Trevon Diggs fell victim and fans were braced for more of the same against the chronically underrated Justin Herbert and his merry band of pass-catchers.
Related Story. Predictability could be a big problem with the Cowboys defense. light
As I discussed in the preseason article linked above, Dan Quinn has a way of being fairly transparent with his coverages. He’s not the vanilla Cover-3 people peg him for, but he’s pretty consistent in his coverages and historically hasn’t dedicated much time in disguising his intentions.
In Atlanta he ran out of the single high safety look 76 percent of the time, indicating a real reliance on a single look. It’s that look and the Cowboys’ familiarity with that look that brought Quinn to Dallas in the offseason. Anyone who’s been paying attention knows what he likes to do and can adjust their attacks to exploit it.
But then Dan Quinn adjusted,
Cowboys ran a lot of quarters against Chargers today -- 35% of the time (vs. pass attempts only).
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) September 19, 2021
Dallas ran quarters 10% of the time in Week 1. Falcons ran quarters just 1% of the time in Weeks 1-5 last year, when Dan Quinn (now Cowboys DC) was their head coach.
According to Next Gen Stats, Dan Quinn went completely against his nature on Sunday, using quarters on 35% of the passing plays – something unseen from his Seattle and Atlanta days.
It stands to reason he looked at his personnel and adjusted for the situation. A true sight to behold for Cowboys fans.