Why the Cowboys Run Game Issue Goes Beyond the Defensive Line
For the better part of the last decade, the Dallas Cowboys have been able to come up with impressive defenses. They led the league in turnovers for most of Dan Quinn’s tenure as defensive coordinator and were always a stout team at getting after the quarterback. Despite choosing to be finesse over a physical defensive team, this has come to bite the Cowboys from behind in numerous important games. The Cowboys' issue at stopping the running game has been their kryptonite for most of Dak Prescott’s career, and what might seem to be only a defensive line issue, the run game is a problem throughout all three levels of the defense.
The Cowboys' defense against the run has been a clear issue in several playoff games, like their most recent in 2023 against Green Bay, where Aaron Jones ran all over them for 118 yards and three touchdowns. One reason is the Cowboys' defensive line gets beat down in the trenches against great offensive lines in the NFL, giving up big plays and chunk plays relatively easily compared to most. Since the defensive lines can’t hang with other offensive lines, life for the linebackers becomes twice as difficult as it already is. Then, to add on top, the Cowboys' secondary is not great against the run as well, being known for being bad at tackling and easy to get run off the ball. With all three levels of the defense weak in stopping the run, the recipe for success becomes that much more difficult.
What the Cowboys need to do to be able to fix their Achilles heel is to first play as a cohesive group. Yes, in a league such as the NFL, despite being talented, there are players lined up against one another that are just simply better, but playing as a group and being on time can at least give them a better chance at winning matchups. Secondly, what has also been an issue is just playing hard and making an effort. At times, it has been easy to see in plays that some Cowboys players simply give up on the play or put little effort into a tackle, which would end up being a big play. These two issues are what should be easily fixable, and the hope is that with Brian Schottenheimer's new philosophy and culture, these players will buy into the regime and improve on these common mistakes. It’ll be difficult with new young players, but if they can get the job done, Dallas can rely on them for the foreseeable future.
