National Football League

F For Effort?

Updated Oct. 8, 2020 5:20 p.m. ET

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Sitting at or near the bottom of every major statistical category, the Dallas Cowboys are having a historically bad defensive stretch so far this season.

On Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, Dallas allowed a franchise-record 307 rushing yards on the day, and that performance prompted defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence to utter a term that's usually verboten among NFL circles: "soft." 

"I don't feel like we're holding ourselves accountable, including myself, so, I call the s--- soft and we'll get better from it."

On Monday, following Dallas' 49-38 loss to the Browns, Emmanuel Acho, co-host of FS1's Speak for Yourself, called attention to the types of plays that validated Lawrence's postgame comments. 

Early this week, legendary Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman weighed in on the effort on Dallas-area radio, saying he wouldn't have been pleased having that performance on tape.

The chatter hasn't died down as the week rolled on, especially after Cowboys safety Xavier Woods admitted to varying degrees of effort Wednesday.

That comment got Brandon Marshall fired up on Thursday's episode of First Things First.

"If you're not going full speed in the NFL, at the pro level, then when are you doing it? When you're getting paid millions of dollars in a billion-dollar business. Bro, you sound ridiculous, all right? Xavier Woods, you sound ridiculous."

ESPN's Louis Riddick, a former player and pro scout, also took the Cowboys to task.

"We all know what effort looks like, OK? ... And when you watch certain teams, and you watch certain players, you definitely know when a guy is making ⁠— as Deion Sanders calls it ⁠— a 'business decision' and they're turning [contact] down."

Those "business decisions" might be happening too frequently for the Cowboys' liking.

With 146 points allowed, the Cowboys are last in the league in the category, and their current points allowed per game average of 36.5 would be the highest since the Baltimore Colts allowed an average of 38.5 across 12 games in 1950.

On the bright side, the Cowboys seem to have made improved effort a point of emphasis this week in practice, as linebacker Jaylon Smith alluded to.

At 1-3 and off to their worst four-game start since 2010, Dallas ranks in the top three in total yards allowed (1,722), second in rushing yards allowed (690) and is tied for last in takeaways (two).

Fortunately for the Cowboys, they have a golden opportunity to put Smith's words into action Sunday when they face the New York Giants, who possess the league's last-ranked offense.

But what if Dallas can't buckle down against its struggling NFC East rivals?

Then hope for America's Team might be in very short supply.

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