1st Half Defense Among the Best

[AdamJT13]

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.

It sounds like you're complaining just to complain. Wouldn't it be great if we won every game by a blowout in the first half and were the best in the league at everything? Yeah, that would be great.

 

[Jack Burton]

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.

They are definitely playing with more discipline, and it's great to see them not running around frantically like chickens with their heads cut off before the snap because they don't know where they are supposed to be. I like the progress the defense has made and look forward to seeing it improve as more experience and talent are added to it.

 

[Hoov]

I wonder if it is Rod putting together a great game plan to cover up some shortcomings talent wise and teams taking several drives to figure it out. As for the other teams not dropping as much in the second half - they may have better talent which allows them to sustain the efforts - Just speculation on my part though.

 

[Galian Beast]

It sounds like you're complaining just to complain. Wouldn't it be great if we won every game by a blowout in the first half and were the best in the league at everything? Yeah, that would be great.

It looks like you were wrong, and now you're lashing out...

I wasn't complaining about anything. The OP stated that we had one of the best 1st half defenses in the NFL and then the theme was that the defense doesn't hold up in the 2nd half.

I suggested it is because we aren't putting teams away because we're under producing in the first half. The stats back that up.

 

[TrailBlazer]

The defense has played well, given our expectations. And it's not all because of the offense.

 

[Idgit]

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.

It's more likely you're seeing the effect of turning the ball over early, between the first have picks in the SF game and Murray's fumbles early in several others. Of course, the turnovers are part of putting teams away early if you want to look at it that way, but it's really an issue of not taking care of the ball, because that correlates strongly with winning games, overall.

 

[CCBoy]

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

I'm loving the fact that the Cowboys are seeing opponents punt once again. Now, Harris needs to pop some huge returns in the final games!!

 

[CCBoy]

Percy, simply...thanks!

 

[CCBoy]

It sounds like you're complaining just to complain. Wouldn't it be great if we won every game by a blowout in the first half and were the best in the league at everything? Yeah, that would be great.

Kind of hard to argue with one's own dreamland. I'm sorry if being a dogface might be offensive, but some fans seem fully capable of messing up a wet dream.

When asleep, I sometimes catch myself dreaming as well...