Cowboys Defense

[pugilist]

Getting hot at the perfect time, and hopefully peaking in January and February

 

[haleyrules]

Somehow, they do get it done. Marinelli has done a great job.

 

[dallasdave]

Somehow, they do get it done. Marinelli has done a great job.

#95

 

[haleyrules]

Yep. This boy is making a statement. Hope the Club resigns him!

 

[dallasdave]

Yep. This boy is making a statement. Hope the Club resigns him!

 

[ActualCowboysFan]

Man arguing that the defense would not be the worst in the league was unpopular around here this summer. Plenty of posters could have changed their name to pass rush because they didn't make a post without mentioning it.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Jerome Henderson appeared to be a problem hence why his gone

I think his issue was that he could not coach/coordinate zone coverage. Always seemed his scheme had guys on islands when zone is all about helping your teammates out working in tandem.

OTOH, our man technique was solid. His man-robber scheme last season was ill advised with only two players in the back 7 capable of playing the robber. Made it impossible to disguise or switch things up.

 

[jrumann59]

Lawrence not playing to that level yet, 11 tackles and 1 sack. Irving I put ahead of him. TMcClain has had a good year. 40 tackles, 2.5 sacks. Mayowa is coming on, 6 sacks now.

Mayowa 2016's George Selvie

 

[chagus]

Gregory Lawrence Collins are our 3 best linemen...Still not sure if Irving is the real deal or not.

You're kidding, right?

 

[Scandri100]

You're kidding, right?

Gregory was once projected to be the 1st ovr pick and Lawrence was taken with the 34th ovr pick...Lawrence just looks like a top talent anytime he lines up at DE, i'm not worried about him at all.

 

[slomoxn]

They obviously worked on the 3-2 defense but never unveiled it or saw reason to run it, I certainly hope they use it going into the playoffs against pass happy teams. Seems it got more pressure on the QB and created more confusion in blocking assignments for o lineman. Loved it.

 

[Silverstar]

The emergence of Irving, Collins and Brown has been a pleasant surprise and bodes well for the future on defense. Hope Smith, Tapper and Frazier can do the same next season...that would be sweet!

 

[Outlaw Heroes]

Yep. This boy is making a statement. Hope the Club resigns him!

Don't think you need to worry about your hopes being disappointed. There's no chance they let Irving walk.

 

[Jason 82 Witten]

I work with a Seattle fan who thinks they can beat Dallas because the Cowboys defense isn't great

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Losing Church hurt us because we were no longer playing as much zone and became more 1-dimensional in coverage. In Wilcox's last game as a starter we started to play more zone with him and we played more zone against the Lions with Wilcox in the lineup. So, I think that is a positive because it means that the coaching staff is getting more comfortable with Wilcox, particularly in zone schemes.

They looked like they found something with the Lions as they played a lot of 3-2-6 with 4 safeties (Heath, Wilcox, Byron and Church). They would show blitz and then either blitz or fake the blitz or zone blitz. The Lions typically don't run the ball well, but while this is a dime package, it has 4 safeties so the run isn't as big of a factor. I wonder if Marinelli really had this package in mind or if they used it out of necessity due to Anthony Brown getting injured. If the latter, we may have stumbled onto something great by accident.

I'd love to see what this defense could do with a really good MIKE or a more athletic version of Church as SS.

I think this league as a whole has shifted the paradigm where you better be darn good in coverage if you want to get the pressure on the QB. Teams design plays to get the ball out of the hand of the QB so quickly that you have to take away that 1st read either by disguising coverage or just defending the 1st read well enough. That gives your pass rushers time to get to the QB.




YR

 

[Stash]

We are now tied for 12th in the league for sacks w/ Steelers Patriots and Chargers with 34. Let that sit in for a second. Our much maligned much woe begotten defense is 12th in the league in getting after the qb. My God what a season.

A real shocker for me. I was highly critical of both Marinelli and this bunch of 'orphans', but they've really shown me something. And this despite the number of injuries they've had. I look forward to them getting healthy and hopefully being even better during the playoffs.

 

[xwalker]

They obviously worked on the 3-2 defense but never unveiled it or saw reason to run it, I certainly hope they use it going into the playoffs against pass happy teams. Seems it got more pressure on the QB and created more confusion in blocking assignments for o lineman. Loved it.

They've used it before.

The funny thing is that Gruden hyped Marinelli for using it extensively, but I think part of it was due to all of the injuries on the DL.

 

[xwalker]

Don't think you need to worry about your hopes being disappointed. There's no chance they let Irving walk.

Considering that he will be a restricted free agent, yes it is highly unlikely that he would be signed away by another team.

 

[TheHerd]

The defensive adjustment came before halftime, and maybe Lee's yelling had something to do with it. The Lions had two more possessions in the first half after they got to 21 points. Two 3 and outs, for -8 and 9 yards.

 

[Awakened]

Considering that he will be a restricted free agent, yes it is highly unlikely that he would be signed away by another team.

Exclusive rights free agent actually, meaning the Cowboys have exclusive rights to him next season, not really a free agent at all.