Dallas still ranked 22nd in total Defense but in 08 were

[ScipioCowboy]

Actually, I'm more impressed by the Cowboys defense this season than I've been in any season during the Wade Philips era, including 2007.

Although their yardage stats are somewhat lacking, they rank 10th in scoring, which is an infinitely more important stat. At their current pace, the Cowboys would surrender their fewest number of points since 2005.

Much of the reason they're giving up fewer points is due to vast improvement in kick coverage on special teams; the opponent is less likely to score is he's starting at the 20 rather than the 35.

 

[HoosierCowboy]

just play good D against Philly and the rest does not matter

 

[Doomsday101]

just play good D against Philly and the rest does not matter

I agree. Philly will make some plays they are a good team but if Dallas can limit the big plays from Philly and create some turnovers then I think the defense will help give the the Cowboys a good chance at winning.

 

[Established1971]

total defense is based on yards..who cares...what is important is pts per game and we are ranked 10th...last year we gave up 22.8 pts per game, while this year that number is down to 19.4

Baloney, yards is the official stat for a reason. That bottom line "points is what matters" is trite. Yes points are what really matter most in deciding a game by not for gauging how well a defense is playing. The last five minutes of Dallas's play is a perfect example. Romo fumbled on the 5 yard line. Seattle gets 7 cheap, meaningless points. Was our defense "bad" because they gave up 5 yards? No. But getting 7 points in a clutch 99 yard drive is 7 points just like these cheap meaningless 7 points were. Any stat can deceive, you have to observe and draw your own conclusions.

p.s. the points stat is also a team stat not a defense stat. Any points your offense gives up and your special teams gives up counts against your points against.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Actually, I'm more impressed by the Cowboys defense this season than I've been in any season during the Wade Philips era, including 2007.

Although their yardage stats are somewhat lacking, they rank 10th in scoring, which is an infinitely more important stat. At their current pace, the Cowboys would surrender their fewest number of points since 2005.

Much of the reason they're giving up fewer points is due to vast improvement in kick coverage on special teams; the opponent is less likely to score is he's starting at the 20 rather than the 35.

I agree with you Scip. Haven't had nearly as much time to talk with you since the departure from the Political Board but as usual, your spot on IMO.

I think our Special Teams are huge this year. I mean, in years past it was as if we just accepted the fact that our opponents were starting at the 35. This year, if they are starting at the 20, I find myself a little disappointed. I don't even know why. It's like I am expecting them to be stopped inside the 20.

I also think that our Secondary is finally starting to come around. They have been playing excellent football the last few weeks. To me, this is the biggest difference I've seen. Even in the lose to Denver, our DBs, I thought, played well. I just really like the way we are starting to play a bit more physical back there and we don't see these mental Air Biscuts we've seen in the past. It actually looks like they are starting to just play and not think about what they are supposed to be doing. This is when it's really fun to play. I see this up coming game as a real determiner. Philly is pretty good at throwing the football and McNappie is a pretty good QB. If we can play well against them, I think that's going to help us a great deal. I love it fellas!

 

[AmishCowboy]

I'm not concerned with the stats if the Cowboys continue to play defense as they have been doing over the last 2 to 3 games the stats will take care of themselves. This unit is playing some hard hitting defense and making plays

Especially in the secondary.

 

[kramskoi]

Actually, I'm more impressed by the Cowboys defense this season than I've been in any season during the Wade Philips era, including 2007.

Although their yardage stats are somewhat lacking, they rank 10th in scoring, which is an infinitely more important stat. At their current pace, the Cowboys would surrender their fewest number of points since 2005.

Much of the reason they're giving up fewer points is due to vast improvement in kick coverage on special teams; the opponent is less likely to score is he's starting at the 20 rather than the 35.

...right and the biggest reasons being the emergence of Jenkins and the additions of Olshansky, Sensabaugh and Brooking...this defense has two very good ILB's and Ware/Spencer/Ratliff is becoming a tandem to be feared...teams are going after Newman a little more but he's usually in a good position...Brandon Marshall had the height advantage in Denver and Orton knew this and i think he gambled that Marshall would come down with it, not unlike Manning/Burress in 2008...

...looks like they are improving week to week but Sensabaugh and Hamlin will be tested by Jackson/Celek this weekend...

...i think the pass defense suffered during the absence of Sensabaugh...since he returned they seem to be playing much tighter and with more confidence...they were physical against Atlanta and they should do the same thing against the Eagles wideouts...nothing wrong with developing a reputation for brute physicality in the secondary...

...the problem with Dallas is it's defensive passer rating...compared to the Saints who have a rating of ~58, Dallas rates around 90...Hasselbeck was in the nineties last sunday...if Scandrick had just turned around on the Branch TD he had a good chance of picking it off...

...interceptions go a long way toward reducing this rating and Sensabaugh has had more than a few go through his hands the past few weeks, hopefully the cast will come off soon and he can snag a few...

...if the defense continues to force turnovers their DPR will slowly come down but until that happens they will not approach the top teams on defense...they have to start making QB's pay for their bad decisions...

 

[Doomsday101]

Especially in the secondary.

I agree. I think the secondary is starting to gell and Jenkins looks very confident back there and of course the addition of Sensabaugh has really helped to improve this unit.

 

[casmith07]

Actually, I'm more impressed by the Cowboys defense this season than I've been in any season during the Wade Philips era, including 2007.

Although their yardage stats are somewhat lacking, they rank 10th in scoring, which is an infinitely more important stat. At their current pace, the Cowboys would surrender their fewest number of points since 2005.

