ARLINGTON, Texas — Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Thursday night that the defense is, in his mind, “right where we started,” after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ran for 241 yards in a 24-16 win at AT&T Stadium. Jones also said he believes Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker can turn the unit around.
Tampa Bay ran 39 times at 6.2 yards per carry. Bucky Irving finished with 165 yards on 21 carries, a career high, including a 72-yard run on the first play of the second half. The loss dropped Dallas to 2-3, and the Buccaneers, who arrived 0-4, won with undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels making his second start in place of the injured Baker Mayfield.
Jerry Jones Says Cowboys Defense Is ‘Right Where We Started’
Dallas game-planned for Tampa Bay to get outside on the run, if it ran at all, and was willing to take its chances with the rookie throwing. Daniels finished 19-of-25 for 189 yards and a touchdown, and the Buccaneers did most of their damage on the ground between the tackles.
“Well, I feel like offensively we can play better than we played tonight. So I haven’t in any way lost any optimism or any pluses for what we’re doing offensively. Of course, we’ve got Tyler Smith back,” Jones said. “I don’t know the seriousness of Guyton’s strain in his back, but I know he did come out there at the end. So that’s good. We are still, in my mind, right where we started relative to our defense. And the thing that would concern me the most, without looking at one ounce of tape, is the way they were able to run the ball inside of us. And I did not think that could happen with us prepared for it.”
“We thought they might get outside a little bit on the run, and we thought we would take our chances with the young quarterback throwing. He played outstanding. He hurt us, as all these running quarterbacks are doing, but that can happen to you,” Jones continued. “So, in general, again, I go back to that almost 12 minutes, 11 minutes and something, they had the ball after we scored and controlled really most of the first quarter. I think that was telling. That hurt. We were out there a long time. They were very effective, and they physically ground it out. And they ground it out with how that quarterback plays. Of course, they got a little help with a couple of penalties, but all teams get some of that.”
Tampa Bay’s opening possession went 15 plays and 73 yards and took 10:58 off the clock, ending on Daniels’ 5-yard touchdown pass to Irving early in the second quarter. Dallas penalties kept that drive going, including a defensive holding call that wiped out a sack on third-and-5.
Jerry Jones Backs Christian Parker Despite Defensive Struggles
Earlier in the availability, Jones declined to evaluate Parker’s work this season. He said Dallas had penalties at inopportune times and turned the ball over on all sides of the ball. Later, he said he still has confidence Parker can turn the defense around.
“I do. Yes, I do. We certainly, he’s sitting there taking it on the shoulders, which goes with the territory. But I feel that he’s competent,” Jones said. “And the things that he’s trying to do, I’m going to say it one more time: the thing that probably bothers me the most tonight is how they ran between the tackles, so to speak, and were able to have that running game up in there where we have a lot of strength. And so that’s something that we’ve got to really look at, and will.”
Dallas hired Parker on Jan. 22 after one season under Matt Eberflus, when the Cowboys allowed a franchise-record 511 points. Parker, 34, is the youngest defensive coordinator in franchise history and the team’s fourth defensive coordinator in four seasons. He spent the previous two seasons as the Philadelphia Eagles’ passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach.
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said he wanted to watch the tape before deciding whether the defense was back to square one, and that he did not believe it was. Turnovers and third downs came first for him.
“Certainly Jerry’s going to have his opinions, and I respect his opinion. But I do think that today was a disappointing day, but there have been things. You got to get off the field on third down. We have to not turn the football over,” Schottenheimer said. “I mean, you can’t be minus three and win a game in the National Football League. That’s not going to work.”
Tampa Bay converted 7-of-13 third downs. The Cowboys turned the ball over three times, on two Dak Prescott interceptions and a KaVontae Turpin fumble on a kickoff return, and the Buccaneers scored 10 points off them.
Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams said he has 100% faith.
“At the end of the day, we step in between those lines, and we’ve got to execute to the best of our ability every single down,” Williams said. “And no matter what CP call, we’ve got to execute.”
Dallas has allowed 136 points through five games. Cornerback Shavon Revel said the Cowboys prepared for Tampa Bay in the three days they had and were not supposed to lose.
“I mean, man, it was man, we’re really beating ourselves. We talk a lot about attention to detail, and I feel like we haven’t applied that to the game yet quite yet. We have our few plays here and there, but we’ve got to be consistent with it,” Revel said. “So you can’t just blame the coaches and the calls, but we’ve still got to do our job and execute it.”
Parker coached defensive backs for seven NFL seasons before Dallas hired him. Cornerback DaRon Bland said the defensive room is not at its best five games in.
“Oh yeah, we know CP, he’s a guy, he’s gonna come in tomorrow, we’re gonna check out the X’s and O’s and see where we can get better at,” Bland said. “That’s always his thing.”
Jones said patience may not be the proper term for Cowboys fans, with Dallas at home against a young quarterback and missing a chance to improve.
Jerry Jones Open To Trading Future Draft Capital For Right Player
Jones also said he would trade future draft capital for the right player. Dallas acquired cornerback Joey Porter Jr. in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers last week, and Porter was inactive Thursday after falling ill at the stadium.
“Yes, because of the future capital, but I wouldn’t give it up for a player that didn’t have some future, or the potential of a future that you could add years to,” Jones said. “But, yeah, I would love to know. I’m just saying because the future capital that you have are draft picks, and those guys have question marks with them too. So if we do see an opportunity and it fits for us, we’ll take a good look at it.”
“No, this isn’t folding the tents here. We are 2-3. We didn’t expect to be 2-3. We didn’t expect this Tampa team to come in here 0-4 either,” Jones added. “And they’ve got a lot of good players. And unquestionably, they were the better team tonight.”
The Cowboys have 10 days before they visit the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Oct. 18 at Lambeau Field. Kickoff is set for 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.
