Cowboys have the No. 1 rushing offense in the entire NFL

[CATCH17]

I would say defense is better than many projected. To shut down NO in the 1st half to 3 points is no easy task.

Of course they are better. They aren't on the field as much.

If we were still a pass happy team that didn't chew up clock, score points, and make stupid mistakes then this unit would still get lit up. (see the 49ers game and even the Rams game)

 

[Doomsday101]

Of course they are better. They aren't on the field as much.

If we were still a pass happy team that didn't chew up clock, score points, and make stupid mistakes then this unit would still get lit up. (see the 49ers game and even the Rams game)

They held NO to 4 of 10 on 3rd down they got 3 turnovers, if they are not winning those battles and getting the turnovers they are not coming off the field that quickly. Yes offense being able to run matters but the defense is having to make plays as well to get off the field. Defense is doing their jobs NO is very capable of moving the ball this defense did not allow them. 1st half shut them down period and that is not about Dallas offense that is a defense who went out and took care of their business

 

[CATCH17]

They held NO to 4 of 10 on 3rd down they got 3 turnovers, if they are not winning those battles and getting the turnovers they are not coming off the field that quickly. Yes offense being able to run matters but the defense is having to make plays as well to get off the field. Defense is doing their jobs NO is very capable of moving the ball this defense did not allow them. 1st half shut them down period and that is not about Dallas offense that is a defense who went out and took care of their business

Ok I get that. I still think they aren't very good though but if our offense comes out and gets them a lead, controls the clock, and makes other teams one dimensional / pass happy then they can get the job done.

 

[cml750]

Ok I get that. I still think they aren't very good though but if our offense comes out and gets them a lead, controls the clock, and makes other teams one dimensional / pass happy then they can get the job done.

Not quite sure why everyone doesn't see this unless they have an agenda. We have the same o-line as last year except for one guard (Martin), who did not take our line for piss poor to top notch. Martin did make our line better but the biggest dfference is the guy calling the plays!!!

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Man, these stats make me pine for the days of Troy Hambrick and Julius Jones

I feel you Joe.

 

[CATCH17]

Not quite sure why everyone doesn't see this unless they have an agenda. We have the same o-line as last year except for one guard (Martin), who did not take our line for piss poor to top notch. Martin did make our line better but the biggest dfference is the guy calling the plays!!!

It's as clear as day really. It's not like we're trotting out some great defense or anything. I'd actually take last years defense when healthy over this group.

Having Hatcher and a healthy D. Ware would be really nice right about now.


In fact if we are about to make a legit run this season I really wish Demarcus could be apart of it.[/quote]

 

[Doomsday101]

Ok I get that. I still think they aren't very good though but if our offense comes out and gets them a lead, controls the clock, and makes other teams one dimensional / pass happy then they can get the job done.

Better than what many here predicted. They made plays offense was able to get points on their turnovers fact is they made the plays and had every bit as much to do with that lopsided win. All I heard was 31 to 34 well defense did their job they played a big part and I hate to see them slighted

 

[Idgit]

The defense isn't very good this year either but i'd bet the offense has way more Time of Possession this year then we did last year.

Our offense is no longer so Romo dependent. We can actually call good plays and get teams off balance.

Playactions, screens, finding matchups... It's just night and day better from what it was.

Night and day except in terms of point/offensive series?
And the defense *isn't* very good yet. But 'not very good' happens to be an improvement over what we had. That's the point.

 

[CATCH17]

Better than what many here predicted. They made plays offense was able to get points on their turnovers fact is they made the plays and had every bit as much to do with that lopsided win. All I heard was 31 to 34 well defense did their job they played a big part and I hate to see them slighted

They played good. It's still not a unit we could depend on but our offense can help them out a lot by controlling the ball.

 

[Doomsday101]

They played good. It's still not a unit we could depend on but our offense can help them out a lot by controlling the ball.

Offense can help but in the end the defense still has to go out and do the job offense can't do it for them. Time of possession means nothing if the opposing team does not need a lot of time to score.

 

[CATCH17]

Night and day except in terms of point/offensive series?
And the defense *isn't* very good yet. But 'not very good' happens to be an improvement over what we had. That's the point.

I get your point. I just think you'd have to be some kind of stat cling on to see that we aren't miles better.

We actually have an identity and something I think we can depend on instead of hoping Romo can bail us out of all of the chaos that came with Garrett calling plays.

You can't tell me though that you think we would be in a similar situation with Jason Garrett calling plays like he has in the past.

The run game and Linehan is why we are 3-1. Not the "improved" defense.

 

[Idgit]

I get your point. I just think you'd have to be some kind of stat cling on to see that we aren't miles better.

We actually have an identity and something I think we can depend on instead of hoping Romo can bail us out of all of the chaos that came with Garrett calling plays.

You can't tell me though that you think we would be in a similar situation with Jason Garrett calling plays like he has in the past.

The run game and Linehan is why we are 3-1. Not the "improved" defense.

I think if it were Garrett throwing the ball in the red zone and scoring, like we did last season, we'd have people complaining about it instead of praising the play calling the way they are now, if that's what you mean. Our offense looked pretty good last season, too, in wins over the Giants (36 points) and the Rams (31 points) early. It's a long season, and I try not to get ahead of myself in the NFL. We lose to a 3-1 Texans team at home next week, and you better believe this board will be right back to it's same old default state of the last four years. And that could very easily happen.

But, for a point of comparison, here's one of the post-Rams games threads from last year. It sounds pretty similar to me, overall, to the tone of the Saints-win thread this week:
http://cowboyszone.com/threads/best-team-showing-i-have-seen-in-years.266829/.

