1st Half Defense Among the Best

[percyhoward]

In the first half of games, the Cowboys have allowed 1.46 points per opponent's drive, to rank 6th among NFL defenses. (In the second half, Dallas drops to 17th.)

1 Det 1.11
2 Bal 1.30
3 Buf 1.33
4 Cin 1.33
5 NE 1.38
6 Dal 1.46
7 Mia 1.49
8 GB 1.57
9 SD 1.60
10 Ind 1.63

% of opponent's drives that end in...
scores 23% (2nd)
FG 4% (1st)
TD 19% (12th)
punts 52% (5th)
turnovers 13% (10th)

yards per drive
25.7 (6th)

plays per drive
4.9 (1st)

avg time of each possession
2:24 (6th)

avg. starting field position
Opp 27 (22nd)*
*only 10 other defense's opponents have better starting field position

 

[Idgit]

Do other teams who drop significantly in the second half also have offenses that might be putting their defenses in prevent positions? Or is it something else that's causing us to dip in the 3rd and 4th quarters. I have to admit, I hadn't noticed a particular issue with feeling like we wear down later in games.

 

[LandryFan]

In the first half of games, the Cowboys have allowed 1.46 points per opponent's drive, to rank 6th among NFL defenses. (In the second half, Dallas drops to 17th.)

1 Det 1.11
2 Bal 1.30
3 Buf 1.33
4 Cin 1.33
5 NE 1.38
6 Dal 1.46
7 Mia 1.49
8 GB 1.57
9 SD 1.60
10 Ind 1.63

% of opponent's drives that end in...
scores 23% (2nd)
FG 4% (1st)
TD 19% (12th)
punts 52% (5th)
turnovers 13% (10th)

yards per drive
25.7 (6th)

plays per drive
4.9 (1st)

avg time of each possession
2:24 (6th)

avg. starting field position
Opp 27 (22nd)*
*only 10 other defense's opponents have better starting field position

Some of the second half scoring comes from soft coverage after getting a decent lead. Saints and Jags come immediately to mind.

 

[bayeslife]

Average field position is concerning, but a testament to their ability to keep teams from scoring.

 

[percyhoward]

Do other teams who drop significantly in the second half also have offenses that might be putting their defenses in prevent positions?

Here's where those same defenses rank (in TD% allowed) when the defense has more than a one-score lead in the 4th.

1 Det 9th
2 Bal 7th
3 Buf 14th
4 Cin 29th
5 NE 10th
6 Dal 22nd
7 Mia 18th
8 GB 17th
9 SD 1st
10 Ind 20th

The average drop is about 7 spots, and we drop 16. The 10 defenses that have faced at least 12 such drives rank 5th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 13th, 17th, 19th, 22nd, 27th, and 30th on those drives. So it's not normal to drop as much as we do in prevent situations.

I think what's significant is how Dallas' defense compares against the league in the first half of games.

 

[percyhoward]

Average field position is concerning, but a testament to their ability to keep teams from scoring.

Good point. If you "normalize" starting field position to an average of the opponent's 20 (including only the drives that began inside the opponent's 35), the Cowboys have faced 40 1st-half drives.

Only 7 of those drives have ended in scores, which leads the league along with Detroit.

 

[Jack Burton]

I think a big part of it is that our guys overall are not that talented, but they play with tremendous effort. That intensity cannot be sustained all game long however, and they wear down some. That's why ball control and time of possession are such an important part of the winning formula. The longer this defense spends on the field, the more it gets fatigued and exposed.

 

[AdamJT13]

Good point. If you "normalize" starting field position to an average of the opponent's 20 (including only the drives that began inside the opponent's 35), the Cowboys have faced 40 1st-half drives.

Only 7 of those drives have ended in scores, which leads the league along with Detroit.

If you look only at first-half possessions when the offense started on its own side of the field, we've allowed the lowest percentage of scoring drives (9 of 46 for 19.6 percent).

 

[Galian Beast]

I think part of the problem is our offense isn't putting teams away in the first half of games.

If they can get the offense to fire on full cylinders from the get go, we should become a more dominant team.

We're 9th in the NFL in 1st half points, with 12.8 per game, but the difference between us and the top teams is significant.

We might give up some yards and points because teams take more chances, but I think it will also result in more turnovers, and hopefully more points for us offensively. I think we saw that against the Jaguars.

 

[AdamJT13]

I think part of the problem is our offense isn't putting teams away in the first half of games.

We've had three halftime leads of at least 16 points. Only the Patriots have had more (four), and only the Packers have had as many as we have.

 

[Galian Beast]

We've had three halftime leads of at least 16 points. Only the Patriots have had more (four), and only the Packers have had as many as we have.

That is a pretty arbitrary way of looking at it.

The reality is that we're 3-0 in those games. Which is great, and goes directly to my point, but what about the other seven games?

In the three games we lost we averaged 6.7 points in the first half...

We only scored 3 points in the first half in the overtime win against the Texans.

When we come out of the gates slowly, we find ourselves in a position where we either lose games or struggle to win them.

Even our overall average is skewed by games where we did come out strong, and as a result put teams out quickly.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Some of the second half scoring comes from soft coverage after getting a decent lead. Saints and Jags come immediately to mind.

Do other teams who drop significantly in the second half also have offenses that might be putting their defenses in prevent positions? Or is it something else that's causing us to dip in the 3rd and 4th quarters. I have to admit, I hadn't noticed a particular issue with feeling like we wear down later in games.

Would being aggressive and attacking in second half be too risky? Why don't we do that? Too afraid of giving up big plays?

 

[LandryFan]

Would being aggressive and attacking in second half be too risky? Why don't we do that? Too afraid of giving up big plays?

I believe that this coaching staff was overly conservative in years past. I think they're still somewhat conservative this year, but significantly more willing to take risks than in previous years, especially on the offensive side of the ball. I have no stats to back any of that up, just going off of what it seems I have seen this year as opposed to previous seasons.

 

[VACowboy]

We turn the ball over a lot. Seems to me most of them happen early, though.

 

[VACowboy]

And BTW... I love this stuff, PH!

 

[jazzcat22]

We turn the ball over a lot. Seems to me most of them happen early, though.

Way too many turnovers. Needless to say they were the reasons to all 3 losses.
SF game jut too many too soon, and SF scored, we couldn't recover.
Washington & Arizona, they were at key moments, when about to score.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I think a big part of it is that our guys overall are not that talented, but they play with tremendous effort. That intensity cannot be sustained all game long however, and they wear down some. That's why ball control and time of possession are such an important part of the winning formula. The longer this defense spends on the field, the more it gets fatigued and exposed.

But they're playing very disciplined also.

We're simply not seeing the break downs in coverage, the mass confusion prior to the snap, or all the finger-pointing that we've seen the last couple of seasons.

 

[Doomsday101]

I have been singing the praise of the defense and what I am seeing is a unit that is improving week to week. Pass Rush I think will be much improved over the last 6 games of the season as Melton now seems to have his game legs and starting to see more coming from others on the defensive front.

 

[JD_KaPow]

When we come out of the gates slowly, we find ourselves in a position where we either lose games or struggle to win them.

Well, yeah. That's almost a tautology.

 

[Galian Beast]

Well, yeah. That's almost a tautology.

Agreed, but apparently not everyone is on the same page here.