Cowboys Passing D Amongst Worst in the League the Past 3 Years

[superpunk]

While Superpunk makes a compelling argument (with which I don't disagree), it relies on sacks as the sole measure of defensive line play in the passing game. Obviously, sacks are the most visible and easily quantifiable aspect, but they're not the only one.

I sincerely doubt there's a huge disparity in where a team ranks in sacks vs. where they would rank in "pressures".

 

[Jarv]

As usual the folks that come in here and pop-off about the defensive line being the begin-all and end-all hand out a few grandiose statements that contain little substance because they never back it up with anything that supports their position.

Here's how you support a position...


First off let's look at the number of pass attempts each defense faced during the 2012 season:

Dallas 511
San Francisco 567
Baltimore 557

The Dallas defense had almost 10% fewer pass attempts made against it than did San Francisco and a little more than 8% fewer pass attempts than the Baltimore defense.

At the same time...

The Cowboys had 34 QB sacks.
The Niners had 38 QB sacks.
The Ravens had 37 QB sacks.

BTW if you think QB sacks win championships, then keep in mind that Baltimore was 15th in the NFL when it came to sacking the QB last season... SF was 11th.

Also considered are QB hits...

The Cowboys had 47.
The Niners had 72.
The Ravens had 37.

What about QB hurries?

The Cowboys had 142.
The Niners had 141.
The Ravens had 151.

Keep in mind the Cowboy defense faced almost 10% fewer pass attempts than the Niner defense.


Now let's take this in another direction...

Let's talk about interceptions, which we already know is an ugly stat for the Cowboys:

Cowboys 7.
SF 14.
Baltimore 13.

However there is one more important stat to consider and that is the number of passes defensed or broken up by each defense:

Cowboys 61.
SF 91.
Baltimore 99.

If you're trying to tell us that the Cowboy pass defense "suffered" due to the poor pass rush... Well you had better bring more than a knife to this gun fight.

I think it's pretty clear the Cowboys pass rush, which not great, isn't the horrible steaming pile that some here try to portray it.

The pass defense on the other hand... Well I hope you brought a plastic bag and pooper scooper.

Great post MW!

 

[Zimmy Lives]

Injuries, scheming and lack of talent have plagued the defense over the last few years. IMO, the secondary and LBs are better and should compliment the d-line well. If health remains intact, and Kiffin's scheme is indeed a positive, then I see no reason why the defense is not much improved.

 

[Next Years Champ]

I've been on this for months/years while everyone's been bellyaching about our oline and running game. This has been Jason Garrett's biggest failure as a HC - an inability to field any sort of pass defense.

http://cowboyszone.com/threads/question-for-the-romo-fans.250627/page-2#post-4941641

Pass defense starts with rushing the passer and we have had no pass rush without having to blitz and we know the results of that..Rob Ryan is no longer here.

Of all the things that Ryan really needed to fix and would probably saved his job was that..they decided the CBs were the problem and it really was the pass rush and poor LBer play in the 3-4 basic defense.

I'm very interested in what KIflin is going to produce with essentially Ryan's old players. If he succeeds, is everybody going to say..like they did when Parcells left and Phillips took over, that it all is due to Rob Ryan's being here that Kiffin succeeds..?

I hope so. I hope so. (tongue in cheek)

 

[AsthmaField]

Nicely done Mikey W.

 

[Ring6]

I wish Len Pasquarelli would take a serious look at these numbers. I think we'd then look waaaay better.

 

[percyhoward]

We were actually in the top half of the league (16th) in defensive passer rating in 2009. The downhill slide really started in the last three games of Wade Phillips' head coaching career. This was posted the day before Wade was canned. Good times.

http://cowboyszone.com/threads/pass-defense-the-last-11-quarters.198292/

 

[MichaelWinicki]

We were actually in the top half of the league (16th) in defensive passer rating in 2009. The downhill slide really started in the last three games of Wade Phillips' head coaching career. This was posted the day before Wade was canned. Good times.

http://cowboyszone.com/threads/pass-defense-the-last-11-quarters.198292/

Here's the problem with the more sacks = better pass defense argument.

It's been... Well let me show you...

Below is broken down by:
Season | Sacks-Ranking | Ranking-In Yards Per Attempt (many feel that YPA is a better gauge for pass defense than passing yards given up... So that's what I'm using)

2012 21 27
2011 9 24
2010 16 29
2009 7 13
2008 1 9
2007 3 6
2006 21 27
2005 14 14
2004 26 23

It's been 9 years since the Cowboys ranked better in YPA given up than they have in sacks.

Since 2005 their average rank in sacks is 11.5 and for YPA given up they've ranked 18.6

And over the last 3 seasons the difference is even more pronounced with an average sack ranking
of 15.3 and an average YPA ranking of 26.6

Again no matter how you slice it the pass defense has been horrid while the pass rush has been better than average.

That's telling.

 

[percyhoward]

Since 2009, the Cowboys are 0-18 in games when the opposing QB has a rating of 100 or better.
2009 0-3
2010 0-5
2011 0-4
2012 0-6

They are 34-14 in games when the opposing QB has a rating under 100.
2009 12-3
2010 5-6
2011 8-4
2012 8-2

And 12 of the 14 losses were by 7 points or less.

And Michael, I'll be happy with interceptions. During that 0-18, our defense got no interceptions in 16 of those games. If the pass rush causes them, fine. If not, that's fine too. But, as has been said, our pass defense is what's keeping us out of the playoffs.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

But, as has been said, our pass defense is what's keeping us out of the playoffs.

Exactly.

 

[FiveRings]

This is a microcosm of a much bigger problem. Our turnover ratios have been amongst the worst in the league, and is undoubtedly one of the most important in the game. Look back at the teams that have won it all over the last ten years. Offenses that protect the ball well, paired with defenses that can make things happen. Recently, we've had neither.

 

[SportsGuru80]

I have a strong feeling that will change in 2013...

 

[junk]

You need balance. I do favor a strong pass rush and strong defensive line and, if I had my choice, that is where I'd invest the bulk of my resources. However, you can't win with garbage in the secondary either. There is a reason corners are so highly paid. Having strong corner play allows you to do more pressure wise as well.

However, I think Dallas went a bit overboard attempting to remake their secondary. If you are going to sign a big ticket corner back like Carr, I'm not sure you need to sacrifice a second round pick plus a #6 overall pick to get another corner. Especially if you are moving towards a Tampa 2 type scheme where you can get by with lesser athletes at corner.

 

[bsheeern]

The biggest thing that I've noticed over the past few years is a lot of games come down to the very end and are one or two possession games. We often make that game winning or should be winning drive And within three plays the other team is either in field-goal range or in scoring position. This falls solely on our defense as a whole. Because I seen just as many draws and screen plays gain 20 yards as I have passes over the linebacker and underneath the safety.

Now whether you want to say it's lack of pass rrush or safety play or creativeness on defense it's definitely an issue and can be very demoralizing to our offense. Often times Romo hasn't even taken off his helmet, put on his ball cap and sat on the bleachers before you see him looking up at the video board because the other team is about the score. This was Particularly evident last season.

It boils down to a combination of things. Better prepared on defense, better safety play and more creativeness on defense. Let's face it most of your two-minute offense is going to be three-step drops, quick reads, get the ball out of the quarterbacks hands as quickly as possible because you can't afford to take a sack in the two minute drill. So your pass rush is only going to be as strong as your defense is prepared On the backside. Sure it would be great if Demarcus ware could get a sack every game within the last two minutes and it be the game-winning sack but in history of the NFL no player has ever done that so I wouldn't rely on that. What needs to happen is kind of what this front office is trying to do.

Create a more prepared defense that is stronger on the backend And can create turnovers when needed. Instead of going out and spending money on a high priced veteran free-agent safety that probably didn't even exist anyway we went out and got the guy who has consistently shown the NFL world that you don't need all-stars at every position that often you can create those stars By putting them in a position to succeed and using the strengths that they have to be successful.

 

[Rockport]

It's Romo's fault that we're losing these games. Just ask ESPN.

