CFZ A closer look at our inability to stop the run last two seasons

[Hadenough]

Good work, but D-Law summed it up - they were too tired.

That tells me they are relying too much on individuals and not playing as a team.

 

[kskboys]

That tells me they are relying too much on individuals and not playing as a team.

Or, the elephant in the room, monstrous lack of talent at DT and LB.

 

[Diehardblues]

And you're not even mentioning Jaylon, Kelvin, Sammy, Schooner, and even Connor Williams. You just can't miss that many high picks and succeed.

Yep

You know we often hear how our front office has done well in the draft this era but it’s actually how poorly we’ve done in the draft overall which has prevented our franchise from more success.

 

[kskboys]

Yep

You know we often hear how our front office has done well in the draft this era but it’s actually how poorly we’ve done in the draft overall which has prevented our franchise from more success.

And that's basically been a few first rounders who did turn out really good. And an occasional dart throw later.

Think about it, what caused us to reach for Mazi? Easy answer, previous bad drafting. We have huge holes at DT and LB because we ignored those positions way too often, or took injury prone players(LVE) and expected them to suddenly not be injured. I mean, think about it, it never made sense.

So, what's wrong w/ the DT's we did take in the top 3 rounds?

Collins: Nice player, somewhat disruptive, doesn't anchor well.
Neville Gallimore: Hasn't panned out, doesn't anchor well.
Osa: Very good disruption, but doesn't anchor well.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..................................

 

[kskboys]

I wasn't advocating, just pointing out that Joseph was a need pick, not a BPA pick.

Oh, and apologies. I just get so tired of people screaming BPA, BPA, BPA. That is not a good draft strategy, just as reaching for need is not a good draft strategy.

 

[Jarntt]

Looking at the last two seasons, it is not difficult to see what the biggest issue the Dallas Cowboys have had on defense: The inability to stop the run against the better teams we face. That’s been an issue for more than two seasons, but I chose to just look at 2022 and 2023 since they are the most recent.

In the 2022 and 2023 seasons including the playoffs, the Cowboys won 13 games in 2022 and 12 games 2023. They lost 6 games in 2022 and 6 games in 2023. I want to look at the role the inability to stop the run played in those combined 12 losses the last two seasons.

Here are the stats for the 6 losses we had in 2022 and how many yards rushing we surrendered:

• Vs TB- L 19-3. Gave up 153 yards rushing
• @Phi L 26-17. Gave up 136 yards rushing
• @GB L 31-28. Gave up 206 yards rushing
• @Jax L 40-34. Gave up 192 yards rushing
• @Wash L 26-6. Gave up 151 yards rushing (Cowboys didn’t try to win this game because playoff seeding was decided)
• @SF in Divisional round playoff game L 19-12. Gave up 113 yards rushing

In their 6 losses in 2022, the Cowboys averaged giving up 159 rushing yards per game.

Here are the stats for the 6 losses we had in 2023 and how many yards rushing we surrendered:

• @Ariz L 28-16. Gave up 222 yards rushing
• @SF L 42-10. Gave up 170 yards rushing
• @Phil L 28-23. Gave up 109 yards rushing
• @Buff L 31-10. Gave up 266 yards rushing
• @Mia L 22-20. Gave up 91 yards rushing
• Vs GB in wild card playoff game. L 48-32. Gave up 143 yards rushing.

So in our 6 losses in 2023, the Cowboys averaged giving up 167 rushing yards per game. Combining the last two seasons, we average giving up 163 yards rushing per game. You cannot beat good teams when you can’t stop the run. (Quick side note: 10 of the Cowboys 12 losses the last two seasons were on the road, and our run defense was at its worst on the road)

There are lots of things we need to fix or rebuild with the Cowboys this off-season. I know many Cowboys fans who want to change QBs. I understand that. BUT…if this team does not find a way to fix its inability to stop the run, we could have Patrick Mahomes under center and we aren’t going to win a lot of playoff games.

Fixing the run defense problem is job #1 this off-season.

