Mike McCarthy discusses defensive struggles facing Mike Shanahan offense

The Dallas Cowboys have one of the most dangerous defenses in the NFL. Despite that, it's a defense that seems to get blown out by offenses run by coaches from the Mike Shanahan coaching tree.

That certainly was the case on Sunday when the Cowboys hosted the New Orleans Saints in their 2024 NFL home opener.

The Saints absolutely savaged Dallas' vaunted defense with their outside zone running game. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, a Kyle Shanahan disciple, called a perfect game that exploited Dallas' weakness in this regard.

After the game, McCarthy lamented the fact that his defense didn't "recognize it." He also admitted the Cowboys haven't been very good at defending the outside zone in the past, either.

“Well, I mean, you have to recognize it. The elite outside zone is a starting point of it. And we were not very good at all against it today, so and, and it’s happened in the past. So, I mean, yeah, we’re definitely going to spend more time on it. That’s all we know how to do. And it was part of, some of the changes that we made to the run defense, and it didn’t.”

Clearly, the head coach is dealing with some pent-up frustration about this issue.

Cowboys' struggles against the Mike Shanahan outside zone run

On Sunday, the Saints piled up 190 yards rushing on 39 team carries. That's a gaudy average of 4.9 yards per tote. Starting running back Alvin Kamara was a nightmare for the Cowboys, racking up 180 yards and four touchdowns on just 22 touches.

Whether it was Kamara, or anyone else, the Saints were pounding the rock to great effect against the Cowboys.

ESPN's Dan Orlovsky highlighted this with some sharp analysis on Monday morning, noting the Saints gained an astonishing 134 of their 190 total rushing yards before contact!

It's not the first time in recent memory the Cowboys have gotten slaughtered like this on the ground against outside zone -- Mike Shanahan's staple scheme.

The past three encounters with Shanahan disciples have all gone the same way -- poorly for the 'Boys.

Before Sunday, the Green Bay Packers piled up 48 points, 143 yards and three touchdowns on the ground in the Wild Card round last year. Before that, the San Francisco 49ers tallied 170 yards and two rushing touchdowns in their 42-10 blowout victory during the 2023 NFL season.

It's a known problem, and it's one the Cowboys must fix if they're going to get anywhere in the playoffs. Whether they can or not remains to be seen.