The Cowboys defense had by far its worst showing of the season on Sunday against the Titans.
Sure, Vince Young — arguably the worst starting quarterback in the NFL — threw for just 173 yards. But what the stats don't show is not only did he throw for two touchdowns, but he also burned the Cowboys secondary deep on numerous occasions, drawing several pass interference penalties that contributed to the more than 100 yards of penalties.
On the Titans' first drive of the game, Mike Jenkins was burned twice, and committed two pass interference penalties for a total of 48 yards. The Titans first touchdown, a pass from Young to Nate Washington, was thrown into triple coverage, and yet again drew a pass interference call. Of course, that one wasn't called because Washington SCORED. Here's the thing, committing three pass interference penalties on one drive is a sign that you're getting burnt to a crisp.
That was only the beginning of the worst showing of Jenkins' brief career.
The guy who's, by most accounts, been the Cowboys best cornerback over the past two seasons (not Newman) was horrendous in coverage all night and at certain points looked like he didn't even know where he was.
With about 30 seconds remaining in the first half and the Titans at their own 40-yard line, Young once again toasted the Cowboys secondary on a deep seam route and threw up a typical Vince Young horrible ball that was about 15 yards overthrown. Of course, Jenkins was out of position, which put him in perfect position to pick Young's pass. Instead, he dropped it.
But the worst play of all for Jenkins was in the second half with the Titans sitting at their own 20-yard line. Once again, Jenkins was burned on a deep post by Kenny Britt. Young hit Britt, who fell after catching the pass. There's Jenkins, recovering from his toasting and looking dejected, just running past Britt at the Cowboys 28-yard line. Britt alertly got up and ran into the end zone for what appeared to be an 80-yard score. Luckily for Jenkins, his loafing was forgotten because it was revealed by instant replay that Britt was touched while he was on the ground.
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There's no doubt Jenkins is the Cowboys' best corner. Based on Sunday's game, that's a scary thought. He's without a doubt looking for some redemption on Sunday against the Vikings, but if Kenny Britt and Johnny Knox can embarrass the Cowboys secondary, what's Randy Moss going to do? Just a thought.
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