(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)
With a first-time head coach and a new coaching staff, I feel like maybe we should have seen these early season struggles coming as the players adapt to new schemes and leaders. What do you think? – Larry Turner/Oklahoma City, OK
Nick: I think what we should've seen coming is having pass-rush issues after trading away the best pass-rusher in the NFL. I don't think the new head coach and new staff is something that automatically results in a slow start. There are examples of both scenarios.
But it should be no surprise at all the Cowboys are having a hard time getting to the quarterback. And because of that, now they're having a hard time covering receivers, especially down the field.
To me, if anything was short-sighted, it's the fact these next-in-line pass rushers aren't ready to become the elite game-changers the Cowboys were hoping for.
Kurt: I think you're right. For all the positivity and good vibes that Brian Schottenheimer has brought to the team, he and his staff were still implementing not only a new scheme on the field, but a new program off it as well.
And while the off-the-field aspect of Schottenheimer's way of doing business has seemingly clicked from the get-go, as we're seeing, the on-field product is going to need more time, especially on defense.
Nate Newton has often said on our Hangin' With the Boys podcast that these first few games are basically the preseason for the starters. How could we expect the defense to truly understand coordinator Matt Eberflus' system without ever having actually played it in a game? That just doesn't seem reasonable, does it?
If you then consider the centerpiece of the defense was traded a week before the season opener, thinking the Cowboys could realistically come out of the gate executing perfectly was fool's gold. And now, on top of that, the injuries piling up certainly aren't helping.
Of course, the question is when will this all get turned around? When will the players finally grasp the new concepts and play designs? Last year's defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer admitted it was November before his players could shake off Dan Quinn's previous system. Are we looking at the same timetable now? Even longer?
The hope is that with the addition of players like Jadeveon Clowney and DaRon Bland, and the team just getting more familiar with Schottenheimer and Eberflus's way of doing things, everything will get back on track or at least improve from what we've seen so far. Unfortunately, though, that might come too late to change the trajectory of this season given the difficult schedule ahead.
Mailbag
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