sacks are over rated, getting pressure all the time, hurrying the qb, not allowing passing lanes,
batting down passes, hitting qb as he throws, getting strips, playing the run good.
That is what is needed each game.
Dallas should make the playoffs , it is in the playoffs, where they might struggle.
I'm not sure that sacks are over rated, but I do get where you're coming from. To me it is more like pressures, hitting the QB, batting passes, etc. are vastly underrated. Those things add up over the course of the game.
That is why I think Romo being out last year and him being back with Dez and adding Elliott is so vital to how the defense does. When the opposing offense is kept under pressure on the scoreboard and they have to constantly push, push, push to keep scoring, it really becomes easier for the defense to pressure them, IMO.
Last year, offenses could calmly go about their game plan and take few chances because they knew Dallas wasn't going to score very many points. Their whole playbook was open to them at all times and rarely were they behind on the scoreboard. Opposing coaches were like, "Don't have an open WR? No problem, just throw the ball away and let's punt. The Dallas offense will go three and out and we'll get the ball right back anyway."
However, this year, if Dallas gets up by a couple of scores, the other team's offense will know they have to convert that third down or they're going to punt the ball right back to Romo, Elliott and the rest of the Dallas offense and they just might go up by 3 scores. The QB will try to squeeze the ball into a tight spot and viola! turnover. Or the QB will hold the ball a little longer, desperately trying to find an open guy and he either gets sacked or hit because of it.
The pressure that the Dallas offense can put on the opposing offense will force them to take way, way, way more chances than they ever had to last year and that in turn, will allow the defense to hit and harass the QB infinitely more than last year when teams could just play how they wanted. Things quickly become chaotic for offenses when they know they have to score and the defense knows they have to score. Synergy between the offense and defense is a huge help.
The effect is much greater than their parts.
