CFZ Defense down the stretch is a concern!

[baltcowboy]

Last two weeks, the defense has really struggled, but they played well when the game was on the line stopping both teams multiple times on 4th down. Both Washington/Seattle have one thing in common, excellent receiving groups. Next 5 games, we are going to see Washington again and 4 elite offenses.

Really believe signing Shaq Leonard is more of a necessity then anything else. They need a veteran to help with the communication to make sure everyone knows their assignment pre-snap, this was something Lve excelled at. Leonard also gives the team more size to better handle stopping the run

Dan Quinn has to stop playing so much man coverage, especially with these mobile QB's in the coming weeks. Teams will continue to attack Bland on the island, until an adjustment has been made. Last two weeks, he has been consistently beaten early and often. He isn't alone, the linebackers/safeties have really struggled in coverage.

Pass rush continues to get pressures, but they have to get more sacks. They are getting there, just need to do a better job in finishing.

Finally, might be the most important thing is all these damn penalties. They have no chance for success if this continues to occur. Pre-snaps, personal fouls are killing this defense.

The defense is fine. Nobody knows Dan Quinn better than Carroll and Washington scored 10 points on our struggling defense. The NFL is an offensive league and all the rules now protect the offensive players. Our defense lives and dies by the pass rush and turnovers. As long as the offense continues to roll we have a chance against any team we play.

 

[Cowboyny]

well, keeping in mind on thursday they had a 3 day turn around, then a week later (although sounds normal), they played again. 3 games in 12 days.

this defense is predicated on generating pressure up front. when they don't they get burned.

They are getting pressure but not getting sacks

 

[Cowboyny]

They struggled last year later in the season as well.

Not sure if should be a concern or not. Could be Seattle just had a great game plan, and Dallas was not as prepared.
3 games in 12 days, takes a toll on the coaches as well as the players.

Will give them the benefit of the doubt, but in our 3 losses, they have played a major role.

 

[VaqueroTD]

They struggled last year later in the season as well.

Not sure if should be a concern or not. Could be Seattle just had a great game plan, and Dallas was not as prepared.
3 games in 12 days, takes a toll on the coaches as well as the players.

Thinking same thing. Feels like it was right here when they had to regroup. But.. difference is Hankins and LVE were out and came back. Safeties playing better too. I don’t know…. Hopefully not an issue. Like Asthma’s take on Seattle’s offense. This definitely felt like an ‘all or nothing’ for them. Which is great because that’s the type of intensity our team needs to play against if they’re going to make it to the Super Bowl. We don’t need anymore 1-2 win teams that know the season is over or they’re counting on the third string QB.

I think it was more of a case where Seattle changed up what they had been doing on offense completely, making the game plan that Quinn had come up with pretty much useless.

The Seahawks had been doing terrible on offense and they went in and changed a ton of things they had been doing. This was essentially a playoff game for them and they pulled out all the stops to try to win.

Sometimes when a coach makes a game plan, watching the film of what the opponent had been doing all season long, and the team unexpectedly changes up how they’re doing things… it can really screw up a game. That happened in this game.

At least partially, I think that was the case for Quinn on Thursday night. Quinn and the defense had to figure out how Seattle was playing and then diagnose and adjust on the fly. It is never pretty when that happens to a defense.

We will see soon enough if that was a big part of the problem or if it is just the defense starting to degrade.

 

[Cowboyny]

Why is it we can never get both offense AND defense clicking together? Earlier in the season, the defense was balling and the offense had its issues, especially red zone. But now........guess what (lol).

I honestly think cleaning up the penalties will resolve a lot of our issues.

I honestly think it's the opponent, they couldn't stop either SFO nor the Eagles. They bully the weaker teams, but struggle against the elite ones. Been saying throughout this season, they were overrated where many have said this is an historic defense, which they clearly are not.

 

[Cowboyny]

This defense was built to play with a lead. When they don't have one, they struggle.

Excellent point, but they have to be built to play against any scenario not just be good against the pass.

 

[Cowboyny]

Well, that linebacker we had in from Indianapolis this week should agree to sign this weekend with us, and be ready for next week's game. That should help.

All we know is. Leonard will probably be in Dallas next week, but aren't sure which jersey he will be wearing.

 

[Cowboyny]

The cowboys lost their top corner and mlb'er. Those are major positions. There are teams where we will notice the loss more than others

but many didn't want Diggs resigned and thought LVE was a jag.

 

[Cowboyny]

The defense is a concern after the Seattle game but I will wait another game before deciding how big that concern is. It is true we did not sack Geno Smith but he threw 4 or 5 passes into the dirt to avoid sacks. A couple he was in the grasp. Regardless, the plays failed because of pressure. Teams are getting rid of the ball more quickly when they face Dallas and this should give Dallas an advantage in coverage. If they would just stop playing off 5-10 yards they might take away those quick passes and then the sacks will come.

