IRVING, Texas -- Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler threw 46 passes against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday without being sacked.
That's pretty pathetic.
The Cowboys did not sack Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez in his last 18 pass attempts when they played a couple of weeks ago, which means the Cowboys have not had a sack in 64 pass attempts.
One of the best ways to give an average quarterback like Sanchez confidence, which allows him to play well, is to let him operate in a clean pocket. If the Cowboys can't get to Sanchez on Sunday, it's going to be incredibly hard to beat the Eagles.
The Cowboys let Sanchez feel comfortable in their first meeting, and he responded by completing 20-of-29 passes for 217 yards with two touchdowns for a 102.2 passer rating.
Seattle, which beat Philadelphia 24-14 on Sunday, harassed Sanchez and made him look like the dude known for the "butt fumble" during his time with the New York Jets. Sanchez completed 10-of-20 passes for 96 yards. Seattle sacked him five times, hurried him twice and knocked him down five times.
The problem for the Cowboys is they have one of the worst pass rushes in the NFL, and there's no tangible reason to believe it's going to get any better. The 10 defensive linemen on the Cowboys' roster have combined for just 94 sacks in 477 games. For what it's worth, former Cowboys star DeMarcus Ware has 127 career sacks in 154 games.
The Cowboys absolutely made the right decision to cut Ware in March, but when they let him go, they knew rushing the passer was going to be a tough chore this season. The NFL these days is all about passing. Teams that can't consistently rush the passer find winning even more difficult than usual.
The Cowboys have just 19 sacks this year. Only Atlanta, Oakland and Cincinnati have fewer. Buffalo leads the NFL with 48 sacks, and the NFL average is 30.
The problem for the Cowboys is they don't have anyone on the roster who excels at rushing the passer.
Entering this season, Anthony Spencer, Jeremy Mincey and Henry Melton were the only players with more than 20 career sacks. Only Spencer has had double-digits in sacks, and that was before he had microfracture knee surgery that has robbed him of the agility and athleticism that made him a really good player. Spencer has a half-sack this season.
The Cowboys have used Melton at defensive end this season in addition to defensive tackle to help their pass rush. The results have been mixed. Melton had a fantastic two-game stretch earlier against Arizona and Washington in which he combined for 3 1/2 sacks. Since then, he hasn't produced much. The reality is that Melton is a much better pass rusher at defensive tackle than defensive end because tackles are usually superior pass rushers to guards.
Mincey has been good at rushing the passer late in games but still has only three sacks this season. He's had more than five just once in his career.
"You can always help refine technique and help guys individually become better rushers, and that's a constant process," coach Jason Garrett said. "You can do things from scheme standpoint, whether that's using games to make it more challenging from an offensive line standpoint or whether it's bringing pressure with a linebacker or a secondary guy or creating some one-on-ones by how you align the guys on the defensive front."
The problem, as you might imagine, is that none of these strategies have consistently worked this season. Opposing quarterbacks have had a passer rating of more than 90.0 in six of the Cowboys' past seven games. Four times their passer rating has exceeded 100.0.
Blitzing has not been the answer for a variety of reasons.
First, defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli doesn't like to blitz because it goes against his don't-give-up-the-big-play philosophy. Second, aside from Orlando Scandrick, the Cowboys don't have many players who are good at blitzing. Finally, the Cowboys aren't good at it. They have only five sacks in 92 blitzes this season.
The name of the game Sunday is pressure. The Cowboys better find a way to harass Sanchez and force him to make mistakes under duress or there's a pretty good chance they're going to miss the playoffs again.