The Denver Broncos are slated to interview a pair of Dallas Cowboys assistant head coaches after both of their units laid an egg in the playoffs.
The Denver Broncos watched the NFL’s Wild Card playoff round with great intrigue as a number of the team’s top head coach candidates took the field, notably on Sunday as two top candidates with the Dallas Cowboys hosted a playoff game after a strong regular season.
Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is considered by many to be a front-runner for the Broncos’ head coach vacancy while a lot of people hope offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is picked after Dallas ranked first in the entire NFL in scoring this past season.
The allure for both candidates is understandable, and they will be considered for their entire body of work.
Cowboys lay an egg in playoffs as Denver Broncos HC decision looms
Unfortunately for both Quinn and Moore, Sunday ended in disappointing fashion.
The San Francisco 49ers and their head coach Kyle Shanahan came out looking extremely prepared and ready to dismantle Dallas on both sides of the ball.
Shanahan, once a coordinator under Quinn in Atlanta, saw his offense have its way early on in this game, especially running the ball.
On the other side of the ball, Kellen Moore’s offense looked inefficient at best, and through three quarters, the Cowboys were getting dominated to the tune of 23-7. Dallas was able to chip away in the fourth quarter with 10 points in the first seven minutes of the quarter, giving themselves a legitimate chance to win a game that was otherwise dominated by the 49ers.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t capitalize despite an absolute gift of a possession in the final 40 seconds of the game after the 49ers barely missed converting a third-down play and then had a false start penalty on a successful 4th-down quarterback sneak.
Let’s be clear about one thing — regardless of how well or how poorly the Cowboys played in this game, the fact of the matter is this: It was one game.
You can’t judge a potential head coach based on one performance by his team or his unit. For Dallas in this particular game, it was an apparent lack of focus and lack of discipline that was most disappointing. They continued in theme with their league-lead in penalties by committing 14 infractions in this game for 89 yards of penalties.
Offensively and defensively, the Cowboys let their faithful fans down in this game and although the 49ers are certainly good, you certainly expect more and better out of a team that ranked 1st in the NFL in points offensively and 7th in points allowed defensively.
Especially considering Jimmy Garoppolo was playing this game with a thumb injury, you can’t help but get serious 2014 Denver Broncos vibes when it felt like John Fox, Adam Gase, and Jack Del Rio all had one foot out the door before a disappointing playoff loss at home to the Indianapolis Colts.
The distractions off the field of head coaching opportunities elsewhere seemed to give the entire team a lack of focus and the Broncos played well below expectations.
This Cowboys’ loss to the 49ers had similar vibes. The 49ers won time of possession. They were more efficient offensively. They dominated this game for three quarters defensively.
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Again, it’s just one game, but it certainly doesn’t leave the best taste in everyone’s mouth as the Broncos get set to interview both Quinn and Moore in the coming days.