As much as I want to rip Brown

[Praxit]

...what game you watch? Dallas almost beat the Champs.

 

[Sydla]

DL needs to be better but they weren't horrible and were ok against the run. But how anyone can watch this team and think DL is a bigger need than CB gets me every time

Because with a good DL, you can cover up some bad CB play at times. When you don't have a good DL, even good CBs can't overcome that.

 

[SackMaster]

Who hits Tom Brady? Like seriously..

He’s 44 and still playing for a reason.

Exactly.

Tom Brady just does not hold onto the ball. Hell, the last 3 plays of the game when he was just throwing it away he got rid of it quickly.

It is what Tom Brady does.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Cowboys lack a dominant pass rusher.....I think the hope was that Gregory can turn into that but its just not here.

 

[Sydla]

I have said it earlier and I still think Gallimore is a + player. We will see.

Osa looks like he has a chance to be a + player as well. I can't come down on rookies not looking great against Brady and that championship team game 1. I expect that we will get better and better, kind of like last year but our starting point is much better.

Think about a guy like Parson, put in that position last night. Going against all of these wiley vets and was a tick slow on a bunch of plays. He will get there...and he will get there quickly, IMO.

Brown shguldn't be starting, he is a bottom of the CB depth chart guy who should play ST. I think Bossman will take that spot as soon as he gets back and will give up some plays but also make plays. He will also get better and better.

Let's not jump to conclusions one way or the other off of the first game of the season.

While some of this is fair, it doesn't change the fact that the DL simply is mediocre. And it's not like we have a whole host of new guys here. And the new guys we brought in are mostly JAGs. You are still relying on the same two DEs that were just OK at rushing the passer in 2020. You didn't add any real playmakers inside at DT, instead spending FA money on JAGs like Carlos Watkins and Urban.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I also want to say we should be careful. We should factor it was the 1st game of the season and we faced Tom Brady. We won't be facing too many QB's the caliber of Brady this year......

 

[Jarntt]

Because with a good DL, you can cover up some bad CB play at times. When you don't have a good DL, even good CBs can't overcome that.

Yeah and when you have good CBs it does the same for the DL.

Anyone making a case that any player on the starting defense was worse than Brown last night is lying and/or has a huge agenda to put forth. Now of course one game is one game, but the last couple of years speak to his genera suckiness as well. Every Cowboy fan should have seen enough at this point

 

[conner01]

if this team had a good DL, they'd be a contender and could overcome a guy like Brown.

It cannot be stressed enough how mediocre this DL is. And while I get some will claim Gallimore is the missing link, he's a fine DT but he's not a difference maker and this DL desperately needs difference makers.

Lawrence is a nice DE. He's not a great one. He plays the run well, is generally disciplined but at this point, after denying it for awhile, he's just not the pass rusher I thought he was. He's better than average for sure, but the Cowboys paid him to be a terror off the edge and he's just not that.

Gregory is a nice story getting his life back in order but he has to be way better than he was last night if Dallas even wants to think about the postseason. Armstrong had a nice rush, Anae (I think it was him) just looked like a JAG out there. There's a difference between beating the 2nd string or 3rd string OT in a preseason game and a starting caliber OT on a SB favorite.

DT is what it always is. Just filled with a group of decent to JAGs. Cowboys keep thinking they can build a really good DT corps by not investing in elite level guys and instead just building what they think will be a solid rotation of guys. Counting on a guy like Osa to make an impact was a real stretch IMO. He needs time. Watkins? LOL. I saw Urban out there a few times in pass situations, and he did zero.

I've spent the last decade lamenting the Cowboys and how they have failed to build a really good DL. Why would I stop whining now?

Law is a very good DE in most aspects of his game. Really good against the run. But he’s not an elite pass rusher
We need a Ware type across from him
DT is the weak link. And while I really like Gallimore he’s not gonna ride in and make DT a strength
I think with the offense we have, if they stay healthy, we can win with this defense but it’s not gonna be a top 10 D with the pass rush we have
But if it’s average, which it can be I think, we can win with average and this offense
Rushers are about the hardest thing to get on a dline
Inside or outside, but both are gonna be real serious needs and I hope we can get one really good player at DT or de in the next draft. That is the weakness in this d
Brown is a sold CB and AB beat him like a rented mule. But he’s gonna beat a lot of much better CB this year
The constant open guy over the middle behind the LB ran me nuts. Gronk is a monster and Brady was throwing perfect passes there, but we have to tighten that up. Parsons is a young guy who will get much better at what he does but it’s not all on him to fix that
Overall I think in two phases of the game last night we played a good game
Our ST were really bad. Not just missing a very make able FG and extra point, but return coverage was just as bad
We need to be good on ST to help make up for the weaknesses on D
This team can be a very good team this year if we fix what is actually fixable
We aren’t fixing the dline at this point but ST is fixable
We have an explosive offense but we can’t take huge loss sacks outside the pocket, we can’t have holding penalties that take you out of FG range
If we fix what is realistically fixable we can win the division and that’s goal one

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

While some of this is fair, it doesn't change the fact that the DL simply is mediocre. And it's not like we have a whole host of new guys here. And the new guys we brought in are mostly JAGs. You are still relying on the same two DEs that were just OK at rushing the passer in 2020. You didn't add any real playmakers inside at DT, instead spending FA money on JAGs like Carlos Watkins and Urban.

