Are we being a little hard on the D?

[ravidubey]

The defense is not that bad. They had a horrible game on Monday, but they still rank 6th. They rank 6th despite playing the top 2 offensive teams in the league (Philly and New York). The rank 6th despite being put into bad situations due to the quarterbacks forgetting which team they are playing for. The defense has done an excellent job of committing turnovers. Even though the defense didn't play well, they got a key turnover in Monday night's game in the first half that really turned momentum in the Cowboys' favor. Unfortunately, the offense returned the favor later in the first half.

Our defense had a poor outing. Both Watkins and James dropped easy interceptions and the inside LBs were made Tiki Barbers' personal bi****es. But they also grabbed a pick and forced a fumble and were jobbed out of another sack/forced fumble.

Finally, few defenses could withstand 4 turnovers and a turnover on downs vs. a top-ranked offense.

 

[neosapien23]

I hate to make exuses for the Cowboys, but how can anyone expect the defense to not give up a few plays when the offense consistently turns the ball over? It is much more physically demanding to play on the defensive side of the ball than the offensive side. The defense never gives up on games and tries to keep in close even when the offense sputters. That is all anyone can ask.

 

[AtlCB]

I know our offense has given the defense a short field at times, but a closer look at the Bears versus the Cardinals reveals:

Cardinals TD 77 yard drive
Cardinals TD 25 yard drive
Cardinals FG 10 yard drive
Cardinals FG 22 yard drive
Cardinals FG 49 yard drive

It looks like the Cardinals only earned about 10 points versus the Bears defense.

1ST QUARTER
TD Plaxico Burress, 50 Yd pass from Eli Manning (Jay Feely kick is good), 12:01. Drive: 5 plays, 74 yards in 2:59.
SAFETY LaVar Arrington, 3:59.
2ND QUARTER
FG Jay Feely 31 Yd, 11:51. Drive: 9 plays, 62 yards in 3:09.
3RD QUARTER
TD Jeremy Shockey, 13 Yd pass from Eli Manning (Jay Feely kick is good), 14:01. Drive: 3 plays, 14 yards in 0:51.
TD Brandon Jacobs, 3 Yd run (Jay Feely kick is good), 1:26. Drive: 14 plays, 68 yards in 7:39.
4TH QUARTER
FG Jay Feely 32 Yd, 3:54. Drive: 8 plays, 34 yards in 5:00.
TD Kevin Dockery, 96 Yd interception return (Jay Feely kick is good), 2:33.

You could make a similar case of Dallas' defense against the Giants. Take away the ref interference, the safety, the 14 yard TD drive, the 34 yard FG drive, the 96 yard interception and the Giants only scored 10 points as well.

 

[Stautner]

I hate to make exuses for the Cowboys, but how can anyone expect the defense to not give up a few plays when the offense consistently turns the ball over? It is much more physically demanding to play on the defensive side of the ball than the offensive side. The defense never gives up on games and tries to keep in close even when the offense sputters. That is all anyone can ask.

The run defense was like a sieve from the Giants openning possession, and we also gave up the long TD on the openning possession.

Obviously our turnovers made matters worse, but our defense looked weak from the get go.

 

[gbrittain]

1ST QUARTER
TD Plaxico Burress, 50 Yd pass from Eli Manning (Jay Feely kick is good), 12:01. Drive: 5 plays, 74 yards in 2:59.
SAFETY LaVar Arrington, 3:59.
2ND QUARTER
FG Jay Feely 31 Yd, 11:51. Drive: 9 plays, 62 yards in 3:09.
3RD QUARTER
TD Jeremy Shockey, 13 Yd pass from Eli Manning (Jay Feely kick is good), 14:01. Drive: 3 plays, 14 yards in 0:51.
TD Brandon Jacobs, 3 Yd run (Jay Feely kick is good), 1:26. Drive: 14 plays, 68 yards in 7:39.
4TH QUARTER
FG Jay Feely 32 Yd, 3:54. Drive: 8 plays, 34 yards in 5:00.
TD Kevin Dockery, 96 Yd interception return (Jay Feely kick is good), 2:33.

You could make a similar case of Dallas' defense against the Giants. Take away the ref interference, the safety, the 14 yard TD drive, the 34 yard FG drive, the 96 yard interception and the Giants only scored 10 points as well.

I am sorry I do not give Roy a pass on the ref play. If at some point he had proven that he was great in coverage I would say maybe. However, it is a big assumption that Roy would have stopped that from being a TD.

Besides they got 155 yards on the ground. That is not good defense. Like I said they remind me of a more talented 2003 Dallas Cowboy defense at this point.

I am not saying they are horrible, but clearly they are not an elite defense at this point. That is all I am saying.

 

[AtlCB]

I am sorry I do not give Roy a pass on the ref play. If at some point he had proven that he was great in coverage I would say maybe. However, it is a big assumption that Roy would have stopped that from being a TD.

Besides they got 155 yards on the ground. That is not good defense. Like I said they remind me of a more talented 2003 Dallas Cowboy defense at this point.

I am not saying they are horrible, but clearly they are not an elite defense at this point. That is all I am saying.

I'm certainly not making a case for this team having an elite defense. The 155 yards on the ground is probably just a bad day. The run defense was very good in their previous five games. This problem will be fixed by the Carolina game. Roy might not be great in coverage, but he would have been at the spot of the catch at the same time Plexiglass was there. He would have been able to get a hand on the ball or at least take the receiver's head off had the ref not taken him down.

 

[gbrittain]

I'm certainly not making a case for this team having an elite defense. The 155 yards on the ground is probably just a bad day. The run defense was very good in their previous five games. This problem will be fixed by the Carolina game. Roy might not be great in coverage, but he would have been at the spot of the catch at the same time Plexiglass was there. He would have been able to get a hand on the ball or at least take the receiver's head off had the ref not taken him down.

Maybe, maybe not. I hope you are right about them getting it fixed by the Carolina game. In my opinion the season is pretty much getting to the point where it is on the line every single game.

Dallas needs this weird thing called a winning streak. Since Parcells has been here we have had one 5 game winning streak in 2003 and a three game winning streak last year. That is it for winning streaks unless you count winning two games in a row as a winning streak.

 

[Stautner]

I am sorry I do not give Roy a pass on the ref play. If at some point he had proven that he was great in coverage I would say maybe. However, it is a big assumption that Roy would have stopped that from being a TD.

Besides they got 155 yards on the ground. That is not good defense. Like I said they remind me of a more talented 2003 Dallas Cowboy defense at this point.

I am not saying they are horrible, but clearly they are not an elite defense at this point. That is all I am saying.

I'm much more concerned with Watkins actions on that play. Watkins ran stride for stride with Buress and then seemed satisfied to be a spectator as Buress caught the ball. He didn't even attempt to make a play. At least Roy was closing in.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

I'm tired of this discussion because against top ranked offenses this defense does NOTHING! No sense of intercepting the ball!

 

[JPM]

I know exactly which play your talking about and in truth, Jacobs put it to all of our defense pretty much all day. Now, having said that, he's doing that to the NFL so we are not unique. I do believe that if we stop giving up the short field and start putting drives together, our defense will produce.

That twice you said "short field" and you are right, I understand we should stop them but when a team like the Giants has to go 30 yards or so to score they will.

 

[gbrittain]

I'm much more concerned with Watkins actions on that play. Watkins ran stride for stride with Buress and then seemed satisfied to be a spectator as Buress caught the ball. He didn't even attempt to make a play. At least Roy was closing in.

I absolutely agree. Pat Watkins was burnt in the sense he did not have a clue where the ball was so the question remaining was would Roy have stopped that from being a catch had he not bumped into the ref.

 

[Sasquatch]

I think the reason that many of us are being so hard on the defense is because of the team's offseason moves. In not fixing the offensive line, the organization sent a message to the fans that the defense was good enough to win games even in the event of offensive struggles. They were wrong and many fans who overhyped the defense as the next Doomsday are understandably disappointed.

 

[Stautner]

I absolutely agree. Pat Watkins was burnt in the sense he did not have a clue where the ball was so the question remaining was would Roy have stopped that from being a catch had he not bumped into the ref.

We will never know about Roy. I think all you can do is give him a pass on that one - there is no way to know if he would or wouldn't have made a play. I at least feel comfortable he would have made an effort, unlike Watkins.