(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)
After seeing quarterbacks Jaxson Dart and Jayden Daniels run on the Cowboys and knowing the team is about to face Lamar Jackson, I've wondered w**hy a player isn't assigned the sole responsibility of monitoring and engaging running quarterbacks? I remember my days as a soccer player where a player is assigned the responsibility of shadowing a dangerous opposing player. Would that not work? – Osita Umeh/Port Deposit, MD
Patrik: They have. It just needs to work. Going into the contest against the Commanders, I was on record stating the plan needed to be containing Jayden Daniels (and all mobile QBs) on the edges and forcing them upward, not outward, for the defensive interior can get their hands on him, with a QB spy as a fail safe.
The Cowboys continually tried to execute that plan, but Daniels kept breaking contain from the inside, not the outside, but there's the QB spy to save the day, right? Not so much.
On one occasion in particular, a spy (Dee Winters, on that rep) took the wrong angle and it allowed Daniels to deliver a chunk play on the ground. So, yes, I'd say spy, but only if you have the personnel to do it, and since DeMarvion Overshown is sidelined for this game — a proven spy in the past — Dallas has some decisions to make; and especially if all of the pressures they're racking up continue to deliver no sacks.
Tommy: Yes, they could and probably will. Is it going to work is the question. Dee Winters did it some last week but had the one missed tackle that led to Daniels picking up a huge gain on the ground.
Daniels is an elite talent with his legs in the open field. Lamar Jackson may be the best ever. It's a whole other level up and makes it even more important for Dallas' defenders to bring him down in the pocket or ensure they take the right angles to limit huge gains. I wouldn't even mind if the Cowboys had 11 quarterback spies on Jackson.
In all seriousness, being disciplined in tackling and not letting Jackson break contain is going to be the biggest key for the Cowboys defense in Week 3. If they can do that, it changes things for the Ravens offensively, although Jackson is also an elite passer and there would still be plenty of problems to deal with.
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