Random Thoughts Cowboys Defense

charron said:

Agreed. It needs to change. Maybe put 1-2 LB on the line, maybe back 1 or both off at the snap, use more man coverage for sure. Our DE can get to the QB if given half second more. Tell out DT to NOT rush, maintain gap integrity and keep the OL bottled up in front of them.

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Sounds like a plan. Now let’s tell Richard.

xwalker said:

Coverage was much better in 2018 than in 2017. It was fundamentally sound in 2018. CB Brown said the 2017 coaches never coached him to play inside or outside leverage, etc.. That all got corrected to look like a legit NFL back 7 with Richard.

The problem is the overall scheme was susceptible to getting gashed by the run, especially by Zone Blocking offenses like the Rams, Vikings, 2019 Packers, etc.. The 49ers are masters of the ZBS.

The Rams game was reviewed by Cowboys opponents during the off-season and the Cowboys just don't have an answer for it in their basic defensive scheme.

Richard has tried to implement work-arounds to solve the run defense issues while keeping the Marinelli DL scheme but that has been at the expense of coverage.

It is impossible to know what Richard could do if he had been the legit D-Coordinator since the beginning of the off-season.

Jimmy often referenced the difficultly to implement anything new during the season and said it was the one thing that surprised him when coming to the NFL. The rules about practice time and tacking make it even more difficult now.

Regardless it's time to replace the coaching staff.

I think Kris Richard will eventually be a top D-Coordinator somewhere but it will need to be with a strong Head Coach.

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i agree we must move on from Marinelli's D scheme..i am sure Marinelli if not fired will resign after the year is over..he already said the players dont hear him anymore...that is code for moving on

glimmerman said:

Sounds like a plan. Now let’s tell Richard.

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yes...move on from the hybrid Tampa 2 altogether...it does not work any longer in this NFL

GORICO said:

yes...move on from the hybrid Tampa 2 altogether...it does not work any longer in this NFL

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It’s hard to execute. It’s a thing of the past like our Offensive playbook.

Richard had been with Carroll since USC, and was dismissed. That tells you all you need to know.

glimmerman said:

It’s hard to execute. It’s a thing of the past like our Offensive playbook.

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hey man what happened anyway...start of the season lots of motion and fakes and now its back to predictable offense?

Haimerej said:

If they can't cover 1 gap they're not covering 2 either.

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Not necessarily true...in the 1 gap they ask the players to go up field and offenses have used that aggressiveness against Dallas. Often letting the DT upfield and getting OL on the LBs thru use of screens or trap plays.

By going two gap, the DTs would not be going upfield. They stand their ground and shed the blocker depending on which gap the runner goes into. Conservative? Yes. But at this stage, necessary IMO.

ironically the Rams run a 3-4 scheme led by Wade Phillips who implemented his same 3-4 scheme here as well.

but the big difference between Wade's 3-4 scheme vs other teams 3-4 scheme, is Wade's version is not designed to be a 2 gap scheme, its' more one gap oriented
and basically made to slant the front seven vs head up and hold up like other 3-4 units does.
Explains why Ratliff was able to operate as an undersized 3-4 nose tackle at 295 for so long before he eventually wore down.

xwalker said:

The Rams game was reviewed by Cowboys opponents during the off-season and the Cowboys just don't have an answer for it in their basic defensive scheme.

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IMO, there's simply fix vs zone blocking - quit stunting so much

GORICO said:

hey man what happened anyway...start of the season lots of motion and fakes and now its back to predictable offense?

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Are you noticing the same amount of motion and fakes. How about that misdirection. Let me run this same run between the tackle in the same formation but my WR is gonna come in motion and go right back to his original position.

I can’t explain. I think it was lesser teams and a exciting new Offense with no film to watch for other teams yet. Team has no heart, they get punched in the mouth and run to the sidelines. Seem last year they weren’t like that. We don’t punch anyone in the mouth other than that first amazing drive. And what’s up with that. No effort after the first drive, even the first drive may be predictable but the effort is there and then what.

glimmerman said:

Are you noticing the same amount of motion and fakes. How about that misdirection. Let me run this same run between the tackle in the same formation but my WR is gonna come in motion and go right back to his original position.

