FRISCO, Texas — Mike Zimmer has felt this pain before. In fact, he remembers it all too well, mentioning it directly shortly after he was rehired as the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator in the offseason. The “it” in this scenario is the infamous “Pickle Juice Game,” and those who know it know it; and what happened at the hands of the New Orleans Saints reignited a trauma in Zimmer.
But more on that in a moment.
“I think the most important thing is not to get too high like last week and not to get too low this week,” Zimmer said Monday after the loss. “We have to improve in a lot of areas. In the NFL, of course, it’s similar – a lot of ups and downs.”
“Tough people fight through.”
He took full responsibility for what his defense delivered on film, just a week after testing Deshaun Watson and an Amari Cooper-led offense in Cleveland, but watched as Derek Carr threw for 243 yards and two touchdowns on just 11 attempts, largely due to the Cowboys’ inability to stop the run.
However, Zimmer disputes Micah Parsons’ assessment that it was a problem with the effort.
“I don’t know if that’s the case,” he said. “I think we lined up well. We tried to move the front a little bit and they caught us a couple of times and when they moved guys around, so I just have to do a better job.”
“…I said, ‘I’ve been watching you guys for over three months now. Right? I’ve never seen us in a practice like this. I’ve never seen us give up plays in a practice like this.’ I mean, these guys are usually on point and do everything right. They play very, very hard. They like to compete.
“Again, I didn’t allow them to use our strength, which is putting him in some third-down and passing situations. So I have to do a better job.”
For those unfamiliar with the infamous “Pickle Juice Game” of cowboy history, here is a very abridged history lesson.
On September 3, 2000, the Cowboys hosted the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1 of Dave Campo’s debut season as head coach and Zimmer, who had been promoted to coordinator. The Eagles cleaned up with a 41-14 win at Texas Stadium, easing their cramps in the Texas heat with pickle juice while Duce Staley ran for 201 yards on the ground and totaled 262 yards from the point of attack.
This marked a turning point in Zimmer’s approach to defense: He vowed to stop the run at all costs rather than allowing the run just to stop the pass (after all, he used to be a defensive backs coach), and he hasn’t changed that mindset since.
So when he saw Alvin Kamara rush for 180 yards from the line of sight (including 115 rushing yards) and score four touchdowns (including three rushing yards) while the Saints totaled 190 rushing yards at an average of 5.8 yards per carry, it was the turn of the century again.
“Yeah, I talked to (the defense) for a while today,” Zimmer said. “We watched film together. We talked about things we need to do better, things I need to do better, and we’re just going to keep working on it. My first game here as a coordinator was the Pickle Juice Game. After that, I made sure it got right.”
“If I hadn’t fixed these problems, I wouldn’t be standing here today.”
Zimmer has made significant improvements to the Cowboys’ run defense going forward, especially in his second season as coordinator in Dallas. He currently does not have a contract for a second season, meaning he will have to bounce back much quicker in his second tenure as defensive maestro.
Zimmer blames his plan. Parsons blames a lack of effort. The film blames a lack of execution.
The truth is, it may have been all of the above.
And if the Cowboys don’t get the problem under control quickly, they’ll be in quite a bind in 2024.
