Dan Quinn is with the Cowboys (for now) and he definitely wants another Super Bowl run before he goes (2024)

This is the end, my friend.

Sunday starts the end. That end could take either a month or a few hours. We certainly don’t know which, but we also know what we would all prefer.

And whether the season ends this Sunday or in one month in the Super Bowl, we are getting a pretty clear message that Dan Quinn’s era as the architect of this defense will come to an end. Who could have imagined that the year he spent here would have gone so well?

Regardless of future wins or losses, we should all be willing to say that Quinn has been a genius hire and a man who has changed the narrative about the state of the Cowboys in so many ways. The players are certainly different from the 2020 Cowboys defense in a number of ways and he oversaw most of that, but his year here has required Dallas to sustain long absences from key players and yet the Cowboys improved every week. Frankly, with few exceptions, they left almost every game feeling pretty good about their defense and that, in itself, is a massive step forward for Cowboys football.

We won’t waste time on Saturday night’s scrimmage in Philadelphia much here. Sorry, but I realize we must add in the data and so forth and it did count, but more than anything, it allows us a chance to look at the season as a whole and load up on the playoff opponent on Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers.

Quinn is likely to be hired in Denver, Chicago or Seattle. Maybe someone else jumps in and grabs him, but unlike Kellen Moore — he might still have a few lessons to learn — I see Quinn as more than qualified to be someone’s head coach. If Dallas can “money whip” him into staying, that would be great. But, from his standpoint, I don’t know that money is the answer he is seeking. He seems to want another chance to be the man who leads an entire franchise. And it would be difficult to argue.

Here are the final regular-season rankings of 2020 vs. 2021 when it comes to the Dallas defense. This doesn’t tell the whole story, but it certainly tells a good one.

Across the board the Cowboys defense has been strong. It had a few weak spots, but what you have to love is that the defense did not avoid injuries at all. The Cowboys managed to figure out smart plans each week with the players available, despite their highest-paid defender being absent for three months and their other edge missed significant time, too.

But, Quinn didn’t offer excuses. He offered solutions. And that is the true test of a coach. For instance, the dozen different ways he used Micah Parsons. I don’t know that many coaches would have the wisdom and acumen to pull that off. Quinn did and we all pretty much just nodded. But, it was genius in so many ways.

If you believe in championship windows, I really want us to enjoy that one year Quinn was here because we might be chasing this dragon for a long time down the road as everyone looks back longingly at that 2021 when DQ had Parsons looking like Lawrence Taylor.

And, I didn’t mean to depress you with all of that, but rather to appreciate what we have here.

Weekly data vs. Philadelphia

The one thing I wanted to mention was the play of Kelvin Joseph. He has been largely hidden this year, but since Week 16 vs. Washington, only one Cowboys defender has played more snaps than Joseph in three games (Leighton Vander Esch). Joseph has been very good and I dare say one reason to be pretty fired up for 2022. He is a top-50 draft pick (No. 44) and they haven’t even scratched the surface. But, his grades are all excellent and he does not look out of place at all. It is very reasonable to assume the Cowboys have two very strong man-coverage corners for next season — something we haven’t said in a while.

Splash plays – full roster – full season

This is the full list, but there are two categories missing. Holding penalties drawn and defensive touchdowns which I keep by hand.

Here are those two lists:

Here is the final leaderboard for the regular season:

I know this is a departure from how we normally do things, but I think it is worth it with the 49ers coming to town. The Eagles gave us nothing of note to break down defensively, so I thought we should look at the 49ers running game and the challenges this will cause the Cowboys. Because it surely will. Let me take five big runs from the 49ers-Rams game many of you watched Sunday and take a peek at what they like to do. Keep in mind, they have such a diverse run game that many of these might be labeled “Aaron Donald beaters”, so the Cowboys might actually not see these specifically, but it shows what they do.

Film study: The San Francisco 49ers running game

2Q – 4:37 – 1st and 10 – SF 37 – E.Mitchell up the middle to 50 for 13 yards (T.Reeder).

