DeMarcus Lawrence doesn't enjoy snuff films, and especially when he's one of the co-stars being victimized. It was a fun go for the Cleveland Browns though, eviscerating the Dallas Cowboys to the tune of 31 points at halftime and 49 points overall, en route to a 3-1 record that sank Dallas into a 1-3 hole. It was another game full of self-inflicted wounds by Mike McCarthy's bunch, including two fumbles the Browns turned into 14 points and used to propel themselves to racking up more than 30 unanswered points before Dak Prescott nearly saved the day with his fourth quarter play.
Despite coming back from 41-14 to make it a 41-38 game late in the fourth, the hole dug was just a bit too deep to enjoy the same historic heroics seen in Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons. Additionally, a defense that had already given up 257 yards rushing -- and without Nick Chubb on the field for 3.5 quarters -- went on to watch Odell Beckham, Jr. tack on another 50 yards yards on a reverse that turned into the coffin-sealing touchdown.
When the Cowboys needed their defense the most, the got the least, and Lawrence is fed up.
"We gotta hold ourselves to a higher standard," he said after yet another embarrassing outing as a unit, via the team's website. "We gotta play together as one. And I don't feel like we are holding ourselves accountable, including myself. So, I call the sh-t soft, and we will get better from it."
In dissecting the marshmallow, you'll note the Cowboys defense has now allowed 146 points through the first four games (36.5 points per game) -- the worst in franchise history -- and continue to look more lost than Red Riding Hood. The problem for the Cowboys is unlike Ms. Hood, they can't escape the big bad wolf, and that's in large part because they are also the wolf -- chomping into their own arm on a weekly, quarterly and play-by-play basis. This consistent cannibalism of self manifests as an inability to both prevent the big play over the top and to stop key possession plays underneath, the latter not being helped one iota by drive-extending penalties by the defense.
As a related aside, sources tell CBS Sports there has still been no movement on the Earl Thomas front.
What makes things infinitely worse for Dallas is the fact they're getting gashed by the backups to the backups. When Chubb went down with a knee injury in the first quarter, he was averaging 7.1 yards per carry, and it was easy to view his loss as a damaging blow to the Browns. Instead, they were able to dissect the Cowboys run defense with surgical precision thanks to Kareem Hunt, Dontrell Hilliard and, most notably, D'Ernest Johnson. Johnson, an undrafted talent who had only 26 rushing yards in his young career entering Week 4, was able to lead Cleveland with a career-high 95 yards on 13 carries (7.31 yards per handoff).
"If you don't stop the run you don't have a chance," said linebacker Jaylon Smith of the defensive letdown. "And we understood that going into this game and we didn't get the job done."
That's saying the least, and while the Cowboys remain in contention for the division crown despite their 1-3 record by virtue of an abysmal NFC East, they have absolutely nothing to hang their hat on defensively outside of the play of Aldon Smith, an improved Trysten Hill and the lone shining light in the secondary who's name is Trevon Diggs. But even those three struggled against the Browns, in a game that felt like the Cowboys defense accepted defeat long before the contest came to an end.
So while Prescott continues to play at an historic pace, it's all for naught, and while he's not totally without blame -- e.g., shouldering some blame for the takeaway margin (-7) -- if he and the still prolific offense can get at least a smidge of aid from their defensive counterparts, the Cowboys could finally steer away from the iceberg. To that end, Lawrence says it's time for the defense to go "balls to the wall," and before things begin to get out of reach for 2020.
"Talent don't mean nothing in the NFL," he said. "So it is all about us coming together, figuring it out and getting better from it."
McCarthy said in Week 2 that the "honeymoon is over", but now that it's time to start paying the mortgage, the Cowboys defense is already 30 days past due.
