Cowboys secondary #1 in NFL per PFF

[CCBoy]

What you are missing is that the Cowboys defense by design surrenders yards. The idea is to force a team to play perfect as they inch their way down the field. Most offenses will eventually make a mistake placing them behind the chains, allowing the Cowboys to flood 3rd and longs with DB's and more often than not force the punt. So on paper, the Cowboys defense looks like a sieve, but in reality, they are a top 10 defense that actually stands to be better than advertised on Sunday due to being the healthiest they have been all year.

Hey, if we can use the other team to eat up clock, and then score only minimal...then, Marinelli has a winner.

 

[TNCowboy]

To be fair, the D only gave up 6.9 yds per attempt, a very good #. In contrast, GB gave up the highest YPA in the league, 8.1. No QB in the modern era has a career YPA of 8.1 or higher. No reason we can't move the ball on these guys.

The Cowboys' defensive philosophy is to avoid the big play and force teams to have 10+ play drives. The style of D isn't conducive to putting up great defensive #s, nor is the fact the D was usually protecting a lead, and conceded a lot of yards over the course of the season trying to bleed the clock.

 

[DallasEast]

And yet we finished 26th in the league in yards given up via the pass with 4167 yards.

Hmmm...me thinks PFF is full of something.

Hot air..?

 

[jday]

Hey, if we can use the other team to eat up clock, and then score only minimal...then, Marinelli has a winner.

Exactly. To put it more succinctly, the Cowboys are forcing the opposition to bring Field Goals to a Touchdown fight.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

And yet we finished 26th in the league in yards given up via the pass with 4167 yards.

Hmmm...me thinks PFF is full of something.

It's about efficiency. Teams passed so much becasue they were losing so much.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

It's about efficiency. Teams passed so much becasue they were losing so much.

They passed before they were losing and they passed while they were losing. Many teams did this because we have trouble getting to the QB, because we, more times than not, are good against the run.. And they know they can can spread the ball around to multiple targets in the passing game.

Teams did not just start passing when they got behind in all cases.

 

[gmoney112]

I'm trying to find any combination of metrics that would come to this conclusion and i can't find it.

They aren't the #1 secondary. They are, and have been, playing pretty well though. They've done a commendable job in the RZ but they aren't really anything crazy.

The good thing is we don't need them to be.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

They passed before they were losing and they passed while they were losing. Many teams did this because we have trouble getting to the QB, because we, more times than not, are good against the run.. And they know they can can spread the ball around to multiple targets in the passing game.

Teams did not just start passing when they got behind in all cases.

A team still passes more when they are losing which increases the aggregate. They were losing 13 times this year. The passing stat is just as misleading as us leading the league in rushing.

I think the coverage has been outstanding particularly after having watched other games this year and this team other years.

 

[TimHortons]

Better than the Denver secondary with 2 all pro corners? I like our secondary but it isn't the best in the league

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Better than the Denver secondary with 2 all pro corners? I like our secondary but it isn't the best in the league

Scandrick, Brown, Carr, Claiborne, Jones, Church, Wilcox, and Heath all can play and play well in the base. No one else in the league has that kind of depth.

Our nickel and dime packages are money.

 

[Oh_Canada]

And yet we finished 26th in the league in yards given up via the pass with 4167 yards.

Hmmm...me thinks PFF is full of something.

No it tells me the other teams were behind A LOT.

 

[dallasdave]

Thank you Jeff Heath!