Much of the reason they're giving up fewer points is due to vast improvement in kick coverage on special teams; the opponent is less likely to score is he's starting at the 20 rather than the 35.

That 2005 defense was fun to watch...we had a hard-hitting defense back then. Tons of lights-out hits.

 

[jobberone]

I don't think that the defense will move up in the rankings all that much,if any.As of right now Dallas is ranked #22 giving up 342.1 yards per game,Philly is ranked #10 giving up 296.9 yards per game.This years defense hasn't played all that well at times but they seem to be a bend but don't break unit so far.While I don't believe that this teams total defense ranking will improve I do believe that they can improve on their points allowed per game stat which is 19.4 points per game at this time.

Craig

I'd like to get that down below 17. It would be if we didn't give up easy TDs at times. They had better correct that because against good teams it's going to make it a lot tougher and could cost us some wins maybe more.

 

[JD_KaPow]

Hmm, I think our defense may be overrated and underrated at the same time. It's true that we're allowing fewer points than the yards allowed would suggest (that's good). But we're also 3rd from the bottom of the league in takeaways, which is pretty darned bad. That's a big part of why we're at the bottom of the league in starting field position, and why our offense scores fewer points than the yards gained would suggest. We're always pinned back and have to mount long drives to score.

 

[Future]

You could probably throw KC in there too.

I thought about it, but that wasn't really garbage time we were only up by a score. The other ones the game was already in hand.

 

[EPL0c0]

Commanders have the #5 Defense in the NFL... they're 2-5. The stat goes by total defense which goes by total yards given up.

win/loss record and how they've done in each game is really the best gauge of how a defense (or offense) is doing.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

the problem is the secondary is now starting to gel

I think Campo teaching them to play the ball kind of messed them up early

now they are doing a better job as a group

 

[Yakuza Rich]

total defense is based on yards..who cares...what is important is pts per game and we are ranked 10th...last year we gave up 22.8 pts per game, while this year that number is down to 19.4

Very true. I think since '83 there's only been 4 teams who have been outside of the top 8 in points allowed. I think the Eagles game will be a good test for us as we tend to struggle with really fast WR's and the Eagles have 2 of them in Maclin and Jackson.





YAKUZA

 

[Deep_South]

Why does the "prevent" defense look more like a mandate to give the other team a chance to catch up in the 4th quarter than it does a strategy to win the game?

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

It would help if we didn't give up a garbage time TD every week too...

TB, Atl, and Seattle all had one

I'll take a garbage TD against every week if it means we are so far ahead the game is out of reach.

 

[silverbear]

It was the first two games that killed them statically,

Exactly right, my man-- in the last 5 games, the Cowboys' defense has allowed an average of 303.6 yards per game... but for those first two games, that would rank them 11th in the league...

And in these last 5 games, the Boys have allowed 16.4 points per game, with no team scoring more than 21 on them (Atlanta, which has averaged 25 per game in their other 6 games)... in fact, only the Giants have scored more than 21 on them all year, although allowing the Bucs to put up 21 in the season opener was not a good effort...

Anyway, an 16.4 points per game average would rank the Boys 4th in the NFL in scoring defense (again, but for those first two subpar defensive efforts)... so in the last 5 games, the Boys have allowed 303.6 yards per game, and 16.4 points per game...

Then, consider that every time Patrick Crayton returns a punt for a TD, which of course he's done twice already, that puts the opposing offense right back on the field, giving them an extra opportunity to pad their yardage stats... same thing happens when Terence Newman returns a pick for 6...

Then we also have to factor in the quick strike nature of the Cowboys offense; six times this year they have had scoring drives of between 56 and 81 yards that have taken three plays or less... again, when you score that quickly, it puts the other team's offense back on the field quickly, giving them more chances to rack up yardage...

When you look at the way the Boys have scored quickly, and have scored on defense and special teams, you realize that the other team has had the ball an unusually high percentage of the time (which is why the 5-2 Boys, who have the 2nd best offense in the NFL, rank just 11th in time of possession)...

So, if you look at the big picture, the Cowboys' defense is playing quite well, actually... especially these last 5 games... this is why I always say you have to look at all the stats to accurately analyze a team; on the surface, the Boys' defense looks to be below average, but that's clearly not the case...

 

[Disturbed]

Baloney, yards is the official stat for a reason. That bottom line "points is what matters" is trite. Yes points are what really matter most in deciding a game by not for gauging how well a defense is playing. The last five minutes of Dallas's play is a perfect example. Romo fumbled on the 5 yard line. Seattle gets 7 cheap, meaningless points. Was our defense "bad" because they gave up 5 yards? No. But getting 7 points in a clutch 99 yard drive is 7 points just like these cheap meaningless 7 points were. Any stat can deceive, you have to observe and draw your own conclusions.

p.s. the points stat is also a team stat not a defense stat. Any points your offense gives up and your special teams gives up counts against your points against.

Good post. Dallas should continue to be aggressive and improve each week on defense....they must do this if they want to win in Dec & Jan.

The sad thing is that Dallas had a weak first half schedule and only ranks 22nd in defense...would have won two more games with better defense -- opportunity wasted. Now they must pick it up and perform against better teams.

Special teams have not looked this good in years -- thanks DeCamillis. Offense looks good...but will be better when run game comes back. Now Defense must step it up.

 

[the playmaker]

Ranked 8th overall? Man thats a big drop off, what do you think has caused the low ranking so far and do you guys think the Boys will remain close to the bottom of the league in total defense by the years end, or do you think they will break the top 10 mark?

Our front seven is very good
Not our secondary....too many big plays!