Cowboys quietly upgraded every group on defense

[Galian Beast]

No, I was explaining why you can't use total yards to judge a defense, and why our run defense was slightly below average according to more meaningful metrics.

And your reasoning was flawed.

 

[jobberone]

31st in run TD allowed is an alarming stat, but I think the team is looking at that as the effect of allowing so many conversions on the way to the red zone, mainly because of an inability to get any kind of a pass rush. More than 70% of our opponents' drive series resulted in another first down. That ranked 24th. And we were especially bad on 3rd down, where we ranked 29th.

What's interesting is, our defense wasn't bad at all on the opponent's side of the field. We ranked 14th in the percentage of opponents' drives that did not reach midfield. But once the opponent crossed the 50-yard line, our defense allowed a TD 42% of the time, which ranked 30th in the league.

The thinking may be that we gain more by having enough fresh bodies to rush the passer and keep teams out of the red zone in the first place than by strengthening the middle of the DL and trying to make teams one-dimensional once they're already there.

Nice as always PH. I wasn't aware of FP playing such a big role in TD% as far as drives starting their side of the field. That's alarming. That's all part of the problem of inadequate pressure as well as pass defense by our DBs.

Again, it was some improvement by the D but more so by the offense that played a role in winning closer games than years before. Many here hoped the D would improve to the middle third with a better offense and that's what happened.

I agree the pass rush is most important but I'd like to see the middle pick it up not just the run D but putting some pressure up the middle as well. I'm a firm believer in the dam approach to a successful pass rush. If you apply pressure all along the front well then the dam will burst somewhere. And a fresh rotation is vital to that IMO.

 

[percyhoward]

And your reasoning was flawed.

You can't judge a run defense based on attempts that it did not have to face. There were 7 teams that gave up more yards than Dallas solely because they faced more attempts.

Are you saying we should somehow credit the run defense for that?

 

[jobberone]

Upgrading Hayden would help with improving the run defense, but the 1tech is not valued at draft time. I think the stats you provided should make Marinelli reconsider his beliefs on the 1tech as a start. I don't think he is such a good coach that he is beyond questioning.

I think everyone wants great play everywhere which is very difficult to achieve. Marinelli favors gap play with pressure and big plays over gap control and a diagnosis the play completely and man your hole. Which is why we get burned up the middle more than average albeit making more stops behind the LOS.

I'd like a NT/1/3 but those are at a premium and just hard as hell to find and keep. Hayden is marginal no doubt. We're just plugging more important holes which keeps us from upgrading there. Plus losing players or having them not perform as most would expect.

So I don't think they don't know all that and want to upgrade. They just haven't been able to do that as it is a lower priority and the right guys at the right time haven't showed up on their doorstep.

And of course he's human although he's a good coach. Very well respected league wide.

 

[jobberone]

And your reasoning was flawed.

I didn't think so. You always use as much data as possible to evaluate something and that includes observation on grass. I agree with PH FWIW.

We aren't average yet on defense period. But substantially improved over 2013. I think we'll be better in most areas this year.

 

[percyhoward]

Opponents' Drives that did not cross 50-yard line
2014: 48.9% (85 of 174)
2013: 42.9% (79 of 184)

TD% on drives that did
2014: 41.6% (37 of 89)
2013: 44.8% (47 of 105)

% of those drives that reached red zone
2014: 55.1% (49 of 89)
2013: 60.0% (63 of 105)

Red Zone TD%
2014:61.2% (30 of 49)
2013: 63.4% (40 of 63)

We allowed teams to cross midfield 16 fewer times than in 2013. Our opponents made one less trip onto our side of the field per game than the year before. Part of that is that they had 10 fewer possessions to work with. The other part is that our defense was much better at keeping them out.

Once the opponent did cross the 50, our defense was better at keeping them out of the red zone than in 2013. Then, once in the red zone, the defense was only slightly better than the year before.

The combination of our own offense's TOP and our defense's improved play resulted in 10 fewer touchdowns allowed.

 

[Macnalty]

I think you are overestimating Carter and Durant. Carter was so up and down. Just a year ago he quit on this team 3 times. Durant was too injury prone to be counted on.

no argument both had some negatives IMO the ups were very good even game winners when regarding
Carter too bad we never new how to level him out.

