The Dallas Cowboys could not have asked for a better debut from defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, whose group recorded the most sacks of any team in Week 1 with six. In addition, Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson rankeddead-last in passing success rate, 29th in passer rating, 30th in yards per attempt and 27th in completion rate.

Zimmer didn’t throw the kitchen sink at the Browns, but his disguised blitzes and positional alignments had Watson rattled. Zimmer even had linebacker DeMarvion Overshown spy Watson so the QB wouldn’t hurt the Cowboys with his legs.

Cowboys fans are going to compare and contrast Zimmer and Dan Quinn all season. After one week, Zimmer has a clear advantage and that boils down to more than just Zimmer’s marvelous game against Cleveland.

Quinn had an afternoon to forget in his Commanders coaching debut. We’ll get into Washington’s pitiful defensive showing, but it was Quinn’s game management that has Commanders fans up in arms.

Quinn had the reputation of a conservative coach with the Falcons. After three seasons out of the game, Quinn hasn’t changed his stripes.

With the Commanders trailing by 16 points with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Quinn brought out the punt team on 4th-and-7. Washington’s defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed all game, and sure enough the Buccaneers put together a 91-yard scoring drive to put the game on ice.

Another Quinn decision that exasperated Commanders fans was when he sent out kicker Cade York to attempt a 56-yard field goal after halftime. York, who was cut by Washington on Monday, had already missed a 47-yard field goal in the first quarter. While it was 4th-and-10, Quinn would have been better off putting the ball in the hands of QB Jayden Daniels than his kicker.

Finally, Quinn decided to kick an extra point late in the third quarter to make the score 24-13 rather than go for two. The XP turned a two-possession game into … a two possession game. A two-point conversion would have brought the Commanders within eight points with a quarter to play.

With Baker Mayfield carving open Quinn’s defense, one would think Quinn would have chased points rather than be conservative. In a week where offense was at a premium around the NFL, Washington let up 37 points and 392 yards of offense and allowed Tampa Bay to go 9-of-13 on third down.

Commanders fans could not have scripted a worse debut for Quinn. His game management was disgraceful and the defense he was brought in fix looked as broken as it was under Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio.