The Cowboys are interviewing defensive coaches who gave Dak Prescott fits this season

The Dallas Cowboys are looking for a new defensive coordinator. The team has taken a more aggressive approach in their coaching search this offseason. They already completed some interviews and have more scheduled. The list of candidates is plentiful. So far, they have completed interviews for six coaches already.

• Jim Leonhard, defensive pass game coordinator, Broncos
• Daronte Jones, defensive pass game coordinator, Vikings
• Jonathan Gannon, head coach, Cardinals
• Zach Orr, defensive coordinator, Ravens
• Ephraim Banda, safeties coach, Browns
• Aaron Whitecotten, defensive line coach, Cowboys

And they have interviews scheduled for three more…

• Charlie Bullen, interim defensive coordinator, Giants
• Demarcus Covington, defensive line coach/run game coordinator, Packers
• Christian Parker, defensive backs coach/pass game coordinator, Eagles

Obviously, these candidates have piqued the interest of the Cowboys, with several of them having impressive résumés, and some continuing on an upward trend of coaching success. One interesting aspect of this group is that two-thirds of these nine candidates faced off against the Cowboys this past season, and most of them caused problems for the Cowboys’ offense. Granted, many factors contribute to a team’s defensive success, including the talent on the roster and the influence of other defensive coaches, but we thought it would still be interesting to take a look at how each of these coaching candidates fared against the Cowboys this season. In particular, here are some interesting stats for Dak Prescott this season:

Prescott had four games this year where he didn’t throw a touchdown:

• Week 1 against the Eagles (Christian Parker)
• Week 8 against the Broncos (Jim Leonhard)
• Week 15 against the Vikings (Daronte Jones)
• Week 18 against the Giants (Charlie Bullen)

They lost all four of those games.

Four of Prescott’s five worst games in terms of completion percentage this year were:

• Week 15 against the Vikings (Daronte Jones), 60.5%
• Week 8 against the Broncos (Jim Leonhard), 61.3%
• Week 9 against the Cardinals (Jonathan Gannon), 61.5%
• Week 1 against the Eagles (Christian Parker), 61.8%

Prescott’s three worst passing yard games this season were:

• Week 18 against the Giants (Charlie Bullen), 70 yards
• Week 8 against the Broncos (Jim Leonhard), 188 yards
• Week 1 against the Eagles (Christian Parker), 188 yards

Granted, in the season finale against the Giants, Prescott only played in the first half, but it wasn’t a good half. He was still on pace for his lowest passing-yard total of the season in that game.

Prescott’s three worst games this season in terms of QB rating were:

• Week 8 against the Broncos (Jim Leonhard), 51.5
• Week 1 against the Eagles (Christian Parker), 76.6
• Week 9 against the Cardinals (Jonathan Gannon), 77.9

It is interesting to see that so many defensive coaches they brought in for interviews had key roles for the teams that gave them fits this season.

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