Great post. While I loved his enthusiasm and some of the things he did here, the reason I have also been critical of Quinn is basically two fold. First and most importantly I have been screaming for a couple of years that we need to get more and better LBers on the field and if he called for it the team would have added players as we know they listen to (perhaps too much) the DCs on draft day. Not just athletic freaks but guys who can shed an OL and still make a play, guys who don't get sealed off or pick the wrong gap over and over or over-pursue and take themselves out of the play. Aggressiveness is great but it can be combined with gap control and knowing your responsibility. Playing two LBers on early downs when one is a safety and the other is Clark is inexcusable. The second is playing 3 safeties in the nickel when 2 of them can't cover. How you can have both Kearse and Wilson on the field in obvious passing situations is perplexing, This team has the top end talent on defense but they need to augment it with the tough, physical guys who do their job and a couple other pieces as well. The GB game two years ago pretty much should have opened everyone's eyes to this. We were up big which normally means the team you are playing will pass every down but GB knew all they had to do was keep running and that's what they did. 206 yard rushing in a game where we were up 28-14 going into the 4th Qtr is crazy.

 

[kskboys]

Great post. While I loved his enthusiasm and some of the things he did here, the reason I have also been critical of Quinn is basically two fold. First and most importantly I have been screaming for a couple of years that we need to get more and better LBers on the field and if he called for it the team would have added players as we know they listen to (perhaps too much) the DCs on draft day. Not just athletic freaks but guys who can shed an OL and still make a play, guys who don't get sealed off or pick the wrong gap over and over or over-pursue and take themselves out of the play. Aggressiveness is great but it can be combined with gap control and knowing your responsibility. Playing two LBers on early downs when one is a safety and the other is Clark is inexcusable. The second is playing 3 safeties in the nickel when 2 of them can't cover. How you can have both Kearse and Wilson on the field in obvious passing situations is perplexing, This team has the top end talent on defense but they need t augment it with the tough, physical guys who do their job and a couple other pieces as well. The GB game two years ago pretty much should have opened everyone's eyes to this. We were up big which normally means the team you are playing will pass every down but GB knew all they had to do was keep running and that's what they did. 206 yard rushing in a game where we were up 28-14 going into the 4th Qtr is crazy.

Good stuff. However, I just don't see how Quinn is to blame. Unless he really wants this S's playing LB crapp. Hey, maybe he does. I guess we're fixing to find out w/ WASH.

 

[Jarntt]

Good stuff. However, I just don't see how Quinn is to blame. Unless he really wants this S's playing LB crapp. Hey, maybe he does. I guess we're fixing to find out w/ WASH.

Overshown (who also isn't likely going to be an early down run stopping type but more an athletic playmaker) went down in the preseason and he immediately moved Bell who never played there before to LBer. Before that he did the same will Neal and Kearse. If he banged the drum for a LBer I'm sure they would have gotten him one after the injury or in the years before that. Two years in a row I wanted to sign Wagner in free agency. I wish we had done that. He didn't sign for all that much so I'm sure he would have come if we gave him a decent deal. Can't go back in time, but can only learn from our mistakes. Hopefully we will.

 

[fivetwos]

Yep but we have drafted DT high in recent drafts like Mazi and Trysten but both look like misses.

Throw in another 1st round bust on DL in Taco, that’s 3 of our 1st overall picks in recent drafts which at the very best underachieved.

Those kind of misses have huge impacts.

No doubt, but also ought to be expected. Every team misses on high picks. It happens.

That’s why their plan can never work. The kid loves how much of a bargain a draft pick is vs a free agent, and he is right, but not enough of them pan out the field an entire winning team that way even if you’re great at it.

That’s the most frustrating part to me. They think so much of themselves that they think they could never possibly be wrong and change is never as much as considered.

 

[kskboys]

Overshown (who also isn't likely going to be an early down run stopping type but more an athletic playmaker) went down in the preseason and he immediately moved Bell who never played there before to LBer. Before that he did the same will Neal and Kearse. If he banged the drum for a LBer I'm sure they would have gotten him one after the injury or in the years before that. Two years in a row I wanted to sign Wagner in free agency. I wish we had done that. He didn't sign for all that much so I'm sure he would have come if we gave him a decent deal. Can't go back in time, but can only learn from our mistakes. Hopefully we will.

Yup, maybe it is Quinn, don't know. I do know I was never that impressed w/ him as some were. I really don't care that he's gone. I don't consider it good or bad, just don't care.

 

[kskboys]

No doubt, but also ought to be expected. Every team misses on high picks. It happens.

