Stats show Tony Dixon as major reason for Dallas' decline

[Yakuza Rich]

I just took a look at our run defense this season and found out that TONY DIXON’S play was a big reason for our poor defense this year. Remember, Lynn Scott started the last 9 games this year.

RUN DEFENSE IN THE LAST 8 GAMES (RUNNING BACKS ONLY)

206 carries, 725 yards (3.52 yards per carry, 80.55 yards per game)


Out of those last 8 games, 2 of the first 3 were against Philly and Cincinnati where the run defense wasn’t very good. Take out those games, and here’s the run defense stats for the last 6 games:

RUN DEFENSE IN THE LAST 6 GAMES (RUNNING BACKS ONLY)

137 carries, 441 yards (3.22 yards per carry, 73.5 yards per game)


Compare that to our first 6 games, the ones that Dixon started:

RUN DEFENSE IN THE FIRST 7 GAMES (RUNNING BACKS ONLY)

143 carries, 742 yards (5.19 yards per carry, 123.67 yards per game)


In those first 6 games in which Dixon was the starter, the defense only held one opponent to under 100 yards rushing, the Washington Redskins. That was also the opponent that had the least amount of yards per carry, still at a solid 4.09 yards a pop.

In the last 9 games with Scott as the starting strong safety, 7 of the 9 teams were held to under 100 yards rushing (Philly had 129 yards in Game #1, Cincy had 115 yards albeit at only 3.96 yards a carry).

In the last 6 games, Seattle had the best game running against Dallas, with only 93 yards at only 3.88 yards a pop. But remember, in that game the defense held Shaun Alexander for most of the game until he got the ball on 4th and 1 with 4:23 left in the game and took off for a 33 yard TD, almost a freak play. Take that one play out of the equation and the defense allowed only 3.0 yards per carry and 68 yards rushing per game.

IIRC, not only was the Green Bay game Dixon’s last start, but it was also the last time that Bradie James saw significant action as well. This isn’t intended to be an endorsement for Scott to be next year’s starter at strong safety, but more or less to show how big of a problem Dixon was.


Rich………….

[Tio]

It also can be contributed to the fact that roy is playing in the box more. But with that said, our defense probably only needs a corner to be a good unit.

[Quicksilver]

I refuse to blame our entire defensive struggles this season on Tony Dixon. By the looks of your post youre ready to lynch the poor guy.

He's been part of the problem, so has Roy and Newman and every other player on defense.

[Charles]

I refuse to blame our entire defensive struggles this season on Tony Dixon. By the looks of your post youre ready to lynch the poor guy.

He's been part of the problem, so has Roy and Newman and every other player on defense.
Exactly.

[AsthmaField]

Stats can lie... in this case however, I think you're on to something. Dixon just played terrible.

If Roy playing closer to the line of scrimmage is part of the reason for the improved run d, then that probably can be attributed to him not having to cover for Dixon the last half of the season.

I hesitate to blame one guy for the demise of our defense... but he definately hurt us when he was in there.

[lshaver22]

I just took a look at our run defense this season and found out that TONY DIXON’S play was a big reason for our poor defense this year. Remember, Lynn Scott started the last 9 games this year.

RUN DEFENSE IN THE LAST 8 GAMES (RUNNING BACKS ONLY)

206 carries, 725 yards (3.52 yards per carry, 80.55 yards per game)


Out of those last 8 games, 2 of the first 3 were against Philly and Cincinnati where the run defense wasn’t very good. Take out those games, and here’s the run defense stats for the last 6 games:

RUN DEFENSE IN THE LAST 6 GAMES (RUNNING BACKS ONLY)

137 carries, 441 yards (3.22 yards per carry, 73.5 yards per game)


Compare that to our first 6 games, the ones that Dixon started:

RUN DEFENSE IN THE FIRST 7 GAMES (RUNNING BACKS ONLY)

143 carries, 742 yards (5.19 yards per carry, 123.67 yards per game)


In those first 6 games in which Dixon was the starter, the defense only held one opponent to under 100 yards rushing, the Washington Redskins. That was also the opponent that had the least amount of yards per carry, still at a solid 4.09 yards a pop.

