On Thursday night, the Dallas Cowboys' defense picked up where it left off last season. That's not a good thing.
While we never get too caught up with preseason results, Cowboys coaches weren't happy with how the team's defense got pushed around against the Chargers in a 27-7 loss. We'd mostly be concerned that the starters had trouble slowing down San Diego's starters.
"Sometimes they did OK," coach Jason Garrett said, via ESPN Dallas. "I thought in general San Diego was able to move the ball too easily on us. ... They ran the ball on us. They threw the ball very effectively."
"Sometimes they did OK" is probably not the motto that Garrett will print on t-shirts before the season. The Cowboys' defense had zero pass rush all game, and Chargers quarterbacks didn't have an incompletion until the fourth quarter. San Diego also ran the ball at will. Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said he saw "nothing special" out of the defensive line.
"We got to tackle better; I know that. We have to tackle better," said Marinelli, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
It's not a huge deal that the Cowboys' defense struggled on a day when five projected starters didn't suit up. It is a big deal that the Cowboys' defense was the worst in football last year, and have lost significant talent since then.
The latest Around The League Podcast answers every question about preseason action that you were too afraid to ask.