A fitting finale? Typical outing for Cowboys’ defense may have been the last for DC Mike Nolan - The Dallas Morning News

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It was pathetically fitting.

The lack of resistance Sunday on the opening series. The lack of early discipline with a pair of late hits, including an egregious head butt 5 yards from an official. The allowance of three first-half touchdowns to a team that scored two touchdowns in its previous three games combined.

One of the great missteps to this miserable Cowboys season was how poor their defense performed at the start, taking too long to settle down and develop a rhythm. The final outing served as a microcosm to that.

Now, changes are expected.

Mike Nolan likely coached his final game as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator. A number of assistants below him, too, figure not to be retained. Whatever hope remained for this crew seemed to end with the defense’s late arrival in a 23-19 loss to the New York Giants.

Dallas’ season ended short of playoff contention. It finished third in the NFC East behind two teams who, like the Cowboys, had a first-year coaching staff.

After the game, coach Mike McCarthy treated an opportunity to back Nolan as his future defensive coordinator like a chance to throw an obvious challenge flag during a critical moment of the game.

He declined.

McCarthy used a stock answer instead.

“Well, I think that all those things, myself included, those evaluations will all start next week,” McCarthy said. “I’m not sure really what the COVID protocols give us. But we will sit down with every player and have exit interviews, every coach and have exit interviews. Just so you know, I answer this question the same every year.”

In other words: Don’t read into my lack of defending Nolan.

That is fine. The Cowboys’ lack of defending under Nolan this season spoke loudly enough.

In the final four games of the season, the Cowboys forced a terrific 12 turnovers. Those came against highly suspect offenses, three of which were led by a quarterback who wasn’t a Week 1 starter. Neither of Dallas’ takeaways on Sunday was scheme-driven. One stemmed from a failed quarterback exchange, the other a fortuitous tip-drill that safety Donovan Wilson intercepted.

Takeaways helped key a three-game winning streak.

They don’t erase the 473 points or 54 touchdowns from scrimmage that Dallas allowed. Both are franchise records. They don’t nullify the Cowboys allowing at least 260 rushing yards and at least 7 yards per carry in the same game on three occasions in 2020. That happened four times in the first 60 years in franchise history.

And takeaways don’t undo a first-year coaching staff’s decision to install a more sophisticated defensive scheme during an offseason in which spring on-field workouts were prohibited, training camp was abbreviated, and the preseason was canceled because of COVID-19.

Sunday’s first half served as a reminder.

Or a reckoning.

The opening drive spanned six plays for 78 yards, capped by wide receiver Sterling Shepard’s 23-yard touchdown on a jet sweep. Each play gained at least 7 yards, producing a stench of familiarity. Nickel cornerback Jourdan Lewis’ head butt in the first quarter showed a total disregard for situational awareness.

Consequences for the Cowboys arrived on Sunday when their season ended.

Consequences for some on the coaching staff should come next.

Find more Cowboys stories from The Dallas Morning News here.

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A fitting finale? Typical outing for Cowboys’ defense may have been the last for DC Mike Nolan - The Dallas Morning News
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