Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz and Frank Schwab discuss the significance of Dan Quinn leaving the Cowboys’ defense and expectations for Dallas this season. Listen and subscribe to the “Zero Blitz” podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
What’s your one big thing for the Cowboys?
There’s a ton of them here.
Which one are you picking?
My one big thing for the Cowboys would look, what do we talk about all the time?
We talk about Dak Prescott his contract.
We talk about CD Lamb, his contract, the offense all in all this stuff.
What haven’t we talked about?
We have not talked enough about them losing Dan Quinn and it goes back to, we underrate losing coordinators.
It is a big, big deal again.
Let me talk about the Philadelphia Eagles.
They lost Jonathan Gannon, they lost Shane Ste and coming off a Super Bowl, we all thought no big deal.
They’ll be fine.
Well, they weren’t fine and I don’t know that Dallas is really ready to just move on from Dan Quinn and not skip a beat since Dan Quinn got the job as Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator.
They had the most takeaways in the NFL.
We all saw Micah Parsons develop like crazy.
Obviously, he’s a great talent, but Dan Quinn got the most out of everybody on that defense.
He was a fantastic defensive coach for them.
That’s why he’s the head coach of the Washington commanders.
Now that’s why he was in demand these past few years.
And I don’t know that you just necessarily lose a guy like that and not feel it.
This Cowboys, we talk about the offense a lot because of d because just offense, we talk about offense, but it’s the defense that’s really been running that show the past few years.
This has been a top five defense, the past couple of years.
That’s why they’ve been really, really good in a super bowl contender, even though they haven’t gotten over the hump.
I don’t know if they get better without Dan Quinn.
And, uh, yeah, maybe the offense is gonna be awesome again because I really like D and C D’s great all this.
But is the defense gonna be top five again without Dan Quinn?
I think that’s a major question the Cowboys have to answer.
Yeah, and they can’t afford to step back.
Uh, I, I keep saying this, they didn’t address the running back in a way that I have any faith in this off season.
So, really what the Cowboys told you is that their, their path to winning is to win the exact way they won last year, which means they’re going to need a lot of turnovers.
They’re gonna need their defense to be absolutely lights out and they’re gonna need their quarterback to play at an MVP level like that.
That is, that’s just fact to how they’re built to win.
So I think it’s a really good point.
And look, there’s so much talent, at least from the outside looking in, there’s so much talent that, that immediately puts pressure on the Cowboys.
Let me, let me ask you this, uh, by the end of, at the end of this season, at the end of the season, in your mind, are the Cowboys, one of the elite teams in the NFC?
I think so, but not quite as elite as they were the past couple of seasons.
If that makes sense.
II, I think there’s still some wiggle room for them to take a step back but still be one of the top three teams in the NFC because I still think they are, I still think they’re gonna win that division.
But I, I just wonder, you know, I do wonder about the defense and just, uh, that is my main question.
I don’t have any question about the offense, offense is gonna be good like that.
That was a great offense, you know, obviously injuries and all that can, can seep in, but if they stay healthy, offense is gonna be fine, I have no problem with them.
It’s just can that defense kind of replicate what they had with Quinn, who I just thought, did a masterful job his time there.
And again, that’s why he’s Washington Commander’s head coach right now.