Kyle Shanahan praises Cowboys DC Dan Quinn, Dallas pass rushers

The Dallas Cowboys face a red-hot San Francisco 49ers team on Sunday night and Dan Quinn’s defense is tasked with slowing down the fifth-highest-scoring offense in the league. Discussing the Cowboys’ defense this week, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan praised Dan Quinn and his work, particularly with the Dallas pass rush.

“The way (Quinn) gets those guys to move, they have some really good rushers,” Shanahan said. “Everyone knows about (DeMarcus) Lawrence and (Micah) Parsons, but there’s not one bad one there. The way they stunt, the way they can create one-on-ones, there’s a reason they’re No. 1 in getting to the (QB).”

Shanahan and Quinn are very familiar with each other’s coaching. The 49ers head coach served as Quinn’s offensive coordinator in Atlanta in 2015-16 where they led the Falcons to the infamous 28-3 Super Bowl versus the Patriots. The familiarity between the two coaches provides one more layer of difficulty to the matchup.

The Cowboys have an 8.9% sack rate this season but it will be a slog versus San Francisco. The 49ers’ offensive line is currently No. 3 in the league in pass-blocking efficiency.

In last year’s playoff matchup, the Cowboys didn’t bring down quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo a single time. It was actually Dak Prescott that found himself on the ground five times.

The 49ers are playing with a less experienced quarterback now with Brock Purdy, however, and the rookie has taken 12 sacks over the last seven games. He’s remained accurate throughout though, throwing just three interceptions and completing over 60% of his passes in each game.

Quinn set to interview with Broncos

Front offices around the NFL have taken notice of the job the Cowboys coordinators have done over the last two years. So it should come as no surprise that the Colts have reached out to Dallas in order to set up an interview with Dan Quinn about becoming their next head coach.

According to ESPN’s Todd Archer, the Colts put in an interview request for Dan Quinn on Tuesday, making them the latest team to inquire about the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator.

The Denver Broncos are reportedly interviewing Quinn on Friday. Asked about the interview coming amidst the Cowboys’ prep for Sunday night’s divisional round matchup, Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy dispelled concerns.

“Dan’s the ultimate professional,” McCarthy said. “And he will not jeopardize for anything the preparation of this game.”

The Dallas Cowboys are fresh off of their first road postseason win since their 1992 Super Bowl run when they beat Steve Young and San Francisco 49ers. The Cowboys were able to dominate the NFC South champs, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 31-14; dominating the Buccaneers both offensively and defensively.