The Dallas Cowboys made fixing the defense a priority this offseason. But if Week 1 is an indication of anything, nothing has changed for the Cowboys defense.
Dallas struggled significantly at stopping a young New York Giants offense Sunday night. The Cowboys gave up 394 total yards, including 165 on the ground. The Giants offense was so effective in the second half, Dallas only had two possessions after halftime.
During a radio appearance on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones offered an explanation as to why the team’s new-look defense played so poorly in Week 1.
“The last time that I was involved in as much change as we have made this year, the very last time that I had that experience was the first year I bought the Dallas Cowboys. We won one game,” said Jones. “Obviously, that’s a long time ago. The game has changed. You should expect a lot more than what we expected then.
“I think that’s an explanation, really. And a valid one. There’s been a lot of changes made on that side of the ball.”
Jones, though, made it clear that the offseason confidence he had about the defense hasn’t waned.
“We’re very optimistic that we can play better than what we played, right now, than what we played there Sunday night.”
Jerry Jones Explains Why Cowboys Struggled in Week 1
The Cowboys owner provided a very thorough answer when asked about the team’s, particularly the defense’s, poor season opener.
As part of that answer, Jones stated the defense not playing together a lot in the preseason was a factor for why the unit didn’t gel immediately in Week 1. Then, he talked about the team’s opponent as well.
“We caught a Giant team that is much improved. That’s well coached that basically played us the way that was effective as we all saw,” said Jones.
But again, Jones tried to express the same positive feelings about the defense that everyone felt with the Cowboys over the summer.
“We have our head down,” Jones continued. “We will do some things differently as we line up here this week as far as practice is concerned than maybe we had anticipated.
“But we’ve got to say right on this, stay with our head down on what we had planned to address this year when we changed this defense out.”
Was Jones Just Listing Excuses After Giants Loss?
It will be interesting to see the reaction to Jones’s latest radio interview. To me, it felt like Jones was making excuses during his first answer.
In the first follow-up question during the segment, Jones was asked why the Giants, who also went through several changes on the coaching staff and personnel changes, played so much better in Week 1. The Cowboys owner didn’t really offer a great reason.
“Well, that’s how they won the game,” Jones said in response to that question. “They were able to execute without the effects of turnovers, and they were able to keep the ball away from our offense.
“That’s how you win games. They won the game.”
This week, quite a few teams have used the lack of preseason opportunities as a reason for not playing well in Week 1. While it’s a valid reason, it’s not a suitable excuse when each coaching staff gets to decide how much playing time the starters receive in the exhibition campaign.
In Jones’s defense, change sometimes doesn’t occur overnight. Perhaps the Cowboys defense will go through growing pains and then be much better at the end of the season.
But until that happens — or there’s some kind of sign that what the Cowboys did in the offseason is eventually going to click and work — Jones and the organization is going to be under fire for what’s going on with the defense.
Jerry Jones Fires Clear Message to Cowboys Fans After Giants Debacle