FRISCO, Texas — Better coverage comes before a better pass rush, Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Tuesday at The Star, two days before the Dallas Cowboys host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Houston’s C.J. Stroud completed 21 of 31 passes for 347 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions against Dallas on Sunday, a 126.7 passer rating. The Cowboys sacked Stroud twice in the 34-30 win, once by Rashan Gary and once by Quinnen Williams. They were Dallas’ first sacks since Week 1.
Brian Schottenheimer Says Cowboys Pass Rush Starts With Better Coverage
Schottenheimer gets the pass-rush question every week in some form. Dallas has plenty of edge rushers, he said, and Williams played outstanding against Houston.
“We just do this every week. We just keep going back and forth, the same thing. Again, different ways. You can blitz, but I’m going to start with this. The coverage has to be better,” Schottenheimer said. “You want to get better pass rush, you’ve got to have better coverage. You can’t allow quarterbacks to have 130-point-whatever [ratings]. It’s not good enough. So you’ve got to be stickier in coverage. That’s part of it.”
“We know that. I feel like we’ve got plenty of edge pieces that can rush the passer, and we’re going to see another athletic quarterback this week. I thought Quinnen Williams played outstanding,” Schottenheimer continued. “I think we felt last game that the inside rush was really, really good, which is going to help feed the outside rush. But I think it all starts with pass coverage.”
Williams finished with 4 tackles, a sack for an 11-yard loss on third-and-3 in the fourth quarter, 2 tackles for loss, and a quarterback hit.
Cowboys Must Keep Jalon Daniels In The Pocket
Tampa Bay will start undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels at quarterback again, with Baker Mayfield out with a dislocated right thumb. Against Green Bay on Sunday, Daniels threw for 148 yards and a touchdown, ran for 55 yards, and threw two interceptions in a 17-14 loss, Buccaneers.com reported. He was the first undrafted rookie to start a game at quarterback for the franchise.
Mobile quarterbacks have gotten outside on Dallas this season. Daniels steps up and out rather than around the tackles, according to Schottenheimer, and the Cowboys’ match coverage leaves defenders unable to see him take off.
“Yeah, again, it goes back to a couple things. One, gap integrity, rush-lane discipline. I talked earlier in the week about when you get to certain edges, when you get to level the quarterback, you’ve got to flatten down and try to close and constrict the window. But we can’t try so hard to go get sacks that we open up an A gap or open up a B gap,” Schottenheimer explained. “This guy is very, very good at kind of stepping up, in and out, not out. So he doesn’t vacate around the tackles. He kind of steps in and up and out. I think he had a 28-yard run or something last week against Green Bay where he kind of got loose in the front-side B gap. And we’ve got to have our gap discipline. That’s going to be a big part of it.”
“Because usually when you’re playing match coverage, which is man-to-man in your zone, I’m looking at you and Calvin takes off running. I’m looking at you. I can’t see what Calvin’s doing. And so that’s part of the reason why we’ve let guys get out a little bit,” Schottenheimer added. “We’re playing match coverage, which is what we want to play, because we want to make it sticky on them. And that is one of the problems. So the defensive line is responsible for trying to contain and rush in the correct gaps to keep him in the pocket.”
The linebackers feel it too, when they have to choose between dropping and coming forward. Experienced quarterbacks know where that line is.
“It’s real. And, again, the more experienced quarterbacks are better than the others because they kind of know where the line is, so they go to step up. And if you commit, they’re going to drop it over the top of you,” Schottenheimer said. “And so that’s kind of who we’ve been faced with the last couple weeks. And we need to be better. We’ve got to keep him in the pocket and make him be a passer.”
Schottenheimer Wants Jalon Daniels To Win As A Passer
Dallas evaluates Daniels as an NFL quarterback with weapons around him, in Schottenheimer’s view, and the plan is to make him show his weaknesses.
“Yeah, we evaluate the player. He’s an NFL quarterback, very athletic, great success at Kansas. He’s got weapons galore. Godwin’s still playing great. Egbuka’s a great player. Otton, the tight end. Johnson’s a speed guy to get behind people. Got a great running game, Bucky Irving, and a really good offensive line,” Schottenheimer said. “But to play quarterback in the National Football League is extremely difficult, and he’s learning on the fly. But he throws the ball well, has good velocity, and he doesn’t have to do it by himself. So we go in knowing his strengths and his weaknesses and try to make him show us more of his weaknesses.”
Cowboys Expect Todd Bowles To Keep Bringing Pressure
On the other side, Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles has been a head coach or coordinator for more than 20 years. Tampa Bay did not pressure as much against Green Bay as Bowles usually does, and he has a rookie Mike linebacker, a rookie nickel, and a rookie edge rusher.
“It’s Todd Bowles. Todd Bowles pressures. That’s what he does, man. He’s one of the best, certainly, I’ve gone up against in my career. Going back to all the spots he’s been, this guy’s been a head coach or coordinator, I think, for 20-something years, man. He’s one of the best,” Schottenheimer said. “Got some new faces. That always makes it a little bit challenging. He’s got a rookie Mike linebacker in Trotter. He’s got a rookie nickel and a rookie edge piece. So they’ve got some of the same things that we’re dealing with young players. But the minute you think Todd Bowles isn’t going to pressure, you’re probably making a mistake.”
Tampa Bay linebacker Josiah Trotter (knee) went from limited on Monday to not practicing Tuesday, according to DallasCowboys.com.
Dallas is 2-2 and hosts the 0-4 Buccaneers on Thursday at AT&T Stadium, with kickoff at 7:15 p.m. CT on Prime Video.
