The Dallas Cowboys' coaching staff and players were not on the same page after their humiliating home loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Mike Zimmer commendably took accountability for the loss after his defense allowed six straight touchdowns to open the game. Zimmer is not of the belief that poor effort spawned the defensive woes on Sunday.
Micah Parsons defended Zimmer on social media immediately after the loss and stated on his podcast that the defense's 11 starters did not give the requisite effort. Mike McCarthy then turned around and said he didn't think the problem on defense was effort.
Coaches and players giving cliche answers to the media is a weekly tradition. After diving into the film, though, they likely agree that effort was, in fact, a big problem. Alvin Kamara's 57-yard catch-and-run touchdown was the biggest indictment on the defense.
It wasn't just Kamara who sprinted pass the Cowboys' defense. Even 316-pound guard Cesar Ruiz out-paced Zimmer's players.
Cowboys should bench multiple players after Alvin Kamara's long TD
Just when Cowboys fans thought the loss couldn't get any more humiliating. It is pathetic that Ruiz was more hungry to block for Kamara than Dallas' defenders were to prevent the running back from reaching the end zone.
DeMarcus Lawrence (No. 90) was the only Cowboy who gave the expected effort when an opponent makes a beeline for the end zone. Players such as Eric Kendricks (No. 50), who was late to react to the screen, started jogging at around the 35-yard line. He never had an angle to make a play, but as a grizzled veteran one would expect him to sprint the distance. Lawrence started five yards behind Kendricks and managed to outpace him.
Another guilty party is rookie cornerback Caelen Carson. If you pause the video at the three-second mark, Carson is within a yard of Kamara.
While Kamara still has elite breakaway speed at 29 years old, Carson isn't a snail. He ran a 4.48-second 40-yard dash at the combine. And yet, he was out of the picture by the time Kamara found pay dirt. The fifth-round pick compounded his mistake of taking a bad angle by giving lackluster effort. It is shocking that a buttoned-up rookie like Carson couldn't be bothered to pursue Kamara, especially when he could have at least slowed the RB had he taken a better angle.
While Kendricks and Carson deserve to ride the bench, Zimmer does not have the resources to do so. Kendricks has the most experience in Zimmer's defense of any Cowboy. He's the field general and is a strong bet to play the most snaps this season, or close to it.
With DaRon Bland on IR, Carson is forced to start opposite Trevon Diggs. Zimmer could send a message by starting Andrew Booth over Carson, but Booth has been a healthy scratch in both games thus far and was up and down in preseason.
Hopefully Zimmer gave Kendricks and Carson an earful while breaking down film. More effort like this will surely come with consequences.
