Dallas' Best Defense

[RiggoForever]

Hey,

I was wondering what Cowboy fans thought was the best defense ever on their team. As a Commanders fan, I admit your defense was solid this year and has a really bright future ahead. Do you think it is comparable to some of your best defenses ever?

I think both the Commanders and the Cowboys have offensive production that is definately a notch below what they had in their Super Bowl years, but I feel that both defenses are really solid.

 

[Mavs Man]

While we have a solid core of good, young players, we have a long way to go before we're anywhere near the level of our defenses from the early '90s Super Bowl teams, not to mention the legendary Doomsday Defense of the '70s.

And with free agency and the salary cap being what they are now, I doubt they could ever be as special as those teams were. Still, I agree that this group has the potential of being something special.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

The early 90's teams were my favorite defenses. People always talk about the triplets and the O-Line, but the D-Line was downright amazing as they had 8 players who could all start for just about any team in the league and one of them was Haley, who was as good as they got at DE.

I was born in '76, so the defenses of the 70's are something I really don't know much about.

Looking at the stats, the '94 and '96 teams were oddly enough the best. In '94 they finished 1st and 3rd in yardage and points allowed. In '96 they finished 2nd and 3rd. You could also argue for '92 where they finished 1st and 5th in those categories.

The defenses in the 70's didn't really compare to the 90's from a statistical standpoint. The best 70's defense statistically was the '78 team which finished 2nd and 3rd in yards and points allowed.

I don't think this team is too far off defensively from being a top 5 defense. I think if the young guys improve at a reasonable rate, they get a bit better at nose guard and they find a good compliment to Ware at LOLB, they'll probably be there. If they can find a legit FS along with that, watch out.

The big problem is the O-Line for the Cowboys right now as they old, expensive, and just not very good at run blocking or pass protection.



Rich.......

 

[ravidubey]

The early 90's teams were my favorite defenses. People always talk about the triplets and the O-Line, but the D-Line was downright amazing as they had 8 players who could all start for just about any team in the league and one of them was Haley, who was as good as they got at DE.

The depth on the DL was impressive but the top level talent was good and not great. You had Charles Haley who was a blue chip pass rusher and smart player. Next there was Leon Lett who would end up being one of the better tall DT's over the next decade but had not yet broken through in 1992. After that you had second tier guys in Jimmy Jones, Chad Hennings, Tony Casillas, Russell Maryland, Tony Tolbert, Jim Jeffcoat, and Tony Hill.

Sure they could start elsewhere, but really it was the scheme and depth that ruled the day for Dallas. Had it not been for the strong offense eating up time, the defense would have worn out despite its depth.

Now imagine a DL with Too Tall Jones, Randy White, and Harvey Martin playing together for eight seasons mixing in Jethro Pugh and John Dutton. Martin would hold the NFL sack record if they counted sacks in the late 70's, White was a first ballot Hall of Famer, and Jones was a monster-- the best DE I've ever seen.

If Landry had let Jones freelance I can only imagine what he would have done in his career.