Are we underestimating how good that Buccaneers offensive line is? They seem like a rather dominant unit.

 

[Sydla]

Yeah and when you have good CBs it does the same for the DL.

Anyone making a case that any player on the starting defense was worse than Brown last night is lying and/or has a huge agenda to put forth. Now of course one game is one game, but the last couple of years speak to his genera suckiness as well. Every Cowboy fan should have seen enough at this point

Brown is terrible. I've said that in multiple threads and he should be benched. But the reality is this team is always half assing it along the DL and it shows over and over. The Cowboys have spent back to back 2nd rounders on CBs. They don't nearly have that kind of investment in the DT position, for example.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Yeah and when you have good CBs it does the same for the DL.

Anyone making a case that any player on the starting defense was worse than Brown last night is lying and/or has a huge agenda to put forth. Now of course one game is one game, but the last couple of years speak to his genera suckiness as well. Every Cowboy fan should have seen enough at this point

I don't think that's entirely true. Its a passing league and the rules cater to passing. A good defensive line goes a lot further than a good secondary. I just think about those Giant defenses that on Eli 2 rings......those secondaries weren't that good. Hell look at the Bucc's...their secondary is their weakness compared to their front 7.

 

[Sydla]

Are we underestimating how good that Buccaneers offensive line is? They seem like a rather dominant unit.

I'd be more inclined to buy into that if not for the fact the same players from last year weren't all that great rushing the passer and we didn't exactly bring in some studs this offseason, instead nickel and diming in FA and throwing a third rounder at an undersized DT that has a bit of long term potential.

I think Jerry looks at guys like Lawrence and Gregory and keeps convincing himself that despite previous years, this is the year they explode. And then it doesn't happen and he goes back to wishing again the next offseason.

I hope you guys are right and that this is just a one game blip, but they keep building the DL the same way and it has rarely worked out over the last 10-20 years.

 

[conner01]

I also want to say we should be careful. We should factor it was the 1st game of the season and we faced Tom Brady. We won't be facing too many QB's the caliber of Brady this year......

I know some are crying the blues but I was really excited about how we played
We played well enough to be in a position to win and most of what it would have taken to win against the defending SB champs is fixable
We aren’t fixing the Dline at this point but if we do enough other things to off set that weakness we can still win

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Brown is terrible. I've said that in multiple threads and he should be benched. But the reality is this team is always half assing it along the DL and it shows over and over. The Cowboys have spent back to back 2nd rounders on CBs. They don't nearly have that kind of investment in the DT position, for example.

I can't knock them for going Diggs. That was great value. Joseph....this was a weak DT class but maybe you could've made a argument for a DT over him?

 

[IceStar-D7]

I'll give Brown one more week. Wasn't his fault Brady had a clear pocket and all day to throw either.

 

[Jarntt]

I don't think that's entirely true. Its a passing league and the rules cater to passing. A good defensive line goes a lot further than a good secondary. I just think about those Giant defenses that on Eli 2 rings......those secondaries weren't that good. Hell look at the Bucc's...their secondary is their weakness compared to their front 7.

You are cherry picking examples. If our CBs could cover for more than 1 second Brady would have needed to hold the ball longer which gives the DL time to get there. Brown was beat so badly on a few deep balls it's as if he was on the take...

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I'd be more inclined to buy into that if not for the fact the same players from last year weren't all that great rushing the passer and we didn't exactly bring in some studs this offseason, instead nickel and diming in FA and throwing a third rounder at an undersized DT that has a bit of long term potential.

They weren't...but I think most of us expected Gregory to take a step forward. We also felt just 24 hours ago that guys like Basham and Urban were upgrades. We upgraded the depth for sure. I'm not entirely sure what to expect from Gregory.....

 

[Ken]

While some of this is fair, it doesn't change the fact that the DL simply is mediocre. And it's not like we have a whole host of new guys here. And the new guys we brought in are mostly JAGs. You are still relying on the same two DEs that were just OK at rushing the passer in 2020. You didn't add any real playmakers inside at DT, instead spending FA money on JAGs like Carlos Watkins and Urban.

Ya, i mean they didn't add any studs, sure.

They focused on suring up the run d. The guys they brought in, both in the draft and in FA, are run guys first. While i don't think it was outstanding yesterday, they didn't stick to it against us like they normally would have.

I expected more from Gregory and I am not giving up yet on him. We will see...i also expect that Parsons will add to the rush as he gets his feet under him.

 

[Sydla]

I can't knock them for going Diggs. That was great value. Joseph....this was a weak DT class but maybe you could've made a argument for a DT over him?

I am not knocking Diggs at all. My point being they seemingly are more willing to put assets into the CB position, relative to say DT.

Again, they were hunting for a CB in the first round and ended up with Parsons by default. They value CB more than DL, especially DT, and I think that's a mistake.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

You are cherry picking examples. If our CBs could cover for more than 1 second Brady would have needed to hold the ball longer which gives the DL time to get there. Brown was beat so badly on a few deep balls it's as if he was on the take...

Tom Brady doesn't hold the ball though lol. He's one of the best at getting the football out which is why he has so much success. There's a reason why he has 7 rings...you're asking a secondary to do what essentially no one has against him. He's a technician.