In the last 9 games with Scott as the starting strong safety, 7 of the 9 teams were held to under 100 yards rushing (Philly had 129 yards in Game #1, Cincy had 115 yards albeit at only 3.96 yards a carry).

In the last 6 games, Seattle had the best game running against Dallas, with only 93 yards at only 3.88 yards a pop. But remember, in that game the defense held Shaun Alexander for most of the game until he got the ball on 4th and 1 with 4:23 left in the game and took off for a 33 yard TD, almost a freak play. Take that one play out of the equation and the defense allowed only 3.0 yards per carry and 68 yards rushing per game.

IIRC, not only was the Green Bay game Dixon’s last start, but it was also the last time that Bradie James saw significant action as well. This isn’t intended to be an endorsement for Scott to be next year’s starter at strong safety, but more or less to show how big of a problem Dixon was.


Rich………….

History will also prove that Dixon is responsible for the fall of the Roman empire, as well.

[Quicksilver]

History will also prove that Dixon is responsible for the fall of the Roman empire, as well.

He also shot Kennedy and mailed anthrax to congress.

[Verdict]

I just took a look at our run defense this season and found out that TONY DIXON’S play was a big reason for our poor defense this year. Remember, Lynn Scott started the last 9 games this year.

RUN DEFENSE IN THE LAST 8 GAMES (RUNNING BACKS ONLY)

206 carries, 725 yards (3.52 yards per carry, 80.55 yards per game)


Out of those last 8 games, 2 of the first 3 were against Philly and Cincinnati where the run defense wasn’t very good. Take out those games, and here’s the run defense stats for the last 6 games:

RUN DEFENSE IN THE LAST 6 GAMES (RUNNING BACKS ONLY)

137 carries, 441 yards (3.22 yards per carry, 73.5 yards per game)


Compare that to our first 6 games, the ones that Dixon started:

RUN DEFENSE IN THE FIRST 7 GAMES (RUNNING BACKS ONLY)

143 carries, 742 yards (5.19 yards per carry, 123.67 yards per game)


In those first 6 games in which Dixon was the starter, the defense only held one opponent to under 100 yards rushing, the Washington Redskins. That was also the opponent that had the least amount of yards per carry, still at a solid 4.09 yards a pop.

In the last 9 games with Scott as the starting strong safety, 7 of the 9 teams were held to under 100 yards rushing (Philly had 129 yards in Game #1, Cincy had 115 yards albeit at only 3.96 yards a carry).

In the last 6 games, Seattle had the best game running against Dallas, with only 93 yards at only 3.88 yards a pop. But remember, in that game the defense held Shaun Alexander for most of the game until he got the ball on 4th and 1 with 4:23 left in the game and took off for a 33 yard TD, almost a freak play. Take that one play out of the equation and the defense allowed only 3.0 yards per carry and 68 yards rushing per game.

IIRC, not only was the Green Bay game Dixon’s last start, but it was also the last time that Bradie James saw significant action as well. This isn’t intended to be an endorsement for Scott to be next year’s starter at strong safety, but more or less to show how big of a problem Dixon was.


Rich………….

While statistics can be used to prove lots of things I'm not sure how solid they are proving Dixon is a bad player. But I do agree he is a bad player. He has got to go. You are on the right track. :D

[Yakuza Rich]

I refuse to blame our entire defensive struggles this season on Tony Dixon. By the looks of your post youre ready to lynch the poor guy.

He's been part of the problem, so has Roy and Newman and every other player on defense

I don’t understand your reasoning. Looking at the stats, the Cowboys have allowed on average 43 rushing yards LESS per game since Scott has been the starter. On top of that, they are allowing 1.67 rushing yards LESS per carry since Scott has become the starter.

The sample size is more than adequate and those numbers are too big to pass it off as a coincidence or passing the blame off to Roy and Newman (who last time I knew had 9 games this year where he allowed 1 catch or less).

When I first looked into computing this, I was doing it just to see the difference in the run defense in the second half of the season. But, when I started to look at the stats for each game and noticed a major decline in week 8, I also remembered that’s when Dixon was benched.

I thought Wiley was a problem as well as James. But, Wiley’s run defense hasn’t improved that much and James was sharing time with Coakley anyway. Considering the massive decrease in the numbers above and the fact that it probably plays into time of possession (I’ll look into that as well), I think Dixon really hurt us.

And I don’t see Roy playing in the box any more than he did with Dixon starting. And IF I’m wrong on that, one could argue that Dixon was so bad that Roy had to help him out in the secondary more than Lynn Scott.


Rich…………

[Waffle]

I refuse to blame our entire defensive struggles this season on Tony Dixon. By the looks of your post youre ready to lynch the poor guy.

He's been part of the problem, so has Roy and Newman and every other player on defense.
Morning Quick! It's nice to see you give Dixon the benefit of the doubt. You should try and use the same philosophy when it comes to the Head Coach! ;)

[Quicksilver]

I don’t understand your reasoning. Looking at the stats, the Cowboys have allowed on average 43 rushing yards LESS per game since Scott has been the starter. On top of that, they are allowing 1.67 rushing yards LESS per carry since Scott has become the starter.

The sample size is more than adequate and those numbers are too big to pass it off as a coincidence or passing the blame off to Roy and Newman (who last time I knew had 9 games this year where he allowed 1 catch or less).

When I first looked into computing this, I was doing it just to see the difference in the run defense in the second half of the season. But, when I started to look at the stats for each game and noticed a major decline in week 8, I also remembered that’s when Dixon was benched.

I thought Wiley was a problem as well as James. But, Wiley’s run defense hasn’t improved that much and James was sharing time with Coakley anyway. Considering the massive decrease in the numbers above and the fact that it probably plays into time of possession (I’ll look into that as well), I think Dixon really hurt us.

And I don’t see Roy playing in the box any more than he did with Dixon starting. And IF I’m wrong on that, one could argue that Dixon was so bad that Roy had to help him out in the secondary more than Lynn Scott.


Rich…………

yeah but you cant isolate it that easy.

Maybe its because Newman is playing better and we dont have to roll safety coverage his way. I have seen Scott making some plays in the running game up around the LOS.

I dont think its as black and white as youre laying it out.

Im not defending Dixon here but the fact is, the entire defense has underachieved this season.

[Quicksilver]

Morning Quick! It's nice to see you give Dixon the benefit of the doubt. You should try and use the same philosophy when it comes to the Head Coach! ;)

mornin waffle....

I havent bashed Parcells in a couple of days. Im trying to be good.

[Waffle]

mornin waffle....

I havent bashed Parcells in a couple of days. Im trying to be good.
That's nice! Stay out of trouble now! I guess you already had breakfast?? :)

[dbair1967]

I just took a look at our run defense this season and found out that TONY DIXON’S play was a big reason for our poor defense this year. Remember, Lynn Scott started the last 9 games this year.

RUN DEFENSE IN THE LAST 8 GAMES (RUNNING BACKS ONLY)

206 carries, 725 yards (3.52 yards per carry, 80.55 yards per game)


Out of those last 8 games, 2 of the first 3 were against Philly and Cincinnati where the run defense wasn’t very good. Take out those games, and here’s the run defense stats for the last 6 games:

RUN DEFENSE IN THE LAST 6 GAMES (RUNNING BACKS ONLY)

137 carries, 441 yards (3.22 yards per carry, 73.5 yards per game)


Compare that to our first 6 games, the ones that Dixon started:

RUN DEFENSE IN THE FIRST 7 GAMES (RUNNING BACKS ONLY)

143 carries, 742 yards (5.19 yards per carry, 123.67 yards per game)


In those first 6 games in which Dixon was the starter, the defense only held one opponent to under 100 yards rushing, the Washington Redskins. That was also the opponent that had the least amount of yards per carry, still at a solid 4.09 yards a pop.

In the last 9 games with Scott as the starting strong safety, 7 of the 9 teams were held to under 100 yards rushing (Philly had 129 yards in Game #1, Cincy had 115 yards albeit at only 3.96 yards a carry).

In the last 6 games, Seattle had the best game running against Dallas, with only 93 yards at only 3.88 yards a pop. But remember, in that game the defense held Shaun Alexander for most of the game until he got the ball on 4th and 1 with 4:23 left in the game and took off for a 33 yard TD, almost a freak play. Take that one play out of the equation and the defense allowed only 3.0 yards per carry and 68 yards rushing per game.

