Cowboys’ vaunted defense faces painful reality after disgraceful playoff outing (2024)

ARLINGTON – In a win-or-go-home game at AT&T Stadium, the Cowboys’ defense didn’t show up.

Maybe the illness that struck this team for basically a month stepped on the field in place of the players assigned to play.

It was a disgraceful performance for a defense with veterans, talented young players and Dan Quinn, a defensive coordinator being sought for vacant head coaching jobs.

Yet here we are trying to dissect what went wrong with the Cowboys’ defense after a 48-32 season-ending loss to the Packers in an NFC wild card game late Sunday afternoon.

“We knew they were a playoff team, and we should have went out there and executed better,” cornerback Jourdan Lewis said. “We didn’t execute to our best ability and they took advantage of that and took advantage of some holes that we had.”

The Packers scored on six of their first seven possessions. Running back Aaron Jones scored three rushing touchdowns and picked up 118 yards. The Packers participated in this contest without their No. 2 back AJ Dillon.

No problem. Jones went out and averaged 5.6 yards per carry.

Quarterback Jordan Love put on a show by completing 16 of 21 passes for 272 yards with three touchdowns. He completed passes off his back foot, on the move and in the pocket. Receiver Romeo Doubs will earn much attention after his six-catch, 151-yard, one-touchdown effort Sunday. The last time Doubs had a game like this was in college. On Nov. 19, 2021, Doubs caught 11 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns for Nevada in a game against Air Force.

And guess who the Packers’ best receiver is? Christian Watson. He had one catch for 9 yards and is battling a hamstring injury.

The Packers also compiled 415 offensive yards, averaging 7.7 yards per play.

In its 10 possessions, the Packers punted three times. They scored touchdowns on six other possessions.

The Cowboys defense gave up three touchdowns in the first half and that was before Darnell Savage recorded a pick-six to make the score 27-0.

“It was tough,” linebacker Damone Clark said.

The Cowboys, who led the NFL in takeaways in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, had none Sunday against the Packers. With their offense struggling to move the ball, the defense needed to make some plays to turn the momentum of the game.

Instead, the defense was pushed around in the run game, let too many receivers make wide-open catches and acted as if the game were played in freezing temperatures instead of the comfortable 72-degree indoor conditions.

The only positive was pass rusher Micah Parsons finally drew two holding calls, ending a streak of 46 quarters without drawing one. Parsons did hit the quarterback once but had no sacks. If you talk about being phenomenal, which was Parsons’ case after the regular-season finale at Washington, you better show up in the playoffs.

No sacks for Parsons.

For that matter, the other pass rusher, DeMarcus Lawrence, who had four tackles, didn’t touch the quarterback. No hits, no hurries.

The interior of the line was a no-show as well. After Brandon Aubrey’s 34-yard field goal cut the Packers’ lead to 27-10, the Packers got the ball at their 25. Jones carried 8 yards on first-and-10. He then went 4 more yards before Love found Doubs for a 46-yard gain.

After a Jones 8-yard run made it second-and-2 at the Dallas 9, he sprinted 9 yards for a touchdown and a 34-10 advantage.

Ballgame.

If the Cowboys’ defense was going to do anything of substance it was on that drive. Make a stop. Do something. Anything.

Like most of the game, it couldn’t.

So now we enter the offseason with a defense that might need a new coordinator if Quinn gets a new gig, and a revamping of the interior of the line.

The linebackers need to get bigger. Clark is fine, but the safety/linebacker players such as Markquese Bell might not work anymore. Leighton Vander Esch (neck) has an uncertain future, so finding a player in the draft or a veteran that’s not built like a safety to play linebacker is something that must be thought about.

All these warts, the run defense, small linebackers, the loss of cornerback Trevon Diggs (knee), haunted the Cowboys at the worst time on Sunday.

With the season on the line, the No. 2-seeded team’s defense was absent. And that is a painful reality.

“I’m surprised, I didn’t see this coming,” cornerback Stephon Gilmore said. “I’m very surprised because I know what type of team we have. In the playoffs, you got to prove it and you can’t have any down days. And that’s how the game goes.”

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