That’s why their plan can never work. The kid loves how much of a bargain a draft pick is vs a free agent, and he is right, but not enough of them pan out the field an entire winning team that way even if you’re great at it.

That’s the most frustrating part to me. They think so much of themselves that they think they could never possibly be wrong and change is never as much as considered.

Our drafting sucks. We appear unable to evaluate what makes a successful player. Mazi lacks lateral agility, it was in his scouting report. How did we not know? And ME, who's been screaming for DT's/NT's for years, was not excited about the pick.

 

[fivetwos]

Our drafting sucks. We appear unable to evaluate what makes a successful player. Mazi lacks lateral agility, it was in his scouting report. How did we not know? And ME, who's been screaming for DT's/NT's for years, was not excited about the pick.

Well that’s why it’s not adding up.

They skip free agency and use only the draft, then blow high picks routinely, especially rounds two and three.

How is that supposed to add up?

Not supplementing the rest of the roster properly while Parsons and Lamb were on rookie deals was the fatal flaw, and they continue to sit there and act as if it’s some genius plan.

 

[kskboys]

Well that’s why it’s not adding up.

They skip free agency and use only the draft, then blow high picks routinely, especially rounds two and three.

How is that supposed to add up?

Not supplementing the rest of the roster properly while Parsons and Lamb were on rookie deals was the fatal flaw, and they continue to sit there and act as if it’s some genius plan.

We can't supplement because we overpay our own players. I love DLaw as a player, for instance, but he quite simply was not a 20 mil player. We grossly overpaid Crawford, another misevalution. Sad part was that he was a good rotational player. Just not a great starter. He and Osa are the same. If/when we overpay Osa, we will then start cussing him out same as we did Craws.

BTW, it's OK to like a player even if you think he's a rotational/backup type.

 

[Bobhaze]

We can't supplement because we overpay our own players. I love DLaw as a player, for instance, but he quite simply was not a 20 mil player. We grossly overpaid Crawford, another misevalution. Sad part was that he was a good rotational player. Just not a great starter. He and Osa are the same. If/when we overpay Osa, we will then start cussing him out same as we did Craws.

BTW, it's OK to like a player even if you think he's a rotational/backup type.

Agreed. What frustrates me to no end about paying our so called best players, is this FO looks at players who collectively have done almost nothing in the playoffs and say, “We must pay top market value for these guys”. Except those best players have collectively done almost zero when it mattered most.

I remember when Zeke was holding this team hostage a year early, this FO panicked, gave in, then over paid him, acting like this very talented RB was everything to them and this team could not possibly win anything without him. And yet even with him for 7 full seasons, they made the playoffs 4 times, just winning 2 wild card games.

So for all the value that was placed on Zeke’s presence here, it meant 2 WC wins in 7 years. Zeke was certainly talented but this FO does not know how to surround their talent with complementary pieces.

Now we have contracts looming for Cedee Lamb and Micah Parsons. Both obviously very talented and worth keeping for sure. But our FO needs to understand that the minor players they draft and sign must be support pieces that complement their stars. I don’t think the Jones boys know how to do that.

 

[kskboys]

Agreed. What frustrates me to no end about paying our so called best players, is this FO looks at players who collectively have done almost nothing in the playoffs and say, “We must pay top market value for these guys”. Except those best players have collectively done almost zero when it mattered most.

I remember when Zeke was holding this team hostage a year early, this FO panicked, gave in, then over paid him, acting like this very talented RB was everything to them and this couldn’t team possibly win anything without him. And yet even with him for 7 full seasons, they made the playoffs 4 times, just winning 2 wild card games.

So for all the value that was placed on Zeke’s presence here, it meant 2 WC wins in 7 years. Zeke was certainly talented but this FO does not know how to surround their talent with complementary pieces.

Now we have contracts looming for Cedee Lamb and Micah Parsons. Both obviously very talented and worth keeping for sure. But our FO needs to understand that the minor players they draft and sign must be support pieces that complement their stars. I don’t think the Jones boys know how to do that.

Look at the time and resources wasted on Cooper. Yes, he was a good player, but he quite simply wasn't what was needed to put us over the top. And yes, I said so at the time.

 

[Bobhaze]

Look at the time and resources wasted on Cooper. Yes, he was a good player, but he quite simply wasn't what was needed to put us over the top. And yes, I said so at the time.

