Mike Zimmer has to do something about this.
The Dallas Cowboys' win over the New York Giants was the latest example of why football fans think Thursday Night Football should be discontinued. While the refereeing was terrible, both teams played a sloppy brand of football.
It's no surprise that Dak Prescott turned in a great game. Prescott overcame poor play-calling and maddening route concepts from Mike McCarthy to average 8.2 yards per attempt, complete over 80% of his passes and throw two touchdowns.
Like the first three games, though, the bigger takeaway was Dallas' defense. It was a bend-don't-break effort from Mike Zimmer's unit, which allowed long drives but didn't concede a single touchdown despite playing most of the second half without Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence. They only allowed 1.1 yards per carry against the run, but gave Daniel Jones all day to throw.
Mazi Smith, DeMarvion Overshown and Eric Kendricks were the clear standouts, but there was a common denominator among the biggest disappointments and it is time for Mike Zimmer to take action.
Cowboys must bench safety Donovan Wilson after poor game vs. Giants
Wilson was projected to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Zimmer hire. Zimmer loves to move his safeties around the line of scrimmage and call disguised blitzes. That is right up Wilson's alley. He is at his best getting downhill to blow up running plays and pressure the quarterback.
Through three games, Wilson has been a shell of the tone-setting thumper at safety that Cowboys fans have grown accustomed to. The fan base reached its breaking point with Wilson on 4th-and-1 in the second quarter on Thursday. He came unblocked off the edge and had Devin Singletary dead to rights in the backfield but he whiffed on the tackle allowing Singletary to move the chains.
While Singletary uncorked a filthy spin move to evade Wilson, that play needs to be made 99 times out of 100. Despite having some five inches on the RB, Wilson dove at his ankles. That is typically the effort you see from defensive backs when they have to tackle a tight end in the open field. Wilson could have overpowered Singletary if he met him straight up.
It was 14-6 at the time. Had Wilson made the play, the Cowboys would have taken over at midfield with a chance to bury the Giants before halftime.
Wilson wasn't the only player that made mistakes, but sloppiness has been a recurring theme this season for the 29-year-old. His gap-filling has been a disgrace and his PFF run-defense grade and pass-rushing grade are both under 60.0 He has also allowed a 116.7 passer rating in coverage.
Coming off a confidence-building performance, the Cowboys' defense would be better off if Juanyeh Thomas or Markquese Bell took Wilson's place in the starting lineup next week.
