FRISCO, Texas — There are “revenge games” or “reunion games” in the NFL each season between players and their former teams. That is normal.
However, what is less common is what happens in Washington on Sunday afternoon between the Dallas Cowboys (3-7) and the Commanders (7-4). Dallas will compete against Washington head coach Dan Quinn, who served as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator during each of their 12-win seasons from 2021-2023 on Mike McCarthy’s Dallas staff.
Under Quinn, Dallas led the NFL in sacks (93), interceptions (59), defensive touchdowns (15) and quarterback pressure rate (41.4%) while ranking fifth in scoring defense (19.9 points per game allowed).
“Just knowing Dan from across the street, I’ve always had a lot of respect for him,” McCarthy said Tuesday. “It’s been amazing to have him here in Dallas. He’s become a very good friend. I’m really happy for the success he’s had. … Dan does a great job connecting with people. He’s got a great personality. He’s done a great job for us , and he’s doing a great job now.”
The unusual component of the Cowboys’ reunion with Quinn is the rarity of immediately facing a former coordinator as the head coach of a division rival in the first season after his departure when he still retains much of Dallas’ institutional knowledge.
“It’s a unique thing because they know you and you know them,” Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said Tuesday. “Sometimes it’s a little bit of playfulness in terms of ‘hey, are you still doing that?’ There’s always some fun stuff you do before the game, but once the ball is snapped, man, the game’s the game.”
Quinn won’t be the only former Cowboy on the Washington sideline on Sunday. He brought in Cowboys defensive backs/passing game coordinator Joe Whitt by promoting him to the defensive coordinator role, center Tyler Biadasz, edge rusher Dorance Armstrong, edge rusher Dante Fowler Jr. and cornerback Noah Igbinoghene along with him to the nation’s capital. Fowler, whose eight-and-a-half sacks rank fourth-most in the NFL this season, is thriving and quickly surpassing his career-high sack total of 11.5 back in 2019 with the Los Angeles Rams.
“We’re going to have to block DA, and Dante’s going to have to stop the run, and DQ and [Washington defensive coordinator] Joe [Whitt] are going to have to adjust to us,” Schottenheimer said. “We’re going to have to adjust to them because they actually had, they got the advantage because they had a few more days to prepare for us. We’ve got the Monday night game, they’ve got the Thursday night game, so there’s going to be some different things that they for us from a wrinkle standpoint, but you don’t downplay it. It’s also once the ball is kicked, you just kind of play.”
The Cowboys’ defensive culture and scheme, which Quinn imported to the Commanders, turned what was the NFL’s worst scoring defense in 2023 (30.5 points allowed per game) into an above-average unit in 2024 so far, allowing 22.1 points per game, which ranks 14th in the league this season. Among many injuries to key pieces like cornerback DaRon Bland (foot stress fracture, zero games played), edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence (foot injury, six games missed) and edge rusher Micah Parsons (high ankle sprain, four games missed) to name a few. and a llonger than anticipated adjustment period to new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s scheme, the Cowboys defense has taken a noticeable step back in Quinn’s absence.
They are allowing 10.8 more points per game in 2024 than they did in 2023, the largest increase over the past two seasons.
2023 PPG Allowed | 18.5 (5th) | 30.5 (Worst) |
2024 PPG Allowed | 29.3 (31st) | 22.1 (14th) |
PPG Allowable Difference | +10.8 (Worst) | -8.4 (second best) |
“I will say he’s a player’s coach. I feel that’s one of the most effective coaches out there: a guy who will listen to a player’s needs, whatever that may be, and I feel that’s why he’s so effective , “Cowboys. safety Malik Hooker said of Quinn on Wednesday. … “Q, I love him. I’m sure there’s a lot of guys here that loved him. Obviously, I haven’t talked to him since the season started, but in the offseason he still gets in touch and comes in from time to time Q will always be one of the favorite guys in my book. He’s one of the best coaches I’ve had and I still love him as a mentor like he was here.”
With the Cowboys rolling eight-year veteran backup Cooper Rush after Dak Prescott’s season-ending hamstring injury while also having some packages for former top-five quarterback Trey Lance, McCarthy and Schottenheimer are pushing hard for their guys to take the field Sunday perhaps even more prepared than usual. That’s because Quinn’s scheme uses disguise packages more than the average NFL defense, and Quinn has 2010’s All-Decade Team linebacker Bobby Wagner, who played for him on the “Legion of Boom” Seattle Seahawks defenses, got his unit in Washington this season.
“Obviously, we know him [Quinn] well He knows us well,” Schottenheimer said. “Again, I think you watch them play, their style of play is very familiar in the way they fly around the football and things like that. They do a really good job of hiding their defenses. I’m a big fan of [Commanders defensive coordinator] Joe Witt. I think Joe is doing a great job. Their disguise packs you have to be really good with your eyes, not only pre-click but post-click because what they show you pre-click, you might be something completely different than what they post click, so we have to be very . , very disciplined with our eyes.
“Right now they’re doing a nice job with their packages with their linebackers. Bobby Wagner, I was with him in Seattle. [as the Seahawks OC from 2018-2020], [he’s] playing at an elite level. He is obviously comfortable with the DQ defense. It’s going to be fun to see those guys, and they’re playing with some confidence right now.”
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