It is impossible to defend Dak Prescott after he threw two costly interceptions against the San Francisco 49ers. It can be argued if Prescott was the biggest reason the Dallas Cowboys lost the game, but this is by far the worst season of his career through seven games.
Having said that, the Mike Zimmer experiment has been an utter disaster. Even though the 49ers' offense was down multiple playmakers, they still had their way with Zimmer's defense.
While Dallas' played admirably in the first half, the wheels came off in the third quarter. They allowed three touchdowns in the quarter to all but put the game out of reach. Despite the strong first half, San Francisco accumulated 469 yards of offense in the game, including a whopping 223 on the ground.
In Zimmer's defense, it is impossible to defend the run with inadequate defensive line play. The Cowboys' pass rush has also disappeared without Micah Parsons.
However, it is fair to criticize Zimmer for things that are under his control. Waiting too long to bench safety Donovan Wilson, for instance, was indefensible.
Cowboys DC Mike Zimmer waited too long to bench Donovan Wilson vs. 49ers
Juanyeh Thomas in for Donovan Wilson after George Kittle's 27-yard gain.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) October 28, 2024
Most of the defense sans Chauncey Golston and Osa Odighizuwa struggled, so it's difficult to single out one player. However, Wilson was a liability from jump street.
Even though George Kittle was questionable for the game with a foot injury, Wilson looked two and three steps slower than the star tight end.
Wilson allowed multiple chunk plays to Kittle, including a 43-yarder early in the third quarter that preluded a 49ers touchdown to take the lead. It was that play that was the source of Trevon Diggs' frustration when he lashed out on a Cowboys reporter after the game.
Getting back to Wilson, he was also left in the dust by a simple Kittle cutback in the open field on another reception. Again, Kittle was banged up coming in. Watching the game live, it looked that Wilson was battling an injury. That speaks to his fading athleticism.
To make matters worse, Wilson was in coverage on Kittle's touchdown. The veteran DB was admittedly victimized by a pick play that the refs inexplicably overturned, but the last thing we are going to do is make excuses for him.
Wilson played a whopping 65 snaps in the game and he was the worst player on the field. He allowed four catches on as many targets for 102 yards, including 62 yards after the catch, per Pro Football Focus.
No other Cowboy allowed more than 59 yards in coverage, which means Wilson allowed more yards after the catch than any of his teammates allowed total receiving yards.
Backup safeties Juanyeh Thomas and Markquese Bell both logged three snaps, so Zimmer doesn't even deserve credit for "benching" Wilson. It was essentially a quick sub. Maybe Thomas and Bell don't make a difference against Kittle, but that Zimmer didn't even consider making a change while the game was still in the balance is his latest failure as defensive coordinator.
Wilson has been a liability all season. While running mate Malik Hooker hasn't been much better, it's beyond time for one of Thomas or Bell to start for Wilson.