Mike McCarthy: Defense Was Foundation For Bucs Win
Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy was eager to highlight their defensive acumen in the 31-14 playoff win over the Bucs.
The Cowboys blitzed Tom Brady and co. thanks to a highlight 5 TD display from quarterback Dak Prescott.
The contrast between this and his struggles at the end of the regular seasons saw Prescott earn the headlines.
However, Mike McCarthy says the Cowboys defense won them the game, particularly by how they started it.Â
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“It starts up front — getting off blocks [and] rallying to the football,” McCarthy said. “We really emphasized the finish and squeezing their perimeters. We looked at the passing game and we anticipated them to throw the ball a lot. [For] a lot of the underneath completions, I thought our underneath coverage components were intact and aggressive.â€
The Buccaneers only generated 5 yards on their first six plays against Dallas. They had just one drive that resulted in more than one first down, and it ended in a turnover.
“We got our hands on a number of balls today. I know we didn’t get the takeaways we normally get, but most importantly, we were in position for takeaways. We were all over the football — we had excellent pressure particularly in key parts of the game on third and fourth downs. I thought the defense played extremely, extremely well on all three levels.”
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“Defensively, I thought we were all over them as soon as we got off the bus,” Mike McCarthy said”I think our defense really set the tempo for the game. For there to be a couple of three-and-outs to start the game, we just did a great job.”
“Take away the deep shots they got — we made them earn it every time,” Micah Parsons said. “I think that’s the key. We made the adjustments, did what we had to do. [We] said they couldn’t beat us deep, we executed our game plan for the most part.”
