FRISCO, Texas — The anxiety Mike Zimmer experienced as he stood on the sideline after a year removed from the NFL subsided the instant he made his first defensive call.
In the end, it seems he had little reason to be worried heading into Sunday. As all who watched the game saw, the manner in which his players dominated the Cowboys' season opener in Cleveland was as unmistakable as it was important.
Still, there was pressure ahead of time. And the Cowboys' new defensive coordinator this season couldn't help but acknowledge that.
"You go out and stink up the joint and they start to questioning what you’re doing,’" he said.
Quite the opposite: The Cowboys' defense triggered one of Browns QB Deshaun Watson's worst performances as a pro. By the time the final whistle blew, the Cowboys D finished with six sacks (highest across the NFL in Week 1), 25 quarterback pressures and two takeaways. It was Dallas' Micah Parsons -- not Cleveland's reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Myles Garrett -- who took over the game.
After the game, Zimmer said his players asked they could expect him to call games the same way the remainder of the season.
"Yeah," Zimmer said he replied, nervously. "Was that not good?’’
“No -- we liked it,’’ the players told him.
Zimmer's on his second stint as a coach on the Cowboys sidelines, but he's still getting a feel for how things operate here these days. Incredibly, Mike McCarthy is the fifth different Dallas head coach for whom Zimmer has worked across 14 combined seasons.
“You’re always trying to adjust and evolve, and nothing stays the same,’’ McCarthy said. “I thought it was a really natural shift for us schematically on defense, and I think you saw some of that come to life Sunday.’’
Zimmer inherited from Dan Quinn a defense that was among the best in the NFL, especially in creating pressure on quarterbacks that resulted in mistakes. The Cowboys led the NFL in takeaways and defensive touchdowns over the past three years. The defensive unit was largely responsible, too, for Dallas leading the NFL in scoring in two of the last three years, as interceptions and fumble recoveries created short fields and extra possessions for Dak Prescott and the offense.
But the challenge for Zimmer heading into this season was convincing a room full of players who viewed themselves as highly successful to embrace the changes he was hired to make. Zimmer conceded that there was some initial reluctance from at least a few players when he first proposed his new ideas to the team, but he eventually overcame the resistance.
“I’ve always felt like, if I can get them to understand why they’re doing something, it can help the whole group,’’ Zimmer said. “The more I explained... there really wasn’t much pushback at all. It really comes down to just explaining what you’re trying to do.’’
McCarthy hired Zimmer for several reasons.
When both were head coaches in the NFC North, McCarthy and the Packers viewed matchups against Zimmer’s VIkings defenses as their most difficult encounters. Beyond that, whenever McCarthy has been the offensive play caller, as he is now in Dallas, he prefers a structure in which his coaching staff has a former head coach preparing the defense.
Zimmer brings all of that, plus the credibility he earned with Jerry Jones and the front office from spending 13 previous seasons in Dallas.
The performances of two Dallas linebackers against Cleveland on Sunday reflected one of the primary differences between Quinn and Zimmer. Partly out of necessity, Quinn too often played nickel and dime defenses, exchanging linebackers for smaller safeties -- a move that often made the Cowboys vulnerable to opponent running games. Against the Browns, however, linebackers DeMarvion Overshown and veteran Eric Kendricks showed their value.
In his regular season NFL game (the 2023 draft pick suffered a torn ACL in the preseason of what should've been his rookie campaign last year), Overshown was sometimes used to spy Watson, freeing up the pass rushers. His breathtaking speed was visible when he closed on Watson for a sack in the open field.
Meanwhile, former Vikings standout Kendricks -- who reneged on an agreement with the 49ers to instead sign with Dallas -- rejoined Zimmer and finished his first game in a Cowboys uniform with an interception and two sacks.
“He's a very instinctive player; he's very smart,’’ said Zimmer, who has Kendricks wearing the green-dot helmet and taking the defensive calls from Zimmer. “He helps guys get lined up. Eric's a good football player, and he always has been. I think he feels more comfortable in this system.’’
There are, to be sure, challenges ahead. Before seeing reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson in Week 3, the Cowboys will host the Saints next week with the chance to make another statement and prove that their defensive evolution is meaningful.
For their part, the Saints have transitioned out of the offense that Sean Payton and Drew Brees used to break records and win a Super Bowl. Head coach Dennis Allen hired Klint Kubiak -- who was on Zimmer’s Vikings coaching staff -- to implement the so-called (Mike) Shanahan offense in New Orleans as a model for the franchise's future. Kubiak made the move directly from San Francisco.
Kubiak's scheme emphasizes a physical running game and play-action passing. The 49ers and Packers both also use it, and those franchises are directly responsible for (painfully) ending the Cowboys’ seasons in recent years.
Since the Cowboys play the 49ers again later in the season, the Saints game provides Zimmer's unit the opportunity to prepare for later confronting a past headache by first facing a team that's new to the scheme -- and one that, frankly, has less talent.
Even so, Sunday's game won't be a Big Easy. In their opening matchup against the Panthers, Kubiak led the Saints offense to 47 points scored and 37-point margin of victory -- both league-best figures for Week 1.
It's for matchups like this that Zimmer returned to Dallas. And it's his success that will largely determine whether Zimmer, McCarthy and the rest of the Cowboys coaching staff keeps their jobs beyond this season.
For now, though, Zimmer has at least one important supporter on the Cowboys -- one who is guaranteed (and handsomely paid) to be with the team beyond this season. After seeing how Dallas stifled the Browns on Sunday, Dak Prescott has made it clear he's already a fan of Zimmer's defense.
"Their strength is confusing the quarterback -- and, when you can do that for a split second and you have the pass rush that we have, it’s awesome," Prescott said. "I played [against] Zim for a long time. You’re not going to put up a lot of points on Zim. Now that he’s on our side, that feels good."
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