There isn't much of a defense you can make for Brian Schottenheimer's decision to play for overtime at the end of regulation on Sunday. Did he explicitly tell Dak Prescott to throw the ball out of the end zone once he took the snap? No, but Schotty clearly was more concerned about avoiding disaster (a sack or turnover) than winning the game.
Part of what makes Schottenheimer's decision indefensible is that the Cowboys were completely depleted in their secondary.
Jalen Thompson (hamstring) and Shavon Revel (knee) were knocked out of the game in the second half, and Markquese Bell (dehydration) and Caleb Downs (undisclosed) both missed a handful of snaps. Unfortunately, further testing on Thompson did not bring good news.
Stephen Jones just announced on 105.3 The Fan that Thompson could miss 4-6 weeks with his hamstring injury. Just an absolute gut punch to a secondary that could nearly form a starting 11 with players who are currently on the shelf.
The Cowboys are hopeful that Malik Hooker, who's missed the last two games with a fractured forearm, can return this Sunday against the Houston Texans, but Thompson is likely headed to injured reserve, which would sideline him for a minimum of four games.
Cowboys' secondary is completely besieged by injuries
This just isn't sustainable.
The Cowboys had one of the deepest safety rooms in football when the season started. Just three games in, and they're already down three of their top four players: Hooker, Thompson, and Locke.
Alijah Clark and Markquese Bell were on the field for the most important stretches of the fourth quarter, and they both made mistakes on Lamar Jackson's 27-yard completion to Zay Flowers that set up Tyler Loop's game-winning field goal.
Bell stepped up to eliminate a short crosser. Just totally unnecessary on a play that Baltimore needed a chunk gain, and it left the middle of the field completely exposed. Clark, meanwhile, can be seen sprinting backwards (he stops around Dallas' 30-yard line) during Lamar's dropback, completely taking himself out of the play.
Unfortunately, they're going to be relied on even more going forward. Malik Hooker, Cobie Durant, and P.J. Locke, who's already on IR, all stayed back in Dallas to recover from their respective injuries.
How can Dallas overcome Jalen Thompson's injury?
One potential band-aid is moving Caleb Downs to safety. He was an enforcer at the position with the Buckeyes, but has largely played the nickel when Dallas isn't in base defense. Here's a look at Downs' snap breakdown through three games (via Pro Football Focus):
- Slot: 126 snaps
- Box safety :51
- Free safety: 26
Reddy Steward played a lot of nickel last season. In fact, his 384 snaps in the slot were the most of any Cowboy, per PFF. Odds are he will be signed to the active roster once Thompson goes on IR, making him a likely candidate to take Downs' spot in the nickel.
In this scenario, Downs could start next to (hopefully) Alijah Clark at safety.
As of this writing, there has not been an update on Shavon Revel's knee injury. Should he miss time, Ameer Speed or Caelen Carson are the top candidates to start opposite DaRon Bland on the outside.
Rest assured, though, the Cowboys are looking externally for safety help.
“That safety spot, we’ll definitely be looking to see how we can shore that up," Stephen Jones said.
That's encouraging, at least.
At some point, though, you have to wonder how much more water this secondary can take on. It's already down three of its top four safeties and potentially two of its top three cornerbacks, depending on the severity of Revel's knee injury. That's five of its six top defensive backs.
This is the kind of injury crisis that could sink a season. The Cowboys will need even more out of Quinnen Williams and their front seven, while the offense's margin for error just got even smaller, which is hard to believe.
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