GREEN BAY, Wisc. – No matter what level of football is being played, defensive coaches across the globe are always preaching for three words:
STOP THE RUN.
That's one thing that hasn't changed over the years because it doesn't matter what type of offense is being played, or who the quarterback is. If a team knows they can simply run the ball over and over, most of the time, they will.
For the Cowboys, their problems stopping the run were on display once again against the Packers, who rushed for 207 yards, including 138 from Aaron Jones.
What made matters worse for the Cowboys, is that the failure to stop the run, prevents them from doing what they do best – and the player who does it better than anyone.
But the Cowboys weren't able to rush the passer much on Sunday and better yet, Micah Parsons wasn't the same kind of factor that he's been this season. Playing mostly linebacker with few rush attempts, Parsons was held without a sack and barely even got much pressure at all on Aaron Rodgers.
Why? Parsons said it stems from the Cowboys not stopping the run consistently.
"Yeah, we weren't stopping them enough on first down and second down," Parsons said. "Most of the time it was only third-and-short. (The coaches) obviously felt I needed to stop the run more today. So that's that."
The Cowboys have allowed over 200 rushing yards for the second straight game, proving the bye week didn't exactly fix the issue.
"You have to hold our gaps and stop it. You have to be accountable," Parsons said, speaking collectively as a team about the run defense. "We have to hold our gaps and come downhill and stop them. It's going to keep happening until we stop it, period. We can rush (the quarterback) as much as we want. But until we put this out, them running the ball, we'll never be as good as we need to be."
And to make matters worse, the schedule doesn't let up in terms of playing quality running backs. The Cowboys travel to Minnesota to play Dalvin Cook, followed by Saquon Barkley and the Giants on Thanksgiving and then the Colts' Jonathan Taylor after that.
