Jerry Jones made his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday to discuss the Dallas Cowboys‘ uncharacteristic loss to the Buffalo Bills this past Sunday.
The Cowboys had multiple downfalls that led to the 31-10 loss, and Jones was candid about his optimism for the team going forward.
Dallas Cowboys’ Run Defense Struggles
One of those downfalls was Dallas’ run defense, which allowed 266 rushing yards — 179 of which came from running back James Cook.
Johnathan Hankins being ruled out of a game with a high ankle sprain he endured the week before wasn’t to blame because most of the runs were done outside and not in the A-gap.
Jones agreed with Dan Quinn that tackling was an issue in this game. During the matchup, Dallas had 12 missed tackles, which is much higher than usual. Jones said even some of the best players on the defense were missing tackles.
“We didn’t tackle,” said Jones, adding, “When you got them in your sights, you gotta bring them to the ground, and when they bounce off of you or able to get around you, that sounds elementary, but that’s a fact. We didn’t tackle.”
The Cowboys didn’t establish the pass rush since Josh Allen only had 94 passing yards on 15 attempts, solely relying on the run game that was exposing Dallas’ defense.
However, Jones said this is a correctable issue “from week to week,” especially since it comes down to the fundamentals of the game.
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“You can emphasize fundamentals because you’ve been practicing them the entire year since training camp, for that matter, back in the spring to some degree,” said Jones.
The Cowboys owner believes the team has the talent to improve from Sunday’s game but feels they didn’t finish or adjust to what the Bills were doing. Nevertheless, he’s encouraged that they can specifically address what contributed to their fourth loss of the season.
Costly Penalties for the Cowboys
The Cowboys had five penalties for 55 yards on Sunday, with three of them coming at their expense in allowing the Bills to extend drives and score touchdowns. Dallas also leads the NFL in total penalties with 102 for 872 yards.
Jones said the players thinking through the logistics of how the game is being called is key.
“Our group knows the answer to penalties is to don’t give [the officials] the chance to make the call,” said Jones.
He also reiterated that the issue with penalties is another factor that can be revered from what happened at Highmark Stadium on Sunday.
History Repeating Itself With Dallas?
This isn’t the only time the Cowboys’ run defense or self-inflicted wounds have been scrutinized and exposed. The panic button is being pressed from outside the building because of these contributing factors that led to their demise last season and ended their playoff run in the NFC Divisional Round.
Jones doesn’t think the narrative is fair because the defense has shown up and played good games against difficult opponents throughout the course of the season. He said the team physically showed up but didn’t turn it up when needed.
He said he has seen the team being bullied before this game, which gave him confidence that those issues would be addressed and fixed ahead of Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins.
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