 

[xwalker]

Yes and no. Durant got hurt too much and it depended on what Carter you would get week to week. That said, Brinkley, Gachkar and Rivers cannot come close to their talent and ability. Unless the Minnesota kid is a revelation, it is significantly weaker, even with Lee coming back, briefly before getting hurt again.

My issue with Carter:

Bruce Carter:
Week 12 Active=Yes, Start=No
Week 13 Active=Yes, Start=No
Week 14 Active=Yes, Start=No
Week 15 Active=Yes, Start=No
Week 16 Active=Yes, Start=No

Anthony Hitchens:
Week 12 Active=Yes, Start=Yes
Week 13 Active=Yes, Start=Yes
Week 14 Active=Yes, Start=Yes
Week 15 Active=Yes, Start=Yes
Week 16 Active=Yes, Start=Yes

 

[Risen Star]

I've stated in the past that I liked Carter, but now it turns out those were copy and paste errors.

 

[Risen Star]

This defense is still rather weak in the middle. The DTs are journeymen for the most part. When you have to whistle dixie on guys like Terrell McClain, you've got issues. Rolando McClain can't be counted on. The safeties haven't been good enough for two decades.

 

[Brooksey]

This defense is still rather weak in the middle. The DTs are journeymen for the most part. When you have to whistle dixie on guys like Terrell McClain, you've got issues. Rolando McClain can't be counted on. The safeties haven't been good enough for two decades.

I'd say Rolando McClain, Tyrone Crawford and Byron Jones (FS) in the middle is above average but that's just me.

If we could just have 1st rounders at the one tech too, maybe we could be a dynasty again. What the hell is this front office thinking!

 

[CF74]

That's total yards. We ranked in 8th total rushing yards allowed, mainly because we ranked 27th in rushing attempts faced. Teams didn't run much on us last year because of the combination of our own offense's TOP, and because of the success our opponents had against our pass defense. Per-carry we ranked 15th against the run, which is an improvement over last year, but still just average. More importantly, the percentage of run plays on which we allowed a first down ranked 18th, and in short yardage and goal line we ranked 20th.

IOW, run defense was a little below average.

This tells me that if teams were more patient last year and just ran the ball more the outcome would have not been so good in our favor. We gotta hope and pray Terrell McClain has a breakout season but I've been looking at his stats all the way back to his college days and it's a whole lot of meh with the exception of one season. He's due for a run of health and I'm really trying to be optimistic here but he's never been special.

Behind him my hope lies in Coleman who showed flashes prior to his calf injury. Next up would be Bishop. Whaley is an unknown and unless Hayden gets on PED's, he's just a jag.. I'm not even going to mention which team can exploit our middle twice a year moving fwd...

Aside from that we have some really good LB's that can make up for this soft nose we are trotting out there. Rolando McClain and that other big cat we got from Buffalo can man the middle quite well.. I just hope our safeties aren't doing a whole lot of the tackling again...

 

[CF74]

I'd say Rolando McClain, Tyrone Crawford and Byron Jones (FS) in the middle is above average but that's just me.

If we could just have 1st rounders at the one tech too, maybe we could be a dynasty again. What the hell is this front office thinking!

The concern is that when Hayden is on the field he can easily be neutralized by the guard or center which would free up the other blocker to get to the second level and give Ro Mc another concussion thereby taking him out of the play and off the field. We don't have a Manster in the middle to protect our point of attack. This is the Achilles of our defense.

*Praying Terrell McClain has a coming out party*

 

[Brooksey]

The concern is that when Hayden is on the field he can easily be neutralized by the guard or center which would free up the other blocker to get to the second level and give Ro Mc another concussion thereby taking him out of the play and off the field. We don't have a Manster in the middle to protect our point of attack. This is the Achilles of our defense.

*Praying Terrell McClain has a coming out party*

I'm not concerned at all. I didn't see any guards and centers taking out Rolando last year, I just saw Rolando killing people fresh off his couch with no camp and a year off.

This defense is not a defense that need's a space eating 330 lb nose tackle.

 

[gmoney112]

Run defense will improve, that's pretty much a certainty. I have little concern for our run defense next season.