I can’t explain. I think it was lesser teams and a exciting new Offense with no film to watch for other teams yet. Team has no heart, they get punched in the mouth and run to the sidelines. Seem last year they weren’t like that. We don’t punch anyone in the mouth other than that first amazing drive. And what’s up with that. No effort after the first drive, even the first drive may be predictable but the effort is there and then what.

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glimmer--i think this is evidence a coach has lost his team

glimmerman said:

This Sunday they need to do no stunting. 4 man front and let the LB and safety come up on run plays. Bring blitzes on pass plays. We have to get pressure or they will eat up the soft zone he has to run. Pressure is key. At this point I would gamble and go man coverage.

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I think if they go man coverage they need to blitz more because McVay will have his WRs run those crossing routes in traffic underneath that are very hard to cover on man to man.

xwalker said:

Coverage was much better in 2018 than in 2017. It was fundamentally sound in 2018. CB Brown said the 2017 coaches never coached him to play inside or outside leverage, etc.. That all got corrected to look like a legit NFL back 7 with Richard.

The problem is the overall scheme was susceptible to getting gashed by the run, especially by Zone Blocking offenses like the Rams, Vikings, 2019 Packers, etc.. The 49ers are masters of the ZBS.

The Rams game was reviewed by Cowboys opponents during the off-season and the Cowboys just don't have an answer for it in their basic defensive scheme.

Richard has tried to implement work-arounds to solve the run defense issues while keeping the Marinelli DL scheme but that has been at the expense of coverage.

It is impossible to know what Richard could do if he had been the legit D-Coordinator since the beginning of the off-season.

Jimmy often referenced the difficultly to implement anything new during the season and said it was the one thing that surprised him when coming to the NFL. The rules about practice time and tacking make it even more difficult now.

Regardless it's time to replace the coaching staff.

I think Kris Richard will eventually be a top D-Coordinator somewhere but it will need to be with a strong Head Coach.

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So how did the Colts run all over them and destroy them? Maybe they cracked the code and not the Rams? Hmm. Run right at these soft DT's who will most likely run themselves out of the hole anyway thanks to mindless maniac Marinelli's scheme of stunting.

Hadenough said:

I think if they go man coverage they need to blitz more because McVay will have his WRs run those crossing routes in traffic underneath that are very hard to cover on man to man.

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Especially when our mindless moron Marinelli and Richard tells our LB's to play 5 and 6 yards off the ball.

Zman5 said:

Problem is we play this kind of coverage where it's easy for the opposing team to convert. Look at this vid. The Gints only need 1 yard for the first down, yet Awuzie is playing 9 yards away from the receiver.
It's an easy pitch and catch for the offense that will convert almost 100% of the time.

""

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This play is a good example of over-focusing on the run at the expense of coverage.

The CB would be OK if the front 7 and CB were in sync.

Notice the FS. The ball is on the right hash but the FS is shaded to the side with 2 WRs. Usually they shade the FS even more. The FS will help to the side with 2 WRs if they go deep or intermediate routes on both sides. That leaves the LCB isolated.

When other teams run that type of coverage one of the two players closest to the LCB move out to cover underneath OR they pass rush (blitz) that player outside the RT and attempt to block the pass if they don't get all the way to the QB.

Note: Going for the block has been a big emphasis by Cowboys opponents vs Dak this season. Even if they don't block it, they're forcing Dak to throw around defenders that are putting extra effort into get their hands and body up in his throwing lanes.

The Cowboys were over-focused on the run on this play. They have been guessing run/pass like on this play way too often this season.

I can't see for certain on my phone but I think that is the SS outside the RT. He didn't really blitz or cover.

The LB on that side didn't move out in coverage either.

