DeMeco Ryans Exposes Dallas Cowboys' Failure To Address Fatal Flaw

DeMeco Ryans said the Dallas Cowboys failed to fix a major problem on special teams in Week 4.

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans runs onto the field prior to a game against the Dallas Cowboys at Reliant Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In each of the past two weeks, the Dallas Cowboys have had a field goal blocked. First, it was the Baltimore Ravens, who blocked a 59-yard attempt by Brandon Aubrey while playing in Rio.

In Week 4, it was the Houston Texans who blocked one of Aubrey’s attempts, this one from 65 yards, and Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans said they identified where to attack the Cowboys by watching the film.

While appearing on the team’s YouTube show, Ryans said they noticed a consistent breakdown, which let them know where they had an advantage.

“During the film study you definitely saw a breakdown in the protection. You’ve seen it consistently. That’s how you study film,” Ryans said during the show. “You look for those weaknesses, how you can exploit a team. We saw a weakness there in the C and D gap area.”

Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey walks off the field as Houston Texans celebrate a blocked field goal at Reliant Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Of course finding the weakness is just part of the equation. As Ryans stated, the next step is seeing whether or not the opponent addressed the flaw. For the Cowboys, that wasn’t the case.

“We were able to show that kick from the Baltimore game, how they were able to block it, and we’re gonna design a plan similar to that to see if they fixed it. That’s what all teams do. If you see a breakdown, see if they fixed it the next week.”

As we all saw on Sunday, the Cowboys either didn’t notice the flaw while doing their film study, or simply failed to fix it. Not only did that lead to one blocked field goal, but Houston came within inches of blocking the final extra point, which would have made it a three-point game and might have led to overtime.

Cowboys special teams coach feeling the heat

Dallas Cowboys special teams coordinator Nick Sorensen at training camp at River Ridge Playing Fields. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Whether it was a lack of identifying the problem or a shortcoming in addressing it, this is a terrible look for special teams coach Nick Sorensen, who has to feel his seat heating up.

In addition to the blocked kicks, Sorensen’s unit has been plagued with mistakes. Aubrey kicked the ball out of bounds twice during the loss to Baltimore, giving the Ravens a favorable starting position from the 40-yard line.

There was also the fateful kickoff with seven seconds remaining. Dallas could have kicked the ball short, and forced time off the clock, but elected not to. Instead, Aubrey booted it out of the back of the end zone and no time was taken off the clock. That allowed the Ravens enough time to get one play in, and call a timeout with one second remaining to steal the win.

Entering Week 5, head coach Brian Schottenheimer said the Cowboys will be focused on their protection on special teams, but it’s clear that the special teams struggles go well beyond that flaw. To save his job, Sorensen needs to be much better at identifying and shoring up those issues.

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