This defense is going to surprise a lot of people. We already garner a lot of turnovers, if we actually get a pass rush, we'll lead the league.

I think people forget our offense is pretty good. Another year of OL cohesion, Collins addition, and WR's learning the craft, and we're primed to score 30ppg. Teams aren't going to score 30 points against us running the ball.

A pass rush and an affinity for forcing turnovers forms a harmonious couple with our offense, and I believe there are a few guys here more than willing to provide the stat that passing efficiency differential is the #1 correlation to winning in the NFL.

I don't really care about rushing defense, to be honest. A top 15 unit in YPA and top 10 in yards allowed (less attempts) is fine with me.

You also keep the other team out of the RedZone by rushing the passer well. Sacks, quite often, are drive killers. I'll take a drive killer over an efficient run defense pretty much any day of the week.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

To me it's all about Yards-Per-Play given up.

That tells the story more than anything else.

Last season the defense gave up 5.8 YPP and ranked 25th. In 2013 they gave up 6.1 YPP and ranked last in the NFL.

To get close to the top-10 of defenses they'll have to cut that rate to no more than 5.3 YPP.

For grins, Seattle led the league (naturally) in YPP given up at 4.6. Denver was second at 4.7 YPP.

 

[windjc]

This defense is still rather weak in the middle. If we can't have All Pros at every position, then it's weak in the middle.

 

[windjc]

Yes and no. Durant got hurt too much and it depended on what Carter you would get week to week. That said, Brinkley, Gachkar and Rivers cannot come close to their talent and ability. Unless the Minnesota kid is a revelation, it is significantly weaker, even with Lee coming back, briefly before getting hurt again.

You really don't know what you are talking about. Actually, I don't even think you believe what you're saying, but just choose to talk to dramatic effect.

You say Lee is going to get hurt right away, ignoring that Durant missed most of the season. You also ignore the fact that Carter couldn't break the starting lineup that had 2 starters injured for most of the season. Then you judge 3 new veteran additions without seeing them play in M's scheme. Then you say that the 4th round pick has to be a revelation to save the team from a "significantly" weaker unit. Again, saying that Lee will get injured again right away. Good job, on spewing contradictory negative nonsense.

 

[gmoney112]

To me it's all about Yards-Per-Play given up.

That tells the story more than anything else.

Last season the defense gave up 5.8 YPP and ranked 25th. In 2013 they gave up 6.1 YPP and ranked last in the NFL.

To get close to the top-10 of defenses they'll have to cut that rate to no more than 5.3 YPP.

For grins, Seattle led the league (naturally) in YPP given up at 4.6. Denver was second at 4.7 YPP.

Not a bad measuring stick to aim for. And where are all these plays of 5+ yards coming from? I do wonder.

You really don't know what you are talking about. Actually, I don't even think you believe what you're saying, but just choose to talk to dramatic effect.

You say Lee is going to get hurt right away, ignoring that Durant missed most of the season. You also ignore the fact that Carter couldn't break the starting lineup that had 2 starters injured for most of the season. Then you judge 3 new veteran additions without seeing them play in M's scheme. Then you say that the 4th round pick has to be a revelation to save the team from a "significantly" weaker unit. Again, saying that Lee will get injured again right away. Good job, on spewing contradictory negative nonsense.

Alexander's just upset because Anthony Hitchens, the guy he spent months last offseason telling everyone how he was absolutely certain Hitchens would never play in this league, and "when, not if" he busts, took over Carter's job. He will be invisible to Alex for life.

Don't try and reason, just sit back and revel in his proverbial condescension.

The LB core is going to better than last year. Durant was hurt all year, Carter was completely mediocre outside of a few plays toward the end of the season. Our starters are certainly better, and our depth is actually good this year too. We won't ever have to trot out Cameron Lawrence!

 

[jjktkk]

No you're just. Owing the goalposts.

"outside in" has always meant prioritizing skinny guys over beef.

Now that we hsv seriously invested in our line and our linebacker core.... Suddenly "outside in" means prioritizing DE over DT?

Some people will never be happy. And will make themselves look foolish to share their displeasure. Don't be that guy @Alexander

Agree. Alexander has solid takes. Unfortunately he allows his hatred of Jerry to seep thru on a lot of his posts.