This is not the Legion of Boom style of coverage.

Richard Sherman in LoB coverage would stand in front of the WR and not budge until the WR committed inside or outside. He could play up despite no help because he played inside leverage and was only responsible if the WR went outside. If the WR went inside a LB or SS would pick him up underneath. Sherman didn't always play LoB style. They did use zone and off-man at times.

Keithfansince5 said:

So how did the Colts run all over them and destroy them? Maybe they cracked the code and not the Rams? Hmm. Run right at these soft DT's who will most likely run themselves out of the hole anyway thanks to mindless maniac Marinelli's scheme of stunting.

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Yes that game was the first signs of problems to come.

Keithfansince5 said:

Especially when our mindless moron Marinelli and Richard tells our LB's to play 5 and 6 yards off the ball.

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And the CBs are all 7 yards off the WRs. They never line up close and press the WRs.

Number1 said:

IMO, there's simply fix vs zone blocking - quit stunting so much

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No, they cut way back on stunting starting in the preseason.

Stunting is not the core problem; although it does make things worse.

The primary way the Rams and other teams have attacked the Cowboys with Zone Runs:

Start an outside zone run to the side where the 1tech is aligned.

RB keys on the 1tech and backside LB to see if they over-commit or under-commit to the outside.

If they over-commit outside then the RB cuts back inside and vice-versa.

The RB knows how the OLine will block those players. The defenders are moving laterally. Blockers just need to get between them and the inside or outside. As long as the RB and OL "read" it the same way, it is hard for those 2 defenders to ever make the correct decision on inside vs outside.

In 2018 the Pats were running a 4-3 base defense.

In the Super Bowl Belichick swapped the OLB and Nickel CB positions.

Example: Slot WR outside LT.
The LB normally on the opposite side moved outside the LT.
The Nickel CB moved to the opposite side (outside the RT).
With the LB outside the RDE, the RDE played the gap inside the LT instead of outside the LT. That gap was normally assigned to a LB. Against the run they are just flipping gap responsibility between the RDE and a LB (i.e. The LB outside the LT now has that gap).

Note: The 1tech is on the side with the RDE.

Now the outside LB's run responsibilities are always outside regardless of whether the RB goes outside or cuts back inside.

The MLB's run responsibilities are always inside.

The 1tech does not need to make a quick jump to the outside to play the outside run.

The obvious "catch" is coverage. The LB plays a short zone and can block the inside path of the slot WR. A Safety has to pick up the slot WR behind the OLB's short zone.

On the other side the Nickel CB will match-up with the TE.

That simple change completely turned the Rams precision blocking scheme upside down. Without success running on 1st/2nd downs, the Rams QB became a sitting duck against the Pats 3rd down defense.

The Pats often use 6 big LBs and 1 DT on 3rd downs. They move around making it difficult for OLinemen to know who to block.

This season the Pats are playing more 3-4 on 1st downs which makes it easier to play run defense and keep the Nickel CB on the slot WR.

The other thing the Pats do is to vary the exact positioning of DLinemen based on specific down/distance and offensive alignment.

They are very focused on whether they are head-up or shaded in or out relative to the OL they're facing. They often adjust by half a gap just before the snap.

If you watch the Cowboys offense on zone runs, just having a DT aligned a half gap over can make a huge difference on many plays. It determines if the OLineman or the DLineman has better leverage on that snap.

Kaiser said:

What NFL defensive coordinators does Urban Meyer have coaching ties to?

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Kerry Coombs was a co-DC for him at OSU and is now the secondary coach of the Titans. Not saying he’s an NFL DC, but he’s a good coach in his own right.

RamziD said:

Kerry Coombs was a co-DC for him at OSU and is now the secondary coach of the Titans. Not saying he’s an NFL DC, but he’s a good coach in his own right.

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I do think the HC will be a "big splash" like Urban Meyer (that Jones has been talking to fo months) and Kellen Moore stays at OC (deservedly). The next DC will be an interesting one to watch.