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Sean Lee's rant turns things around for Cowboys defense
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Sean Lee wasn’t happy.
After the Detroit Lions ripped off their third touchdown drive on three straight possessions Monday night, the Dallas Cowboys linebacker had had enough. He called the defense together and went off.
“He basically in a nutshell just said we’ve got to step up our game. It was, ‘This is just not like us. This is embarrassing. Who cares if we locked the division up or what? We still have to play for pride,'” safety Barry Church said. “He said that and got the defense rolling. That’s what a good leader does. He motivates his men, and he was able to do that.”
Yeah, but how many cuss words did Lee use?
“At least 75,” Church said. “Every other word. The message got through.”
In the first three Detroit drives, the Cowboys gave up 191 yards and 13 first downs on 28 plays. They trailed 21-14.
In the Lions' final eight drives, they gained 128 yards, had 10 first downs, turned the ball over twice and missed a field-goal attempt. Dallas won 42-21.
Sean Lee got in the face of Detroit's Matthew Stafford on this play Monday -- after earlier getting in the faces of his teammates on the Dallas defense. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
“I think it’s a game defensively that shows if we don’t play the right way, what can happen,” Lee said. “So we have to find a way to play the right way all the time and never allow something like that first quarter to happen. That was unacceptable. We won’t win if we play like that.”
The Cowboys defense is not so talented that it can simply show up and do well. It is a defense built on effort and speed to the ball. Against Detroit, whose offense entered the game ranked 29th in the league, Dallas allowed Zach Zenner to run for 64 yards and two touchdowns on 10 first-half carries.
The Cowboys entered the game with the top-ranked rushing defense, giving up just 80.9 yards per game. That statistic is built more on a pass defense that was ranked 28th before Monday’s game, though, not so much that the Dallas run defense is a suffocating unit.
Still, in the second half, Zenner had two carries for 3 yards.
To start the third quarter, rookie defensive tackle Maliek Collins recorded his fifth sack of the season, dropping Matthew Stafford for an 11-yard loss. On the next play, Brandon Carr missed a chance at his first interception since the season opener, but his deflection ended up in the hands of safety J.J. Wilcox.
Four plays later, Ezekiel Elliott scored his second touchdown of the game and the Cowboys took the lead for good.
"It starts with stopping the run, getting them in negative down-and-distance-type situations, getting after the quarterback and then being opportunistic on the other end,” Jason Garrett said. “Our guys have worked very hard on cashing in on opportunities.”
The Cowboys finished with four sacks of Stafford, giving them 14 of their 34 in their last four games. They added a fumble recovery to Wilcox’s interception, giving them 10 takeaways in their last four games.
Lee’s rant was about what happened against the Lions early, but it was to set a tone for the upcoming playoff run.
“If we take it, use it right and we understand that, ‘Hey, if we don’t play the right way and come out a certain way, we’ll lose,’” Lee said. “When you get in the playoffs, the margin for error is too small to have any quarters like that.”
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Sean Lee wasn’t happy.
After the Detroit Lions ripped off their third touchdown drive on three straight possessions Monday night, the Dallas Cowboys linebacker had had enough. He called the defense together and went off.
“He basically in a nutshell just said we’ve got to step up our game. It was, ‘This is just not like us. This is embarrassing. Who cares if we locked the division up or what? We still have to play for pride,'” safety Barry Church said. “He said that and got the defense rolling. That’s what a good leader does. He motivates his men, and he was able to do that.”
Yeah, but how many cuss words did Lee use?
“At least 75,” Church said. “Every other word. The message got through.”
In the first three Detroit drives, the Cowboys gave up 191 yards and 13 first downs on 28 plays. They trailed 21-14.
In the Lions' final eight drives, they gained 128 yards, had 10 first downs, turned the ball over twice and missed a field-goal attempt. Dallas won 42-21.
Sean Lee got in the face of Detroit's Matthew Stafford on this play Monday -- after earlier getting in the faces of his teammates on the Dallas defense. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
“I think it’s a game defensively that shows if we don’t play the right way, what can happen,” Lee said. “So we have to find a way to play the right way all the time and never allow something like that first quarter to happen. That was unacceptable. We won’t win if we play like that.”
The Cowboys defense is not so talented that it can simply show up and do well. It is a defense built on effort and speed to the ball. Against Detroit, whose offense entered the game ranked 29th in the league, Dallas allowed Zach Zenner to run for 64 yards and two touchdowns on 10 first-half carries.
The Cowboys entered the game with the top-ranked rushing defense, giving up just 80.9 yards per game. That statistic is built more on a pass defense that was ranked 28th before Monday’s game, though, not so much that the Dallas run defense is a suffocating unit.
Still, in the second half, Zenner had two carries for 3 yards.
To start the third quarter, rookie defensive tackle Maliek Collins recorded his fifth sack of the season, dropping Matthew Stafford for an 11-yard loss. On the next play, Brandon Carr missed a chance at his first interception since the season opener, but his deflection ended up in the hands of safety J.J. Wilcox.
Four plays later, Ezekiel Elliott scored his second touchdown of the game and the Cowboys took the lead for good.
"It starts with stopping the run, getting them in negative down-and-distance-type situations, getting after the quarterback and then being opportunistic on the other end,” Jason Garrett said. “Our guys have worked very hard on cashing in on opportunities.”
The Cowboys finished with four sacks of Stafford, giving them 14 of their 34 in their last four games. They added a fumble recovery to Wilcox’s interception, giving them 10 takeaways in their last four games.
Lee’s rant was about what happened against the Lions early, but it was to set a tone for the upcoming playoff run.
“If we take it, use it right and we understand that, ‘Hey, if we don’t play the right way and come out a certain way, we’ll lose,’” Lee said. “When you get in the playoffs, the margin for error is too small to have any quarters like that.”