IIRC, not only was the Green Bay game Dixon’s last start, but it was also the last time that Bradie James saw significant action as well. This isn’t intended to be an endorsement for Scott to be next year’s starter at strong safety, but more or less to show how big of a problem Dixon was.


Rich………….

good research Rich.....seems pretty cut and dry to me, although Parcells says some of the defensive playbook was cutback recently as well and that has to account for some improvement as the players arnt having to think as much...

we SHOULD be markedly improved next yr, but we SHOULDNT have ever been THIS bad this yr either

David :jints:

[Yakuza Rich]

Here’s the average time of possession with Dixon as the starter:

28:35


Here’s the average time of possession with Scott as the starter:

31:33


There were 3 games that Scott started that Julius Jones didn’t play in. In those games they actually averaged 31:43 time of possession. Also remember that Terry Glenn was put on the I-R in the last game that Tony Dixon started. Something that did counter the effectiveness in the offense as Testaverde’s play has dropped since the Cincy game (a game that Scott started).

Rich…………..

[Yakuza Rich]

yeah but you cant isolate it that easy.

Maybe its because Newman is playing better and we dont have to roll safety coverage his way. I have seen Scott making some plays in the running game up around the LOS.

I dont think its as black and white as youre laying it out.

Im not defending Dixon here but the fact is, the entire defense has underachieved this season.


I don’t recall Newman ever getting much safety help, if any at all. And Dixon was a MAJOR liability in coverage. I’m still having thoughts of Terrell Owens coming into his zone, Dixon not bumping Owens and even worse, not even making an attempt to jump at the ball thrown to him.

This isn’t an endorsement of Scott either. He’s limited in his abilities to cover and stop the run. But, anytime you see a MAJOR difference in stats like this and are given adequate sample sizes, the probability of Dixon being that bad seems more likely.

The only other differences I see in the defense that *may* have contributed in the improvement of the run defense are:

1) Wiley
2) James
3) Frazier

But, I don’t see Wiley improving that much and he still splits quite a bit of time with Ogbogu. James was splitting time with Coakley and Frazier is a cornerback, not a real run stopper and he gets quite a bit of help from the safeties.

*Maybe* Carson’s play has been that much better. Maybe the LB play has been much better, maybe Roy has really stepped it up. But, I’m not buying into those as much as I’m buying into a replacement of a starting safety.


Rich…………..

[jobberone]

Well, I weigh stats but I think you're right.

First Parcells benched Dixon for some reason. Maybe Scott is better rather than Dixon injured, yada. Scott looks better but he still is too slow for me even though I thought he was a decent player from way back.

The defense is playing better although I don't think Scott is the sole reason. I think the team is tackling better (although they got a long way to go), the front four are playing run and rush better, Newman has improved, and Frazier gets some credit along with better nickel and dime coverage. Also LB play has improved. Shanle ain't bad.

And this is a thread about Scott who almost everyone laughed at.

LTN you out there for this one?

[CaptainAmerica]

I've said this before in a post, but I'll repeat it anyway. I'm a Bama grad and long-time observer of the program. For the life of me, I will never understand why we drafted Dixon, much less in the 2nd round. That one pick tells me all I need to know to understand how poor our scouting/personnel dept. has been.

I watched the guy all 4 years he played and he was never the type of player I would consider NFL quality. I couldn't believe it when we picked him!! He's a great young man, with pretty nice size, but he really never accomplished much at the college level. In fact he wasn't even a starter his entire Sr. year. He was below average in coverage and never made any plays. Obviously, he has some physical attributes, (decent size, speed, etc.), but IMO, he lacks instincts for the position.

Just an absolute waste of a 2nd round draft pick.

[Yakuza Rich]

I guess I’ll keep piling on Dixon.

