After the disaster that was the Mike Nolan defense during the 2020 NFL season, Dan Quinn was a godsend as the Dallas Cowboys' defensive coordinator. Although the takeaways well dried up in his third year with the gig, a lot of fans were indifferent about him joining the Washington Commanders in 2024.
And things stung a lot worse when nearly 70-year-old Mike Zimmer stunk it up in Dallas at the same time that Quinn led a great revival with Washington in 2024. Matt Eberflus' burning failures were only cooled by the Commanders also tanking last season and Quinn taking tons of flak.
Between things looking up in Dallas under Christian Parker and question marks still surrounding Quinn and his Washington team, however, Cowboys fans can comfortably call a spade a spade about Quinn's struggle, even when he was helping lead America's Team under Mike McCarthy.
Stephen Jones shot a stray bullet at Quinn when praising Parker in a recent interview.
Stephen Jones' unnecessary Dan Quinn take down was brutal (and not incorrect)
Jones sat down with Jori Epstein of Yahoo! Sports for a recent interview, and he was asked about the massive defensive upgrades that the Cowboys made this offseason. This included Parker and his new 3-4 base defense, which should help the team contain their opponents' ground attack better.
"We hadn't been stopping the run for years," Jones said. "We'd make plays on the ball with Dan [Quinn], we'd do a lot of things. But we never, ever, ever, even when Dan was here, stopped the run well. And certainly in the playoffs, that's a big deal."
Ouch.
Naming Quinn by name is pretty brutal, especially with the verocity that Jones was criticizing the team's efforts in recent years. Even with an incredibly talented defense, Quinn's Cowboys units finished 16th, 22nd and 16th in the NFL in total rushing yards allowed in his three years.
Clearly, this wasn't just a Dallas issue, as Quinn's Commanders have finished 30th in rushing yards allowed in each of his two seasons in Washington. When his group isn't taking the ball away, they are allowing long scoring drives on the back of the run game, which throws the offense out of rhythm.
Jerry Jones couldn't stop talking about stopping the run at this time last year as the Micah Parsons fiasco unfolded, and it seems like this has been a contention point in the family and organization for quite some time. The last time they had an elite run defense was in the late 2010s under Rod Marinelli.
So, while Stephen Jones' words are a bit harsh, particularly when calling Quinn by name, the Cowboys exec isn't exactly incorrect. Could he have just praised Parker for potentially fixing a nagging issue and let bygones be bygones? Of course.
Quinn is now the enemy, though, and has been for some time. And that's not really how the Joneses roll. Let's just hope that Stephen is right.
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