And, make no mistake. If we make the playoffs this season, it's going to be because we played improved defense, and not because of offensive play calling.

 

[CATCH17]

And, make no mistake. If we make the playoffs this season, it's going to be because we played improved defense, and not because of offensive play calling.

And i'll disagree.

Last year wasn't the first time we saw what a Jason Garrett ran offense will eventually lead to.

The playcalling IS making everything better.

 

[Doomsday101]

I get your point. I just think you'd have to be some kind of stat cling on to see that we aren't miles better.

We actually have an identity and something I think we can depend on instead of hoping Romo can bail us out of all of the chaos that came with Garrett calling plays.

You can't tell me though that you think we would be in a similar situation with Jason Garrett calling plays like he has in the past.

The run game and Linehan is why we are 3-1. Not the "improved" defense.

I think both are reasons, the running but again defense is coming up with big plays in critical moments, last years defense crumbled in critical moments. Offense being able to hold on to the ball help keep defense fresh but defense then still has to go out and win their battles, then need to make stops and they need to get the turnovers. Last year NO put up 40 first downs they got half of that this time. In terms of offense yes I think they are playing better, fewer negative plays which also helps you be able to stick with the run a lot more. Hard to run when you looking at 1st and 20 or 3rd and long. I think Linehan has done a very good job and should be commended but I think several coaches have done a good job in getting their units and individuals playing better ball. Still much work to be done

 

[Hoov]

I think if it were Garrett throwing the ball in the red zone and scoring, like we did last season, we'd have people complaining about it instead of praising the play calling the way they are now, if that's what you mean. Our offense looked pretty good last season, too, in wins over the Giants (36 points) and the Rams (31 points) early. It's a long season, and I try not to get ahead of myself in the NFL. We lose to a 3-1 Texans team at home next week, and you better believe this board will be right back to it's same old default state of the last four years. And that could very easily happen.

But, for a point of comparison, here's one of the post-Rams games threads from last year. It sounds pretty similar to me, overall, to the tone of the Saints-win thread this week:
http://cowboyszone.com/threads/best-team-showing-i-have-seen-in-years.266829/.

And, make no mistake. If we make the playoffs this season, it's going to be because we played improved defense, and not because of offensive play calling.

Just to preface this post - im not taking sides at all in the above discussion, just my two cents about the change in offense this year...

Last year the offense did really well in the red zone and did score a fair number of points but....The offense was very bad on 3rd down last year and had trouble sustaining drives. Its like they were driving a car that had great acceleration and then would stall out before the redzone on so many drives. I really cant say why that was.

This year they are doing much better at sustaining drives and converting 3rd downs. Which in turn helps the defense.

For that reason, i think this years offense is looking much better than last year, or perhaps i should say more effective and more consistent.

But to add to that, I also think the defense is also looking better than last year.

 

[Idgit]

Just to preface this post - im not taking sides at all in the above discussion, just my two cents about the change in offense this year...

Last year the offense did really well in the red zone and did score a fair number of points but....The offense was very bad on 3rd down last year and had trouble sustaining drives. Its like they were driving a car that had great acceleration and then would stall out before the redzone on so many drives. I really cant say why that was.

This year they are doing much better at sustaining drives and converting 3rd downs. Which in turn helps the defense.

For that reason, i think this years offense is looking much better than last year, or perhaps i should say more effective and more consistent.

But to add to that, I also think the defense is also looking better than last year.

It'll be interesting to dig into the data a little bet more, over time. Last year, we had the third down slump, but we still were among the leaders of the league in terms of points/offensive series. That means we were moving the chains on first and second downs enough to offset the drives that ended after third down failures. But we obviously were or we wouldn't have been at the top of the league in terms of points/drive.

 

[Hoov]

It'll be interesting to dig into the data a little bet more, over time. Last year, we had the third down slump, but we still were among the leaders of the league in terms of points/offensive series. That means we were moving the chains on first and second downs enough to offset the drives that ended after third down failures. But we obviously were or we wouldn't have been at the top of the league in terms of points/drive.

Yes, it is kind of weird to be so good at that statistic and so bad at 3rd down conversions.

I remember someone posting here a while ago that the cowboys offense got some scores on short drives due to turnovers which could be one reason for the anomally. I dont remember them getting a huge amount of turnovers.

But.....if you add the fact that 1) they scored TD more often than not when in the redzone (as in more than the league avg) with 2) a good amount of opportunities in the redzone because of turnovers and 3) better than avg production on 1st and 2nd downs ....

Then you could see how a team might be good at points/drive, but bad at 3rd down conversions.

I remember always thinking that last years team had a hard time putting together sustained drives, but was more sporadic in their scoring than I was used to seeing from other teams.

 

[Red Dragon]

I think by mid-season we will have fallen from No. 1 to No. 8 in rushing.

 

[cml750]

And i'll disagree.

Last year wasn't the first time we saw what a Jason Garrett ran offense will eventually lead to.

The playcalling IS making everything better.

Truth!!!!

 

[Idgit]

And i'll disagree.

Last year wasn't the first time we saw what a Jason Garrett ran offense will eventually lead to.

The playcalling IS making everything better.

And yet, last year we were fourth in the league overall in terms of points/offensive series. This year? Third. Hooray, playcalling!!!

Defensively? We were 30th last year in terms of points given up per series. This year so far? 11th.

Note: thanks, percy, for the data. Here's his post, which I'm referencing.

http://cowboyszone.com/threads/assortment-of-league-leading-stats.301398/