How does Cowboys’ Stephon Gilmore shut down No. 1 WRs at age 33? By treating his body like a ‘Lamborghini’

FRISCO, Texas —   “It’s hard,” Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said last week. “When you play at cornerback and at quarterback, everyone sees what’s going on at those two positions. When you’re watching at home on TV, it’s easy to evaluate those positions.”

Quinn said the quote above after Cowboys second-year cornerback DaRon Bland, who leads the NFL with eight interceptions and five pick-sixes — the NFL single-season record — was torched for the first time this season in Week 13. Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowl wide receiver DK Metcalf racked up 108 yards and two touchdowns on three catches in the first half of a 41-35 Cowboys win with Bland as his primary defender. The 24-year-old allowed more touchdowns that Thursday night (two) than he has the rest of the season (one).

Quinn rotated Gilmore onto Metcalf in the second half, and Metcalf totaled just 16 yards and a touchdown on two catches. On Sunday, Gilmore went wire-to-wire on Eagles No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown, frustrating him all night long in a 33-13 Cowboys defensive masterclass. The 33-year-old five-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro maintained that level play for the entirety of “Sunday Night Football,” forcing a fumble and limiting Brown to 80 yards on seven catches as the primary defender in coverage, per TruMedia. Gilmore is usually a mild-mannered guy, but Brown calling him old fired him up.

“It was more how he said it,” Gilmore said Wednesday, adding that some curse words were a part of the aggressive tone Brown used while mentioning the “old” label at the beginning of the game. “It lit a fire in me. Some of my teammates kid about it a lot because a lot of the people that I came into the NFL with aren’t in the league anymore. It’s an honor to still be playing the game at a high level and having fun.”

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Author : Garrett Podell

Publish date : 2023-12-15 19:38:55

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