The Niners entire operation is similar to what Kyle Shanahan’s father did for so many years with Alex Gibbs in Denver, so we know it is a diet of outside zone. Where Shanahan has really stepped it up with Mike McDaniel in San Francisco is all of the motion and misdirection. You challenge the defense to play sound assignment football, but it is constantly probing for a mistake. The 49ers are going to attack the LB for the Rams Troy Reeder (51). They have Travis Benjamin (17) moving laterally left and then TE Charlie Woerner (89) moving right as potential leads. Each time Reeder slides to that side and by the time the ball comes right at him, he is out of position and Mitchell takes 13 yards. The hope when someone busts is it is only 10-15 yards and not a house call.

3Q – 10:41 – 3rd and 2 – LA 16 – D.Samuel right tackle for 16 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

The 49ers will challenge everyone to play their spot. Here, you have JaMycal Hasty (23) causing misdirection as pre-snap motion and then watch TE George Kittle (85) and WR Jauan Jennings (15) on the strong side. Both will block down and allow RT Tom Compton (66) to just get in the way of Von Miller (40) and A’Shawn Robinson (94). Compton is not great as a tackle, but all he needs to do is just get in their way. Once he does, they are walled off and Deebo Samuel is out the gate. We wonder if CB Darious Williams (11) can handle Samuel in the open field and he can’t even pull his flag. Touchdown and it is all scheme.

3Q – 3:17 – 1st and 10 – LA 38 – E.Mitchell right tackle to LA 29 for 9 yards (T.Howard).

This run is the basis for the entire operation. Outside zone is San Francisco’s most frequent concept by a mile and everything is built on it and off of it as counters. It starts with the most significant fullback in the game, Kyle Juszczyk (44) as this pre-snap motion that telegraphs the plan. That telegraph is meant to signal to everyone where they are going because they want you to know it to set up all the counters. But, it starts with sending the right message and following No. 44 to the trouble. They are always attacking your “C gap” which is outside the tackles and they want to use sponge techniques on edge players (essentially a drive-by double team chip) to secure that gap and to build all of the helpers — skill position players who all become important blockers — to make the offensive line a nine-man operation. It is great to see in motion sometimes but causes your entire defense to plan on tackling. You can bet they will test each corner, so if you know what Trevon Diggs doesn’t like to do (run support), you better expect they will be making him change that narrative Sunday. Believe it.

4Q – 12:48 – 1st and 10 – SF 23 – E.Mitchell left end to SF 35 for 12 yards (T.Rapp).

Let’s go to the other side. Bunch formations, but not with wide receivers. Rather FB, TE, TE to the left and Juszczyk is again this signal to all involved in pre-snap motion that this is about to become a run to the left. But, late in the game with all of the body blows and fatigue, it becomes a heavyweight fight of wills. Against the Rams you will see plenty of toss plays and that is to quickly move the ball away from Donald (99). It also asks a lot of the second-level linebackers who can’t really slow it down and Reeder (51) keeps getting mentioned. You might say that Parsons is no Reeder and I agree. But, I imagine you know that Carlos Watkins and even Neville Gallimore are no Donald. I am pretty convinced Donald is the best DT in my lifetime, so they will likely attack Dallas differently.

OT – 9:56 – 2nd and 10 – SF 25 – D.Samuel left end to SF 38 for 13 yards (T.Burgess; N.Scott).

Here we come back to the fact that Mitchell is nice, but their best RB is their receiver (Samuel). But also TE Kittle (85) is their best receiver, but he also blocks extremely well (as you would expect from any Iowa Hawkeye TE). And therein lies the beauty of the 49ers system. They don’t place premiums on the ball carriers and pay their RBs much because it is their system. The 49ers have a great fullback and tight end crew that all block. They have WRs that block. They even played this game Sunday without their best offensive linemen in LT Trent Williams, who will play Sunday. Here is Samuel going all the way around to the sideline in overtime. They are happy to hand the ball off seven plays in a row.

All of this demonstrates again why this game is not about who has the best QB. It is about the 49ers trying to demoralize the Dallas defense by not letting them pass rush, but by making their heads spin with tactical and physical concepts that slow everybody down. In other words, this might be the one test that we aren’t sure this defense is ready to win. I would actually like their chances more against Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers because I have seen Dallas unleash a paralyzing pass rush. But this? This is a test we haven’t seen the defense demonstrate it can pass.

This is a test of assignment football where everyone must rope and everyone must ride or they will get beat. It will be wonderful to see them respond to what I think is their stiffest test.

It can be the start to Quinn’s final test. Unless the Cowboys fail. And then it might be the end.

(Top photo of Micah Parsons: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)