Defense: Bad personnel or bad coaching?

[DandyDon52]

Ok I read how we need better players at just about all the positions on here and cowboys.com.
They seem to get the blame for all the defensive woes.

Also people say our Defense is not good enough, and we have to get better players.

So I was looking at scoring in Dallas 2015 games by quarter, and I had remembered many games
where our defense held the opponent to 3 or 6 points in 1st half.

Turns out in 1st half, our defense avg 8.8 points allowed per 1st half i n 2015. *(4.4 per qtr)
3rd qtr avg was 4 points allowed
then the problem area the 4th qtr
4th qtr avg allowed 7.6 points

(our offense scored 5.8 points avg in 4th)

So it seems to me that our defense plays pretty good, more than good enough to win games,
until the 4th qtr, and usually late in the 4th.
Both OT games we lost, NO scored on 1st drive, and cant remember the 2nd phil game.

So If it is our players, that are bad how come they play so good till the 4th qtr ?????
That doesnt make sense, to me it seems it is the coaching, and the schemes used
or whatever marinelli changes to late in games.

If our players were that bad, then teams would be able to score more thru out the games and in
1st half. I will put the scores by qtr in next post.

 

[DandyDon52]

The last #s are the final scores. I will try to seperate.

NYG 3 10 3 10 -26
DAL 3 3 7 14 -27

DAL 3 3 7 7 -20
PHI 0 0 0 10 -10

ATL 7 10 8 14 - 39
DAL 14 14 0 0 -28

DAL 3 7 3 7 0 -20
NO 7 0 6 7 OT 6 -26

NE 3 10 7 10 -30
DAL 3 0 3 0 -6

DAL 3 10 0 7 -20
NYG 0 10 10 7 -27..7 ON INT..7 ON ST

SEA 3 7 0 3 -13
DAL 3 3 3 3 -12

PHI 0 7 7 13 OT 6 - 33
DAL 7 0 7 13 0 - 27

DAL 3 3 0 0 - 6
TB 0 3 0 7 - 10

DAL 0 14 0 10 - 24
MIA 0 7 7 0 -14

CAR 10 13 7 3 -33........14 ON INT
DAL 3 0 3 8 - 14

DAL 0 3 3 13 -19
WSH 0 3 3 10 -16

DAL 0 0 7 0 - 7
GB 0 14 0 14 - 28

NYJ 6 3 0 10 -19
DAL 3 7 3 3 -16

DAL 3 3 0 0 - 6
BUF 6 0 3 7 -16

WSH 21 3 3 7 -34
DAL 0 14 0 9 -23

 

[DandyDon52]

I might add that some of the other scores on our defense, might have been on the offense .
I took off the ones in giant game and Carolina game, but sure there may be others.
Also when our offense gave the ball to other team inside our 50 or redzone, makes it hard on the defense to prevent
a score with a short field.
So the avg's may be a little high.

The avg per game using my avg's is 20.4 per game , which I think maybe should be lower.
But is 20.4 a bad defense? with bad players?

To me it is the soft zone or whatever they do late in games, that is the problem.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I think there is something to the notion that our offense was so bad that it left the defense hung out to dry.

At the same time with 98 being hurt and Hayden just being a steaming pile it really hurt our pass rush. We blitzed a lot more than usual and with our middle coverage being manned by Wilcox, Church, and Hitchens teams had a field day inside. We were also very susceptible to middle runs which division opponents exploited constantly.

I don't think the LB and secondary were on the same page. Cohesion in the secondary has been a problem for a long time; it stands out in zone. That is on coaching.

 

[Frozen700]

Personnel is trash

Carr....MO...Wilcox.....

Secondary Trash

Hitchens...Rolando

Average -Trash

Our D-Line is a joke

 

[TonyS]

Ok I read how we need better players at just about all the positions on here and cowboys.com.
They seem to get the blame for all the defensive woes.

Also people say our Defense is not good enough, and we have to get better players.

So I was looking at scoring in Dallas 2015 games by quarter, and I had remembered many games
where our defense held the opponent to 3 or 6 points in 1st half.

Turns out in 1st half, our defense avg 8.8 points allowed per 1st half i n 2015. *(4.4 per qtr)
3rd qtr avg was 4 points allowed
then the problem area the 4th qtr
4th qtr avg allowed 7.6 points

(our offense scored 5.8 points avg in 4th)

So it seems to me that our defense plays pretty good, more than good enough to win games,
until the 4th qtr, and usually late in the 4th.
Both OT games we lost, NO scored on 1st drive, and cant remember the 2nd phil game.

So If it is our players, that are bad how come they play so good till the 4th qtr ?????
That doesnt make sense, to me it seems it is the coaching, and the schemes used
or whatever marinelli changes to late in games.

If our players were that bad, then teams would be able to score more thru out the games and in
1st half. I will put the scores by qtr in next post.

LIke your post and good questions. I think that a number of factors were at play.

First, our Offense without Romo and Dez wasn't scaring anyone. I don't think a lot of teams attacked our D as they knew 17-21 pts would likely win the game.

Second, we didn't play super talented offenses. Where we were outmatched talent wise (NE, Car), our D was exposed & destroyed.

Third, I think teams adjusted offensively in the 2nd half of games and the Boys had trouble doing so. That is typically on the coaching staff.

Fourth, our D was worn down by the end of games due to offensive ineptitude. A bend but don't break D needs an O that can control time of possession. Our O couldn't do that.

