Dallas Cowboys: HotBoyz, more like LostBoyz at this point

The once-vaunted defense of the Dallas Cowboys is a shell of its former self. They just seem lost at times on the field at critical moments, but why?

Last season the reason the Dallas Cowboys were winning games was due to their defense causing havoc on opposing offenses. Imposing their will on every offensive line the faced and shutting down the running game of almost every team they faced. Then shut down the passing game with tight press coverage on receivers.

So what happened why can’t this young and talented defense get offenses off the field anymore? One reason could be the team dealing with so many nagging injuries that it’s slowing down the defense as a whole.

Along the defensive line, defensive ends Tyrone Crawford (hips) and DeMarcus Lawrence (shoulder, knee, and heel) are dealing with nagging injuries while defensive tackle Antwaun Woods (knee) just came back from his injury.

You also have linebacker Leighton Vander Esch (knee and illness), cornerback Byron Jones (hip) and safety Xavier Woods (ankle) all either coming back from an injury or dealing with lingering issues.

You combine all of that with the offense’s inability to create long drives and score and that’s the reason for this defensive collapse. Well it’s not, the other half of this equation deals with the defensive scheme and players just not performing well. Whether it’s the defensive tackles being pushed around, linebackers not using gap discipline and allowing running back to break runs outside for big gains.

You also have the cornerbacks failing to properly jam receivers coming off the line of scrimmage and giving up big plays while the safeties allow receivers to get past them when they are supposed to be the deepest person in coverage.

These mental errors by this Dallas Cowboys defense are another reason that this defense isn’t performing to the standards we have seen. They are no longer the HotBoyz of last year, and until they are able to regain that swagger and dominance of a year ago they should be called the LostBoyz.