And if you look at the last 3 decades, so many of the “big moves“ that this FO has made are reactive moves to the mistakes they have made. They are never seemingly proactive or following a clear vision. The Cooper trade was a reaction to the pitiful job they did in the 2018 off-season thinking a bunch on nobodys would be fine at receiver. I mean they had Zeke, lol.

Even this off-season is a reaction to the Titanic moment that ended our season in the wild card game. Everything JJ has said after that embarrassing loss is a combination of reactive and marketing statements. “All in”, “At the rim”, etc, etc. It’s just marketing drivel designed to keep a frustrated fan base engaged. There’s not really any vision other than a marketing one.

 

[Cowboysheelsreds053]

Looking at the last two seasons, it is not difficult to see what the biggest issue the Dallas Cowboys have had on defense: The inability to stop the run against the better teams we face. That’s been an issue for more than two seasons, but I chose to just look at 2022 and 2023 since they are the most recent.

In the 2022 and 2023 seasons including the playoffs, the Cowboys won 13 games in 2022 and 12 games 2023. They lost 6 games in 2022 and 6 games in 2023. I want to look at the role the inability to stop the run played in those combined 12 losses the last two seasons.

Here are the stats for the 6 losses we had in 2022 and how many yards rushing we surrendered:

• Vs TB- L 19-3. Gave up 153 yards rushing
• @Phi L 26-17. Gave up 136 yards rushing
• @GB L 31-28. Gave up 206 yards rushing
• @Jax L 40-34. Gave up 192 yards rushing
• @Wash L 26-6. Gave up 151 yards rushing (Cowboys didn’t try to win this game because playoff seeding was decided)
• @SF in Divisional round playoff game L 19-12. Gave up 113 yards rushing

In their 6 losses in 2022, the Cowboys averaged giving up 159 rushing yards per game.

Here are the stats for the 6 losses we had in 2023 and how many yards rushing we surrendered:

• @Ariz L 28-16. Gave up 222 yards rushing
• @SF L 42-10. Gave up 170 yards rushing
• @Phil L 28-23. Gave up 109 yards rushing
• @Buff L 31-10. Gave up 266 yards rushing
• @Mia L 22-20. Gave up 91 yards rushing
• Vs GB in wild card playoff game. L 48-32. Gave up 143 yards rushing.

So in our 6 losses in 2023, the Cowboys averaged giving up 167 rushing yards per game. Combining the last two seasons, we average giving up 163 yards rushing per game. You cannot beat good teams when you can’t stop the run. (Quick side note: 10 of the Cowboys 12 losses the last two seasons were on the road, and our run defense was at its worst on the road)

There are lots of things we need to fix or rebuild with the Cowboys this off-season. I know many Cowboys fans who want to change QBs. I understand that. BUT…if this team does not find a way to fix its inability to stop the run, we could have Patrick Mahomes under center and we aren’t going to win a lot of playoff games.

Fixing the run defense problem is job #1 this off-season.

Not the last 2 years but since the PO game against the Rams in 2017. The bad thing is the Clampetts still not done anything to fix that problem.

 

[75boyz]

Agreed. What frustrates me to no end about paying our so called best players, is this FO looks at players who collectively have done almost nothing in the playoffs and say, “We must pay top market value for these guys”. Except those best players have collectively done almost zero when it mattered most.

I remember when Zeke was holding this team hostage a year early, this FO panicked, gave in, then over paid him, acting like this very talented RB was everything to them and this team could not possibly win anything without him. And yet even with him for 7 full seasons, they made the playoffs 4 times, just winning 2 wild card games.

So for all the value that was placed on Zeke’s presence here, it meant 2 WC wins in 7 years. Zeke was certainly talented but this FO does not know how to surround their talent with complementary pieces.

Now we have contracts looming for Cedee Lamb and Micah Parsons. Both obviously very talented and worth keeping for sure. But our FO needs to understand that the minor players they draft and sign must be support pieces that complement their stars. I don’t think the Jones boys know how to do that.

And what's even worse is when those so called deserving of 2nd contract players continue to pull no shows in our biggest games.
So regardless if there is adequate support, those players individual performances come into question as to being worthy of said contract.
The quarterback of both this offense and this defense come to mind.