Cowboys DC Mike Zimmer takes ownership of poor defensive effort vs. Saints: ‘That’s my fault’

The Dallas Cowboys were back in the team facility at The Star in Frisco on Monday after a demoralizing 44-19 defeat at the hands of the New Orleans Saints at AT&T Stadium on Sunday.

Following treatment and early lifts in the weight room, the day consisted of extensive film work in all three phases of Sunday’s game and a team meeting at 2 p.m. where head coach Mike McCarthy addressed the team.

“Days like this are hard on everybody,” McCarthy said. “And I think when you see your team not beating the other team to the punch more than they’re beating us to the first punch, I take that very personal. I know these days, you got to get past them.”

In his postgame availability on Sunday, star defender Micah Parsons credited a lack of effort, not a scheme issue from newly hired defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, as the foundational issue for a defensive outing that saw the Saints post 44 points and 432 total yards.

“To me, I thought it had nothing to do with the scheme,” Parsons said. “I thought Zim called a pretty good game. We just got outplayed. Everyone that played on that field did not play to 100-percent. That’s just me being accountable and saying the truth. We all got to play better.”

Zimmer took the podium on Monday afternoon for the first time since the loss and disagreed with his three-time All-Pro defender in saying that he takes full accountability for how the defense was prepared going into the game.

“I don’t think it was an effort issue,” Zimmer said. “That’s my fault. I have to get them ready to play better than that…I talked to them today for a while. We watched film together, we talked about things we need to do better, things I need to do better. We’ll just keep working on it.”

The game and performance reminded Zimmer of a similar outing 24 years ago when he first took over as defensive coordinator for the Cowboys in 2000, when his defense allowed 41 points and 425 total yards in a similarly embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles. The game has been characterized as the “Pickle Juice Game” because of the Eagles’ use of pickle juice on the sideline to help subside cramps in the 100-plus-degree Texas heat.

“My first game here as a coordinator was the Pickle Juice Game,” Zimmer said. “I vowed to fix it after that. If I didn’t fix it, I wouldn’t be standing here today.”

A key difference between that 2000 defense and the 2024 version he has taken over once again is that the talent – six Pro Bowl players including four individual honors from 2022 and/or 2023 – is considerably different. It’s something he acknowledged in the team meeting with the defense today.

“I did tell them today, ‘I’ve been with you guys for three months now. I’ve never seen us have one practice like that, one five-play [stretch] in a practice like that,’” he said. “These guys are typically on point and they do everything the right way. They play very, very hard. They like to compete.”

Like that similar September beatdown at home early in the season more than two decades ago, Zimmer is looking forward to correcting the issues in next Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens – even if his memory can’t exactly place how that challenge was overcome early in his career.

“All I know is that we went to work to fix it, and we did.”