The Dallas Cowboys were getting insults inside their building after the team lost to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday. It shouldn’t be surprising the Cowboys were getting shots from previous team personnel outside the building during the defeat.
One of those shots came from former Dallas head coach Wade Phillips.
“I thought maybe the Cowboys Defense was better after seeing the first half, but I was mistake,” wrote Phillips on X.
The Cowboys allowed 419 yards, including 241 rushing yards to the Buccaneers in Week 5. Tampa Bay ran for 6.2 yards per carry, which allowed the Buccaneers to have nearly 40 minutes in time of possession.
That was a recipe for disaster for Dallas on Thursday night as Tampa Bay started rookie undrafted quarterback Jalon Daniels. But Daniels also did very well against the Cowboys defense, completing 19 of 25 passes for 189 yards with a touchdown.
With Daniels behind center, the Dallas defense allowed the Buccaneers to convert 7 of 13 third-down attempts and to go 3-for-5 scoring touchdowns in the red zone.
For a head coach that specialized in defense like Phillips, that’s not going to be pretty football.
Wade Phillips Disses Cowboys Defense During Buccaneers Loss
The Cowboys certainly had their challenges when Phillips was their head coach from 2007-10. In 2007, the Cowboys had one of their best teams over the past 30 years. They went 13-3 and earned home-field advantage throughout the playoffs only to lose in the NFC divisional round to the rival New York Giants.
Since then, Dallas has experienced some other excruciating playoff losses. But the 2007 season still stands out maybe the top year since 1995 that the Cowboys should have been in the NFC championship game.
The following season, the Cowboys were 8-4 entering December. However, they lost three of their final four games and missed the postseason.
After winning a playoff game in 2009 but suffering another NFC divisional round defeat, the Cowboys were Super Bowl favorites in the NFC during 2010. But the Cowboys started that campaign 1-7. Jerry Jones fired Phillips at the midseason point.
During the first half of 2010, the Cowboys defense was 31st in points allowed. Other than that, though, the Cowboys typically had a top 10 defensive unit with Phillips as head coach.
Even at its worst, Phillips’s defense in Dallas performed better than what the Cowboys defense the past couple years. Phillips was also a defensive guru at other places, including the Denver Broncos in 2015 when the team won the Super Bowl. The Broncos were first in yards, fourth in points and eighth in takeaways with Phillips as their defensive coordinator.
Last year, the Cowboys were last in points allowed and 30th in yards yielded. The defense isn’t much better this season despite a new coordinator and several new players added to the unit.
Ex-Cowboys Head Coach Takes Shot at Dallas Defense During Buccaneers Loss