FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys defense met as a unit after Thursday night’s 24-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, wrote the standard it wants to play to on a board, and went through it point by point, linebacker DeMarvion Overshown said Monday.
Tampa Bay ran for 241 yards Thursday, and Dallas has allowed 136 points through five games. The Cowboys hired Mike Pettine as a senior defensive assistant on Monday to support first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker.
DeMarvion Overshown Says Cowboys Are ‘Looking At Ourselves In The Mirror’
Overshown said the meeting was not about searching for answers.
“Not searching, we just, like I said, looking at ourselves in the mirror. Putting that, what we wanted our standard to be, we put that on the board. And we went by bullet point, bullet point. Are we holding up to this? Are we being this? As a unit, how can we get closer? What is it? Just hearing from all of us,” Overshown said. “So it really wasn’t like a fire drill conversation. It was more so, what can I do to help you? What do I expect from you on Sundays or even Monday walkthroughs?”
“We’ve got to talk to each other like that because the ship is only going to go as far as the weakest person on the boat,” Overshown continued. “So as long as we’re all in this together, I think we’re going to be great. I know we’re going to be great.”
Donovan Ezeiruaku Says Cowboys Need Urgency, Better Finishing
Edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku said the meeting came down to a sense of urgency. He finished with 6 tackles Thursday against rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels.
“Yeah, just a sense of urgency, trusting each other, and playing to the standard that we have for each other,” Ezeiruaku said. “That’s pretty much what came out to me.”
The defense has to own situational football and stop making mental errors, Ezeiruaku said. He sees no reason the unit can’t be among the league’s best.
“Really owning situational football, as far as like trusting each other, playing together. There’s no reason why we couldn’t be a defense that only allowed 10 points a game. So our thing is not shooting ourselves in the foot, the mental errors,” Ezeiruaku explained. “And once we get past that, we’re going to be one of the best defenses in the league. We just got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Dallas had 4 quarterback hits and 1 sack Thursday. Ezeiruaku said getting the quarterback down comes down to finishing.
“Yeah, just finishing, putting your chest on the football and getting the guy to the ground. I mean, it’s simple, but it’s easier said than done for sure,” Ezeiruaku said.
The three days off after a Thursday night game helped bodies recover, Ezeiruaku said, but losing the game before the break made it sting more.
“It helps get your bodies back for sure. Three days off, that’s what happens when you play on a Thursday night. No, it doesn’t feel good that you got to have it on the loss because then it makes you, it just, it hurts a little bit more,” Ezeiruaku said. “It stings a little bit, but it’s a new week and we got to flip the page.”
Cornerback Shavon Revel said after Thursday’s loss that the defense talks a lot about attention to detail and has not applied it in games yet. Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams said the message was to watch the film, learn from the mistakes, and hold each other accountable.
The Cowboys visit the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Oct. 18 at Lambeau Field. Kickoff is set for 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.
