Dan Quinn’s defense has more to fix, but he’s remade himself with Cowboys

He had them on the brink of a Super Bowl LI title — until then-New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady led a comeback from a 25-point deficit.

He mentioned all of the perfunctory notes when asked about seeing the Falcons.

So I’ll be right where my feet are, right where I’m supposed to be going after it as hard as we can.

The Broncos had six plays of 20 yards or more and converted 8 of 15 third-down opportunities, the highest percentage allowed by the Cowboys this season.

It stings to watch when those moments happen, but we’re looking forward to recapturing all the unique things about our defense that makes it so much fun to coach and play.

He had 92 days to analyze what went wrong before Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy named him Mike Nolan’s successor.

From 2017 to 2020 under Quinn, the Falcons played Cover 3, a staple of the Seattle defense for years, at the second-highest rate in the league, according to ESPN coverage metrics powered by NFL Next Gen Stats.

This year in man coverage, they are seventh in QBR and second in interceptions, thanks to Trevon Diggs’ seven picks.

He’s never a guy that’s going to harp too much on anything and get mad at you if you mess up.

Some of that can be attributed to the leads the Cowboys have had that have forced teams to throw more, but the Cowboys have allowed 34 pass plays of 20 yards or more.

“Certainly, for us, that’s the thing that has to be our calling card, so every time you go, you watch us, our family and friends watch us, they say, ‘Man, you guys really bring it,’” Quinn said.

“With Q, he’s focusing on the present,” Neal said.

…Read the full story