Cowboys set for ‘unique’, ‘savvy’ reunion with former DC Dan Quinn in Week 12 vs. Commanders

FRISCO, Texas — Every season there are “revenge games” or “reunion games” in the NFL between players and their former teams. That’s normal.

What’s less common, however, is what happens in Washington on Sunday afternoon between the Dallas Cowboys (3-7) and the Commanders (7-4). Dallas will face Washington head coach Dan Quinn, who served as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator during each of their 12-win seasons between 2021 and 2023 on Mike McCarthy’s Dallas staff.

Under Quinn, Dallas led the NFL in takeaways (93), interceptions (59), defensive touchdowns (15) and quarterback pressure rate (41.4%), while ranking fifth in scoring defense ( 19.9 points allowed per game).

“Just knowing Dan from across the street, I always had a lot of respect for him,” McCarthy said Tuesday. “It was amazing having him here in Dallas. He has become a very good friend. I am very happy with the success he is having…Dan does a great job connecting with people. He has a great personality. He made a great I work for us and he’s doing a great job now.”

The unusual component of the Cowboys’ reunion with Quinn is the rarity of immediately facing a former coordinator as the head coach of a division rival in the first season after his departure, when he still retains much institutional knowledge of Dallas.

“It’s unique because they know you and you know them,” Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said Tuesday. “Sometimes it’s a bit of cleverness in terms of ‘are they still doing that?’ “There are always some fun things you do before the game, but once the ball is thrown, the game is the game.”

Quinn won’t be the only former Cowboy on Washington’s bench on Sunday. He brought in Cowboys defensive backs/passing game coordinator Joe Whitt, promoting him to the defensive coordinator role, center Tyler Biadasz, edge rusher Dorance Armstrong, edge rusher Dante Fowler Jr. and cornerback Noah Igbinoghene along with him to the nation’s capital. Fowler, whose eight and a half sacks rank fourth most in the NFL this season, is thriving and on pace to eclipse his career-high 11.5 sack total set in 2019 with the Los Angeles Rams.

“We’re going to have to block DA, and Dante will have to stop the run, and DQ and [Washington defensive coordinator] José [Whitt] “We’ll have to adapt ourselves,” Schottenheimer said. “We’ll have to adjust to them because they actually got the benefit because they had a couple extra days to prepare for us.” We had the Monday night game, they had the Thursday night game, so there will be some different things that will help us from a wrinkle standpoint, but don’t downplay them. Plus, once the ball is thrown, you just play.”

The Cowboys’ defensive culture and scheme that Quinn imported to the Commanders has transformed what was the NFL’s worst scoring defense in 2023 (30.5 points per game allowed) into an above-average unit in 2024 so far, allowing 22.1 points per game, which ranks 14th in the league this season. Among numerous injuries to key pieces such as cornerback DaRon Bland (stress fracture in foot, zero games played), edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence (foot injury, six games missed) and edge rusher Micah Parsons (sprained high ankle, four games missed), to name a few. and a Iadjustment period longer than expected Under new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s scheme, the Cowboys defense has taken a noticeable step back in Quinn’s absence.

They will allow 10.8 more points per game in 2024 than in 2023, the biggest increase in the last two seasons.

“I will say he’s a player’s coach. I feel like he’s one of the most effective coaches out there: a guy who listens to the players’ needs, whatever they may be, and I think that’s why he’s so effective,” the Cowboys safety said. Malik Hooker over Quinn on Wednesday. … “P, I love him. I’m sure there are a lot of guys here who loved him. Obviously, I haven’t talked to him since the season started, but in the off-season he still reaches out and communicates from time to time. a time. Q will always be one of the favorite guys in my book. He’s one of the best coaches I ever had, and I still love him as much of a mentor as he was here.”

With the Cowboys rolling with Cooper Rush, eight-year veteran substitute In the wake of Dak Prescott’s season-ending hamstring injury and at the same time they have some packages for former top-five pick quarterback Trey Lance, McCarthy and Schottenheimer are putting a lot of stress on his boys to take the field on Sunday, perhaps even more prepared than usual. This is because Quinn’s scheme uses disguise packages more than the average NFL defense, and Quinn has 2010 All-Decade Team linebacker Bobby Wagner, who played for him on the Seattle Seahawks’ defenses of the “Legion of Boom,” as quarterback of his unit in Washington this season.

“We obviously know him [Quinn] Well. He knows us well,” Schottenheimer said. “Again, I think when you watch them play, their style of play is very familiar in terms of the way they fly in football and things like that. They do a very good job of disguising their defenses. I am a big fan of [Commanders defensive coordinator] Joe Witt. I think Joe is doing a fantastic job. In their costume packages you have to be very good with your eyes, not only before the capture but also after the capture, because what they show you before the capture may be something completely different from what they do after the capture, so we have to be very, very disciplined with our eyes.

“Right now they’re doing a good job with their packages with their linebackers. Bobby Wagner, I was with him in Seattle. [as the Seahawks OC from 2018-2020], [he’s] playing at an elite level. He’s obviously comfortable with DQ defense. “Those guys will be fun to watch and they’re playing with some confidence right now.”