PASSING DEFENSE WITH DIXON AS THE STARTER

62.2% completion
217.67 passing yards per game
7.25 yards per passing attempt
11.66 yards per passing completion
12 Passing TD’s (2 per game)
3 INT’s (0.5 per game)
15 sacks (2.5 sacks per game)
99.44 QB Rating Allowed


PASSING DEFENSE WITH SCOTT AS THE STARTER

60.9% completion
247 passing yards per game
7.61 yards per passing attempt
12.49 yards per passing completion
15 passing TD’s (1.67 per game)
9 INT’s (1 per game)
17 sacks (1.89 sacks per game)
88.88 QB Rating Allowed


Even though there are stats that work in Dixon’s favor (i.e. Yards Per Game, Yards Per Attempt, Yards Per Completion), the pass rush has decreased (2.5 sacks per game vs. 1.89 sacks per game) and the QB rating is still lower.

On top of that, the Browns game should probably be considered an anomaly since it’s statistics (8 for 27, 71 yards, 0 TD’s, 3 INT’s) were far far different from the other games Dixon started in. Take that game out and Dixon’s stats look like this:

68.0% completion
247 passing yards per game
8.07 yards per passing attempt
11.88 yards per passing completion
12 Passing TD’s (2 per game)
0 INT’s (0 per game)
14 sacks (2.8 sacks per game)
118.50 QB Rating

As you’ll see, the only stat that didn’t exceed Scott’s was the yards per completion. Even the sacks per game went up.


Rich……………..

[dbair1967]

I've said this before in a post, but I'll repeat it anyway. I'm a Bama grad and long-time observer of the program. For the life of me, I will never understand why we drafted Dixon, much less in the 2nd round. That one pick tells me all I need to know to understand how poor our scouting/personnel dept. has been.

I watched the guy all 4 years he played and he was never the type of player I would consider NFL quality. I couldn't believe it when we picked him!! He's a great young man, with pretty nice size, but he really never accomplished much at the college level. In fact he wasn't even a starter his entire Sr. year. He was below average in coverage and never made any plays. Obviously, he has some physical attributes, (decent size, speed, etc.), but IMO, he lacks instincts for the position.

Just an absolute waste of a 2nd round draft pick.

as I recall he had a great Senior Bowl and some solid workouts...Rick Gosselin usually gets the best draft info of any of these "draft gurus" before draft time, and he had Dixon moved into his top-60 (actually 60th) the week before the draft and said he had been told from several personnel people that Dixon was an intriguing prospect...

I actually believe someone will sign him, move him to a true SS position and he'll be a decent player...maybe not an everydown SS, but a guy who can play on early downs and in short yardage...he's also a decent special teams guy

David

[twa]

I posted that several days ago and everyone thought I was joking[probaly because I am too lazy to dig up stats :D ] While Scott is not a great safety he is amuch better tackler and has a nose for the ball. If you look at how many tackles the Db"s have to make it clearly shows Dixon ain't the only problem,but he does make it worse :banghead:

[Eskimo]

I agree that Dixon has been bad.

I think the biggest reason for the improved run D is Leo Carson. He has really been quite good in both the running game and the passing game for the last few weeks. I was ready to write him off altogether by about the 5th week but he has really sold me. Bringing him back next year should be made a priority.

Why did he get off to such a slow start? I'm not entirely sure but I think it may have been the after-effects of that pre-season knee injury. If you remember towards the end of last season he was clearly outplaying Blade.

Carson and Glover make up 2/3rds of a good rotation of 4-3 DTs. We need another guy in there - a true wide body. Ferguson is apparently about to re-sign with the Jets. The guy I've had my eye on has been Pat Williams. Not a spectacular player but a very consistent guy with a good motor who is hard to move off the line. He can even run a bit unlike Sam Adams and Ted Washington.

[Everlastingxxx]

I guess IÕll keep piling on Dixon.

Rich, you better lock all your doors at night, because Dixon is gonna come after you for exposing him for what he is...worthless.

[Rack Bauer]

It also can be contributed to the fact that roy is playing in the box more. But with that said, our defense probably only needs a corner to be a good unit.


Our CBs are fine. We need a consistent pass rush.

[tyke1doe]

History will also prove that Dixon is responsible for the fall of the Roman empire, as well.


ROTFL. You guys are too funny. :D

[junk]

If nothing else, terrific research. Much better than the usual Dixon sucks, Parcells sucks, Vinny sucks posts of late.

I think the switch of Dixon and Scott did help. The loss of Woodson was the real backbreaker of this defense. However, I think a few players have stepped up their play lately as well. Notably, Carson, Roy and Newman.