The Dallas Cowboys are turning the page after a big loss to the Buffalo Bills last week and look to focus on the Miami Dolphins for their Christmas Eve showdown.
Cowboys’ Lack of Ball-Hawking and Tackling Led to Loss
There are some lessons to be learned from Dallas’ 31-10 loss to Buffalo, especially regarding the defensive side of the ball.
On Sunday, the Cowboys’ defense had 12 missed tackles, contributing to expensive plays and a strong rushing attack from the Bills’ offense.
Earlier in the week, DC Dan Quinn said that the defense had been excellent in tackling and ball-hawking, but the team did poorly in Buffalo doing both.
“Our tackling wasn’t up to the standard we set,” said Quinn. He added, “That is our secret sauce — our tackling and our ball-hawking — and we didn’t have it.”
Quinn mentioned it has nothing to do with the aspects or elements the team faces, and that those two things need to happen in games.
The Cowboys are 3-4 on the road this season by a large scoring margin. In contrast, they’ve found success and are 7-0 at AT&T Stadium.
Stephon Gilmore’s Focus
Still, the Cowboys haven’t had two consecutive losses all season. Regarding how CB Stephon Gilmore sees it, it’s time to turn the page and be all-in with their focus on the game plan against the Dolphins.
“We just got to go out and focus on our task, and go out and play great football,” said Gilmore.
The defense knows the NFL is a copycat league that will try to use the tape from the Buffalo loss against them and attack the same weaknesses. Gilmore says the Cowboys’ lack of physicality was the most disappointing aspect of that loss.
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“As long as you’re physical, you give yourself a chance to win, and we weren’t that on Sunday,” said Gilmore.
The Dallas DB knows that missed tackles were an issue for himself in that game and said the team was working on tackling techniques at practice on Wednesday.
“Just like we were a great tackling team the week before, you have to do it each week, or it doesn’t matter, and we have a big challenge this week to do it,” he said.
Dolphins’ Offense vs. Cowboys’ Defense
Dallas’ defense has a chance to bounce back and reestablish that physicality in individual matchups on Sunday against Miami.
One of the matchups Gilmore we’ll see is how well he can ball hawk Dolphins’ QB Tua Tagovailoa. Gilmore says it’s not just what Tagovailoa does, but the weapons around him that makes them such a strong opponent.
One of those weapons is WR Tyreek Hill, who leads the NFL in receiving yards with 1,542 and has a speed factor to his game. Hill will be the test for the Cowboys’ defense who struggled with tackling last week, and Gilmore is aware of that.
“Once he gets the ball in his hand, he’s hard to tackle,” said Gilmore.
But the Dolphins are stacked with speed on their offense overall — not just within their wide receivers, but their running backs as well.
Gilmore says the key to containing that speed is to play with top-notch technique and to play physical. Dallas has a chance to prove that they can defeat tough teams on the road and boost their confidence back in time for the postseason.
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