 

[InmanRoshi]

Interesting study....

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B--fKJNUboWWRzlsZ3dta2JGdXM/edit


After reviewing all sacks in the 2011 NFL Season, the initiation of a sack takes place on average 4.3 seconds after the snap of the ball. The average drop and pass attempt is 2.7 seconds. Generally when a sack occurs it's because something forced the QB to hold onto the ball longer than the average drop back and pass situation.

 

[Rockport]

Interesting study....

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B--fKJNUboWWRzlsZ3dta2JGdXM/edit


After reviewing all sacks in the 2011 NFL Season, the initiation of a sack takes place on average 4.3 seconds after the snap of the ball. The average drop and pass attempt is 2.7 seconds. Generally when a sack occurs it's because something forced the QB to hold onto the ball longer than the average drop back and pass situation.

I hesitate to respond to someone with InmanRoshi as a handle but this stat is the average. Romo is under pressure at about the 1-2 second mark.

 

[InmanRoshi]

I hesitate to respond to someone with InmanRoshi as a handle but this stat is the average. Romo is under pressure at about the 1-2 second mark.

Romo had on average 2.77 seconds in the pocket per snap in 2012, 14th best in the NFL. He had 2.68 seconds befopre attempting a throw, 8th best in the NFL. He had 3.77 seconds in the pocket per sack, 14th best in the NFL.

I'm sure that's not what you're hearing on Around the Horn or wherever you get your information. While it seems to be common consensus around Cowboy Fans, Romo isn't the only QB in the NFL who occasionally moves and avoids pass rushers. The rest of the NFL QBs don't just crap their pants and fall down as soon as a defender breaks free within 5 yards of them.

 

[Rockport]

Romo had on average 2.77 seconds in the pocket per snap in 2012, 14th best in the NFL. He had 2.68 seconds befopre attempting a throw, 8th best in the NFL. He had 3.77 seconds in the pocket per sack, 14th best in the NFL.

I'm sure that's not what you're hearing on Around the Horn or wherever you get your information. While it seems to be common consensus around Cowboy Fans, Romo isn't the only QB in the NFL who occasionally moves and avoids pass rushers. The rest of the NFL QBs don't just crap their pants and fall down as soon as a defender breaks free within 5 yards of them.

I don't know what Around the Horn is. I'm assuming it's some kind of national sport show which I don't watch. I don't give much credit to stats either because as a scientist, I know how stats can be used to either sides advantage. I do watch every Cowboy game and have since I was about 6. Romo has been under pressure on a much, much more consistent basis than any previous Cowboy QB. To his credit, he's adapted as best he can.

 

[Deep_Freeze]

Romo had on average 2.77 seconds in the pocket per snap in 2012, 14th best in the NFL. He had 2.68 seconds befopre attempting a throw, 8th best in the NFL. He had 3.77 seconds in the pocket per sack, 14th best in the NFL.

I'm sure that's not what you're hearing on Around the Horn or wherever you get your information. While it seems to be common consensus around Cowboy Fans, Romo isn't the only QB in the NFL who occasionally moves and avoids pass rushers. The rest of the NFL QBs don't just crap their pants and fall down as soon as a defender breaks free within 5 yards of them.

What is interesting is we can see the flip side of what opposing Ds do to get a sack on Romo, but applying that same thing to what our own D is doing is a bit harder to see for some. The point of your post is obviously good coverage produces sacks by giving the pass rushers more time to get there.....but of course this theory will be rejected by the trenches only crowd.

Its great to have both, but for far too long people have ignored how horrrrrible we have been in coverage on the backend on this board. We are starting 3 former probowlers on the line this season, sure they are older now, but the talent is there. Where the talent has been lacking is on the backend for far too long with our horrible safeties......I know some think they are a 'cool kid' for always second guessing the Cowboys moves, but lately they have made some real solid moves to fix a huge problem with this team, its bout time they start getting the credit for seeing the issue and addressing it instead of fans just harping on the mistakes of more than a decade. Move on, they are doing better now, its time we start recognizing it.

Interesting to think about how many career sacks Ware would have if we could actually cover someone during his career.