Blogging The Boys
The Cowboys kickoff coverage unit is really poor this year.
The Cowboys’ kickoff coverage, however, is struggling mightily. They’re making life significantly harder for the Dallas defense before they even take the field, having given up the fourth-most kickoff return yards in the league so far this year. It was especially problematic versus Detroit in Week 14, with the unit allowing 261 yards on eight kick returns.
On those eight kickoffs, the Lions‘ average starting field position was their own 36.5-yard line. The Cowboys would actually have been better off having Aubrey blast the ball through the back of the end zone on every kickoff.
Detroit’s two final (and most important) kick returns- the ones that came as Dallas was legitimately mounting their comeback- put the ball at the Lions’ 41 and 49 respectively, giving their offense a massive head start on the touchdowns they eventually scored on both possessions.
Detroit’s Jacob Saylors averaged 28.2 yards on his five kick returns last Thursday; Tom Kennedy notched over 35 yards on all three of his tries and got a game ball for the Lions.
Asked Monday how he intends to reverse that costly trend over the final month of the season, Schottenheimer acknowledged that giving the defense a better start via field position is critical.
“We need to do that, number one,” he said plainly in the day’s press conference. “The kickoff coverage leverage has not been very good. We’ve lost contain. The way it’s all set up now is: if my left arm is free, I’ve got to keep my left arm free. Guys are trying to make plays, and the way you cover kicks well is to have everybody do their job, stay in their lane, keep their contain, play with the [correct] arm free. We haven’t done that. We’ll be looking at maybe some personnel adjustments as well.”
The coach did not elaborate on who special teams coordinator Nick Sorensen might intend to swap out on kick coverage duty, but they have the rest of the week to figure it out.
Javonte Williams has been really good in his first year as the Cowboys lead back, but the shuffling in the backfield may not be over.
It’s nearly impossible to know which pending free agents the Cowboys brass plan to prioritize in a few weeks when the 2025 NFL regular-season comes to an end. One player whose future may be murky after the season is running back Javonte Williams, who has been a pleasant surprise for the Cowboys this year and an important part to their offensive success. But, is he part of the organization’s future plans?
Given the position he plays and the value...
