Cowboys' stance on most baffling decision from Week 2 is very difficult to believe

When the Dallas Cowboys beat the Cleveland Browns in Week 1, one player came across as a clear breakout candidate for the 2024 NFL season, so much so that Micah Parsons shared he believed he could be an All-Pro this year: Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown.

He was essentially benched a week later in the most baffling decision from the Cowboys' Week 2 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

He wasn't literally benched, and we'll get to that later but bear with me: Overshown went from 44 snaps in his regular season debut to 18 in Week 2 while third-round rookie Marist Liufau logged in 39 and Damone Clark got 41.

Watching live, I shared my theory as to what was going on on Twitter/X: The Browns play a spread offense, forcing defenses to be in nickel packages most of the time. That mostly means you're playing with two linebackers and three cornerbacks on the field. The Saints, in contrast, use a different approach, as they force you to stay on what many call a "base defense" (think three linebackers on the field with two cornerbacks) since they use multiple tight end sets, or/and a fullback. It's a league filled with athletes so you've got to have the right body types on the field.

In this case, that means a 4-3 defense for the Cowboys. The theory, was that Dallas preferred Clark and Liufau over Overshown in such looks. Perhaps because they perceive them as better run defenders or perhaps stronger? Who knows. The point is, the coaching staff appeared to make a conscious decision of not playing Overshown on base defense.

"Well, I just think like anything, you got a new scheme, you got young players, you make decisions on training reps in base, training reps in sub (nickel)," McCarthy told reporters when asked about Overshown not being used in base. "Obviously, last week he was primarily going to be part of the sub package, we weren’t anticipating being in that much base going into the game."

There's a lot to unpack there but first things first: That wasn't a real answer to the question. As I noted above, we knew it had to do with base defense versus nickel defense even while the game was still being played. The question is why is Overshown, one of your best players, in the bench when you do have to play base?

It's no secret the Cowboys like Liufau, but it's even less so that they love Overshown, which is why they emphasized starting him in Week 1 versus the Browns and why they beat themselves up over his injury last year.

By the time the year is over, the Cowboys are likely going to play nickel defense the most, as most NFL teams line up in 11 personnel (three wide receivers). So if Overshown was prepared to play in that package, there's no question he knows the scheme. But McCarthy's comments about training reps seem to suggest they only trained him for one personnel grouping. Huh? That doesn't quite add up.

Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer shared a similar response when he talked to the media.

"The thing is that we've got some linebackers that we like, the week before we didn't anticipate being in so many subgroup (nickel) packages, this week we didn't anticipate being in quite so many base down packages," Zimmer told reporters , "Each week is going to be different for each guy and talking about (Overshown), he's coming off an ACL, missed all of spring, didn't really get out there until we got to OTAs, so he's working his way back in and that will continue to go forward as we go, but he's going to get plenty of reps."

Again, so much to break down. First though, what does Zimmer mean with "we didn't anticipate being in quite so many base down packages" versus the Saints?

Here are the Week 1 personnel groupings from the Saints offense:

12 personnel: 27%
21 personnel: 26%
22 personnel: 8%

11 personnel: 32% (ranked 30th in the NFL for Week 1)

In other words, the Saints played base defense-worthy personnel around six out of 10 plays but the Cowboys didn't expect to play base against them?

Either they're lying or something is seriously wrong with the advance scouting department. To go out there and say they didn't anticipate being in so many base down packages is difficult to believe.

And yes, Overshown was indeed coming off a torn ACL, which limited his training, but again: He can play in nickel looks but not on base looks even if the former is more common in today's NFL?

At some point, you can't overthink someone who played as well as Overshown did in Week 1, especially when you've been building up to his debut. He's gotta be on the field over the third-round rookie and that's not a knock on Marist Liufau, who is promising himself.

Ultimately, the important part is that they must figure out how to get him on the field. But the answer they offered to fans and media is simply not good enough.

Related: Dak Prescott teased a potential fix for big Cowboys problem right after losing to Saints