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Despite addition of Dan Quinn, Cowboys still find themselves behind the eight ball in the NFC

Quinn has plenty to fix on the Cowboys’ defense once he steps foot in Dallas.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated.

The Cowboys announced Dan Quinn Monday. The Eagles announced Doug Pederson.

The major difference — one that never could have been anticipated a few months ago — was that one was coming and one was going.

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In Dallas’ case, the club has a new defensive coordinator. As for Philadelphia, following a surprising journey from Super Bowl champs three years ago to last place in 2020, the Eagles are in the market for a head coach.

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Quinn, you might recall, was the Falcons’ head coach when they lost a 25-point lead to New England in Houston. He was the head coach there when they couldn’t penetrate the Eagles’ end zone late in the second-round playoff game a year later, a win that propelled Philadelphia (and Pederson) to Super Bowl glory.

And Quinn was still Atlanta’s head coach in Week Two this year when the Falcons put 39 points on the board at AT&T Stadium but failed to recover an onside kick that allowed Dallas to escape with the 40-39 victory.

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From there it was more of the same for the Falcons — clutching defeat from the jaws of victory — and after five straight losses, Quinn was fired. He feels like an upgrade over Mike Nolan at defensive coordinator as the Cowboys make a major coaching change following their 6-10 finish.

Quinn’s success as a coordinator (he was in Seattle for both Super Bowl trips, the win over Denver and loss to New England) is of a more recent vintage than any Nolan enjoyed. And he doesn’t appear to have a connection with the head coach, unless they crossed paths as Quinn was arriving in San Francisco for the 2005 season while Mike McCarthy was leaving.

McCarthy’s first attempt to surround himself with former head coaches was a failure, resulting in Friday’s news-dump dismissal of Nolan and Jim Tomsula. A fresh approach from Quinn, based on some of the same Seattle-style principles Kris Richard was injecting into the defense not long ago, seems like the right approach for digging out of this season’s 473-point mess.

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As for Pederson, his dismissal was fueled by two things. The significant regression of quarterback Carson Wentz this season was a major surprise. Injuries had been a problem for Wentz since college, but in 2020 he simply stunk. Then came Pederson’s disgraceful showing in the final regular-season game, passing on a short tying field goal try and then pulling quarterback Jalen Hurts in favor of Nate Sudfeld to make sure his team didn’t lose draft position with a win over Washington.

That allowed Washington to represent the division in the playoffs and eliminated New York, which had kept its playoff hopes alive at 6-10 with a win over the Cowboys that afternoon.

The whole thing did not sit well with the league, the Eagles fans or their owner.

Although Jerry Jones set the all-time record for getting rid of a coach after a Super Bowl victory, Jimmy Johnson’s awkward departure can’t truly be called a firing. Johnson was maneuvering to get out of his contract, and Jones, eventually, made it happen in the spring of 1994. It shocked the football world, but it wasn’t a pure and simple firing.

The Eagles’ search for a coach reminds everyone here that Dallas’ first order of business requires only a small step, not a Great Leap Forward. A somewhat heroic performance from quarterback Taylor Heinicke kept Washington alive longer than anticipated against Tom Brady on Saturday. But the fact is that there is not a good team in Dallas’ division.

Washington has an excellent defense and enormous holes on offense, including at quarterback. Philadelphia has two quarterbacks, which might equal zero. Figuring out the Wentz-Hurts riddle is up to the next coach. The Giants have some good young defensive players, and with the return of Saquon Barkley could be listed as an average team for 2021. I believe that’s being charitable.

The Cowboys will probably be picked by most to win the East next season, partly due to the anticipated return of Dak Prescott, Tyron Smith and Zack Martin but mainly because that’s what Jones’ franchise does best.

Raise expectations.

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It’s the next step that — based on what we saw this weekend — looks more like a giant leap for mankind. The NFC competition is fierce. The Saints have become so much more than a team that relies on Drew Brees. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay is reborn around an even older quarterback, but Brady looks like he might throw to Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown forever. And the Rams, who opened the season with a win over Dallas, advanced because their defense disrupted Russell Wilson in a way that’s unimaginable for Dallas.

That’s Quinn’s job to fix now.

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