Dallas must master the art of containment as Donovan Ezeiruaku and the pass rush hunt a breakthrough against the dual-threat danger of Lamar Jackson.
The Dallas Cowboys defense demonstrated some slight improvement in the 37-20 win over the Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium in Week 2 on Sunday.
With rookie coordinator Christian Parker's unit the big focus on Sunday, what we saw was an uptick from what went on in the Week 1 loss at the Giants.
But it was also a little worrisome to see Jayden Daniels, much like Jaxson Dart last week, torch the defense with his legs.
Washington QB Daniels had 69 first-half rushing yards before he got hurt. ... and as we've said, barring the gruesome elbow injury that puts his immediate future in doubt, the Cowboys might still be chasing him.
At the same time, a bright spot was the performance of edge Donovan Ezeiruaku, who had a handful of almost-sacks, and on another day, might have had four or five of the real things.
In fact, he led all Cowboys with five pressures against the Commanders, as No. 6 lived in the backfield ... though he just couldn't get home time and time again as the Commanders QBs slipped through his grasp.
So, how does Donovan get reward for effort after getting so close several times on Sunday?
"Well, that is the Million-Dollar Question," head coach Brian Schottenheimer said. "I will say I thought our pass rush, it really was terrific. We had these guys moving all over the place. The last two QBs we've played and including Lamar this week, they're nifty guys, but really it's more when you get near them, being able to wrap them up.
“We're getting close, we're trying to attack the ball as well. But, if he can't get to the ball, we just got to be a little bit better at finishing those things up. If we winning the rush off the left side of the offense, we got to make sure we've got the quarterbacks contained because where they're hurting us is stepping up in and out. So, they're going north and south first and then getting out and so we got to close some of the seams.”
Quarterback contain has perhaps been the biggest issue for the defense, along with the run defense.
In the first two weeks, the 1-1 Cowboys have given up 123 rushing yards on 18 carries from Dart and Daniels. That is 6.8 yards a run.
Oh, and Lamar Jackson this week is a different beast when it comes to running the football; we view him as being the best running QB - who can also throw it - of all time.
So, this week, more than ever, quarterback containment is going to be crucial for Parker's unit as Lamar can be far more dangerous as a runner than Daniels and Dart.
As for the pass rush, yes, it did get close several times, but the second-year EDGE "Eze'' and his mates were made to pay for the constant "almosts.''
And against Lamar, those near misses can't happen. Dallas has to get him on the ground because if they don't, No. 8 will run them right out of Rio and hand them their second loss of the season.
So now we have our "Million-Dollar Answer.''
