On a scale of 1-10, rate the performance of the defense this season

DandyDon52 · Jan 27, 2022

Blackrain said:
Ah the defense

In my humble opinion this was a bit of smoke and mirrors.

The total yards given up last time I researched was very similar to last year.
When are defense I believe was historically bad
What saved this defense was our two young stars Micah Parsons and Trayvon Diggs.

One could create havoc like Charles Haley and the other had the ball skills of deion Sanders.

That said the defense was no day at the beach couldn't stop the run and gave up huge chunk plays.
Those two young stars covered a multitude of sins for this defense.

Micah and Trayvon get a 10 rating.
The rest of the defense gets a 5

And Gregory gets a special award for being the stupidest player in a playoff game

here it is lol.... and I give the defense a 8!

Texas_Pete · Jan 27, 2022

75boyz said:
7.5

I was thinking 8, but this works.

49ers front line is the blueprint for what we should do. Control the line of scrimmage with front 4 and drop 7 in various coverages. That requires stout DL.

My wish for the 24th overall pick (if that stud Center from Iowa is gone) would be 6'6" 340lb Jordan Davis from U of Georgia.

But alas, the last time the Cowboys used a premium pick on a DL was Russell Maryland (who helped anchor our defense from 1991-1995, including our SB years).

We need another Big Poppa the run stoppa

MyFairLady · Jan 27, 2022

A 7 seems reasonable overall. Definitely better than expected. Parsons and Diggs were straight up 10s. They raised the curve by a full point all on their own. Jayron was a pleasant surprise and a positive. In all honesty Anthony Brown was probably a positive overall. Everyone else was probably around a 5 or so overall.

atlantacowboy · Jan 27, 2022

You have to break this down.

3 against the run
8 against the pass

Miguelitomama · Jan 27, 2022

Blackrain said:
Ah the defense

In my humble opinion this was a bit of smoke and mirrors.

The total yards given up last time I researched was very similar to last year.
When are defense I believe was historically bad
What saved this defense was our two young stars Micah Parsons and Trayvon Diggs.

One could create havoc like Charles Haley and the other had the ball skills of deion Sanders.

That said the defense was no day at the beach couldn't stop the run and gave up huge chunk plays.
Those two young stars covered a multitude of sins for this defense.

Micah and Trayvon get a 10 rating.
The rest of the defense gets a 5

And Gregory gets a special award for being the stupidest player in a playoff game

Exactly. One only has to read the stats for the linebackers to see that this defense wasn't all that...They were exposed in the game against San Francisco, unable to stop the run and an opening drive that was a terrible harbinger of how the game would proceed. San Francisco diced them up in short order. I think the secondary is a 7, the line a 5 and linebackers a 3. The lone exception is my abysmal grading of the line backers is Micah Parsons, of course, who earns a 9.

Scottishcowboy · Jan 27, 2022

I'd go with a 6. Given last season, that's a good improvement.

I think some of these 8 scores are drawn in by the turnover stats and by a certain no11 who was sensational but looked at objectively, that alone doesn't merit 8.

Our pressure on the QB was patchy and at times, non existent so that needs to improve.
Splash plays by the CBs were great but we gave up some huge chunk plays too and we can't ignore that.
Ability to stop the run...........I think our stats last season were masked/ look better than what we are as teams fell behind us often so had to abandon the run.
and my biggest pet hate.............YAC was often way too much for my liking, makes me mad when you think a play is dead only to see 5 /10 yards tacked on from sloppy wrapping up - that has to get better.

lukin2006 · Jan 27, 2022

5. They sucked in the most important game…

Bobhaze · Jan 27, 2022

I would say a 6. It was a huge improvement from 2020 because of two things:

Micah Parsons is a stud.
They forced a ton of turnovers

The reason that I can’t give them a higher score is the big increase in TOs masked a lot of problems that still remain.

This defense has problems consistently stopping the run when they weren’t ahead on the scoreboard as evidenced later in the season and especially in the one playoff game. We also need more consistency in the pass rush besides what we generated from our stud rookie LB.

MajesticRey · Jan 27, 2022

NoFurtherQuestions said:
6

D-Line still needs to get a lot better. Need more linebackers. Need some of the rookie CB's to come on

Facts, dude. Besides Parsons and LVE, I bet most Cowboys fans can’t name a single Linebacker here. Hell, even I can’t. Neal? Was he a LB or a S?

We need another star (or least someone who doesn’t get beat) in our front 7. NT and LB are my priorities in the draft.
- - -
I give our defense a 7/10. All of those turnovers and sacks during the regular season, but they lay an egg in our playoff game. Terrible at defending the run and even some underneath routes.

Redline360 · Jan 27, 2022

6

Parsons was a beast. Diggs got the turnovers however had historically bad numbers otherwise. Stopping the run is still not a priority to Jerry

Risen Star · Jan 27, 2022

5-6.

It's an average at best defense that won't improve a lick if they don't rebuild the DL. Those guys are garbage.

Fontaine · Jan 27, 2022

We need a fat guy to take it to the next level.

Risen Star · Jan 27, 2022

Fontaine said:
We need a fat guy to take it to the next level.

You need pass rushers too.

Bobhaze · Jan 27, 2022

The turnovers we got this year were great. But they also became fools gold at times and blinded a lot of our fans to the fact that without getting a lot of turnovers, this defense was incapable of imposing its will on anyone.

kskboys · Jan 27, 2022

Risen Star said:
5-6.

It's an average at best defense that won't improve a lick if they don't rebuild the DL. Those guys are garbage.

Or at least add to it. Not sure anyone other than DLaw is a legit starter.

Bobhaze · Jan 27, 2022

kskboys said:
Or at least add to it. Not sure anyone other than DLaw is a legit starter.

Agreed. But too many here (and maybe the FO too) think Randy Gregory is an elite pass rusher worth resigning at a higher price. Another example of “we like our guys” that too often overrates our own players. I like RG and want him to do well because of his story. But that doesn’t mean I think he’s worth the money he’s going to demand.

maryquality · Jan 27, 2022

6.825

DFWJC · Jan 27, 2022

Not many good defenses in the league right now

If we’re comparing them on a curve, they get a 6.5 or 7
But the question was THIS year and they had a ton of turnovers
Counting on turnovers is fools gold
Take that away and its a 5 or so

Need the D to be stronger fundamentally

kskboys · Jan 27, 2022

Bobhaze said:
Agreed. But too many here (and maybe the FO too) think Randy Gregory is an elite pass rusher worth resigning at a higher price. Another example of “we like our guys” that too often overrates our own players. I like RG and want him to do well because of his story. But that doesn’t mean I think he’s worth the money he’s going to demand.

RG is a 5-6 mil player. More than that is money better spent elsewhere. 10 or more is utter stupidity.

CouchCoach · Jan 27, 2022

5 No defense that cannot stop the run will ever get beyond a 5 from me.

Parsons is the only player that gets beyond a 5. Diggs was feast or famine in coverage. He needs to do his primary job, prevent the completion but he did score a 9 on ball skills.

In the playoff game, they scored a 4, they had one player to stop and they knew who that one player was before the game.

On a scale of 1-10, rate the performance of the defense this season

DandyDon52

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Texas_Pete

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MyFairLady

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atlantacowboy

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Miguelitomama

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Scottishcowboy

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lukin2006

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Bobhaze

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Risen Star

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Fontaine

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Risen Star

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