Ultimately, our D performed well enough in most of the games Romo missed to give us a chance if our Offense could have generated more points. They weren't the main reason for 4-12, but their inability to generate turnovers didn't help.

A healthy offense next year with some additions at WR2, RB1/2 & TE along with Romo at full strength, should change things a lot. If we can add an additional pash rushing threat or two, a solid DT and a play making CB, we should be able to compete for the NFC East title and a deep run in the playoffs, barring any injuries to QB and WR1.

 

[Nightman]

We play a bend but don't break Defense. It works pretty well for most of the game but the other team goes hurry up or two minute drill and we struggle.

The offenses have got really efficient at this and practice it more than any other offense.

When you aren't getting pressure from your front 4 you really struggle because you have to blitz more and we haven't been a very good blitzing team recently.

AND we are generally out-coached and out-prepared IMO.

 

[Junglist]

Personnel, but Marinelli is overrated too.

 

[Idgit]

I'd have to look more closely at the games, but in the whole, it might have been that our offense was often bad enough that teams could play conservatively against us most of the time, and then, if they needed it late, they were able to convert.

Or it's just the few games like the CAR game where we played hard early and got exploited late that skew the math.

Either way, when your losing most of 12 games by just a few plays every week, neither side of the ball is playing well enough. Offensively, we were missing our two best players, so it's no mystery why we sucked. The defense didn't have that excuse.

 

[Gameover]

Not enough personnel.

Cowboy fans have been complaining about the D Cord. for as long as I've been around these boards.

See Wade Phillips in Denver(and Hou.) and Zimmer in Minny. We just haven't been good enough. More importantly, we were never able to put it all together when we were(2009, 2011 when we were built to make a run) We were the best team in football in 2009. That was the year Garrett gave us 2nd in yardage but only 14th in points scored: A top 7 finish would've equaled a 13-3 season and a sb victory. And we can win the next ten sb and I'll never get over the 2011 season in which they should've won 11 games.

 

[Gameover]

Personnel is trash

Carr....MO...Wilcox.....

Secondary Trash

Hitchens...Rolando

Average -Trash

Our D-Line is a joke

Wow

 

[Bullflop]

The defense is undoubtedly due to upgrade their talent level with respect to a generous number of positions that sorely need help. The DL, LB corps and secondary all need to be upgraded. Offensively, a backup QB, another RB and WR are needed to bolster an offense that could surely stand to be improved upon and thereby add greater consistency.

The coaching could surely stand to be improved upon but the addition of the aforementioned talent would readily render the coaching staff's job considerably more manageable.

 

[jobberone]

I have never been a huge fan of Marinelli's defense. OTOH and TBF he doesn't like what he is having to do out there either so I cut him some huge slack.

Playing a penetrating DL ALL the time sets us up. Add in a poor pass rush despite playing a scheme that's supposed to compensate for less skilled players and a relatively poor pass defense and you have a problem. Add in an incredibly poor TO Diff and you have a 4 win season and it would have been worse had Romo not had a hand in three of the wins. The fact he had us in ball games is a testimony to the DC's skills IMO.

We came up a day late and a dollar short too often last year for all the reasons mentioned above.

Poor pass rush:
1. Injured 3 tech
2. Poor 1 tech
3. Not enough talent across the line. You can have stars impact with edge rushers IF you have a good interior DL and some depth. You cannot generate enough pass rush with 1 or even 2 good DL who aren't edge rushers but run of the mill 5/7s. And you have to create pressure all along the line consistently to get to 45+sacks. We DON'T have enough talent.

Poor pass defense:
1. Average at best safety play. We had average and marginal to suboptimal there. Some is on the pass rush. Again a lack of talent. You can get by with a tackling decent cover safety but you have to have a playmaking FS to make the next level.
2. You need 3 starting quality CBs on the team and these days they must cover AND tackle. OScan getting hurt gets little attn but that was a killer on D. A team has to be able to absorb that. We are STILL in a talent hole on defense and have been for years now. They should draft...depending on FA acquisitions of course....5 players on D this year. A CB, S, 3, cover LB, and pass rusher. Add in a 1 if you want.

 

[Frozen700]

Wow

Wow what? Other than Lee, and Oscan who would you really say is that good on this D?

 

[Floatyworm]

Personnel, but Marinelli is overrated too.

Yup....Only in Dallas can you take a coach that went 0-16 in one season...and think he is the answer

 

[TwoDeep3]

With virtually the same players last year, the defense was better.

What made the team better was Romo. Dallas scored right at 11 fewer points per contest.

Does that mean the defense needs to be overhauled? I don't believe so.

It does mean a piece or two. But if this team wants to return to the 2014 level, get the offense playing keep away with the ball, move the chains, stay ahead of third down, and score TD's rather than field goals.

Defense is important. But this is a scoring league.

 

[TX Cowboy]

The next time you want to point fingers, be sure you point them right in his
direction because he is the one making the decisions not the coaches or
the players

 

[cowboyblue22]

its a combination of lots o fthings the players are just not good enough the coaches are lacking and the front office and gm is not nfl standard. Also injuries played a role in it. just plain bad luck was some of it. mostly its the talent on the field though that does us in at the end.

 

[Sydla]

Wow what? Other than Lee, and Oscan who would you really say is that good on this D?

Lawrence.

I don't think Jones had a bad year as a rookie.

I am willing to give Crawford a slight pass given he played the season with a bum shoulder and had to play next to a total waste in Hayden.

I think Hardy is a good player (granted, he might not be back).

 

[dfense]

Cassel + Weeden = Bad defense