I have two worries going forward. 1 is pass coverage. Bland had an awful game and I am not going to allow that 1 INT to change my opinion about it. Later in the Game Geno threw a pass to Locket deep down the middle and Locket dropped it. Lockett was wide open and if he caught that pass in stride it would have been another long TD. Bland was in coverage. If not for the pass rush that hurried Geno Smith's throw Seattle might have put the game on ice with that play. When we play the Eagles I expect they will try to get one of their faster receivers on Bland and run those same routes for big plays.

My other concern is the OL. They did a great job pass protecting for Dak Thursday night, but Steele still struggles with quick pass rushers. As well as Dak is playing teams are getting sacks on Dallas. Seattle had 4. That has to get tightened up too if they are going to make a run in the playoffs.

Fair points. Cowboys will be facing elite competition in the next 4 weeks, will they get exposed?

 

[Captain43Crash]

Well, that linebacker we had in from Indianapolis this week should agree to sign this weekend with us, and be ready for next week's game. That should help.

Do you have inside information? No
Philly may sign him.
Will Jerry pull out a little extra to sign him over Philly? I hope so.

 

[Cowboyny]

agree 100%

it's odd there isn't as much attention being drawn to how Dan Quinn's unit has been underachieving,

they literally have lost us these three games,

I don't care how much you go back and try to nitpick other parts of the game which yeah it's not the only reason we lost but if you're looking for the main reason we lost to get to the 49ers to Arizona and to Philly it was the defense , not just the points, given up these long drives and these giving up these long time consuming drives and chunk plays to teams like Washington and New York amongst others they made Seattle look like the greatest show on turf...

Dan Quinn is getting too much of A pass around here he is not my head coach choice of the future we already saw that story over in Atlanta and it's looking a whole lot like now he is a very good defensive coach but him and his ego are wanting to stick to man coverage so much is ridiculous when other teams I showed you how to slow our offense down playing a lot of zone a lot of two deep safeties and a lot of other things and Dan Quinn right now is the biggest problem with his defensive calls and his game plans even in the games we were in blowouts you could see this against lesser competitions how easy it is for the some of them to just drive down the field on 10 play you know 70 yard drives without much resistance...

Imagine when we get in these games with Buffalo Miami Philly 2, and Detroit or worse in the playoffs he needs to re evaluate his talent cause right now he's doing exactly what rod marinelli and Mike Nolan do where everyone also blamed Jason Garrett for utilizing his talent to win games instead of schemes he seems unwilling to change his schemes and game plans because he feels like his talent can win him games and that is a big mistake...

rant over LOL

We were the only 2 who believed this defense was overrated. Until they prove it against a top offense, I am still a doubter. If not for making some 4th down stops, they could of lost back to back weeks.

 

[Captain43Crash]

Concern? Don't worry about things that you can't control. Hook 'em!

All fans worry about what they can’t control.

 

[Cowboyny]

I think it was more of a case where Seattle changed up what they had been doing on offense completely, making the game plan that Quinn had come up with pretty much useless.

The Seahawks had been doing terrible on offense and they went in and changed a ton of things they had been doing. This was essentially a playoff game for them and they pulled out all the stops to try to win.

Sometimes when a coach makes a game plan, watching the film of what the opponent had been doing all season long, and the team unexpectedly changes up how they’re doing things… it can really screw up a game. That happened in this game.

At least partially, I think that was the case for Quinn on Thursday night. Quinn and the defense had to figure out how Seattle was playing and then diagnose and adjust on the fly. It is never pretty when that happens to a defense.

We will see soon enough if that was a big part of the problem or if it is just the defense starting to degrade.

Next 4 games we play elite offensive teams, we will find out how good this defense really is.

 

[Cowboyny]

The defense is fine. Nobody knows Dan Quinn better than Carroll and Washington scored 10 points on our struggling defense. The NFL is an offensive league and all the rules now protect the offensive players. Our defense lives and dies by the pass rush and turnovers. As long as the offense continues to roll we have a chance against any team we play.

Cannot expect an offense to score on every possession, Seattle never punted in the entire game.

 

[Ranching]

All fans worry about what they can’t control.

Only the anal ones...lol

 

[AsthmaField]

Next 4 games we play elite offensive teams, we will find out how good this defense really is.

Yep…

 

[Cowboyny]

Yep…

What's your thoughts on your guy Witherspoon? He did miss several tackles, but made a nice play in the red zone. Believe our guy Forbes has been benched by Washington and McDonald really hasn't made much of an impact, either.

 

[AsthmaField]

What's your thoughts on your guy Witherspoon? He did miss several tackles, but made a nice play in the red zone. Believe our guy Forbes has been benched by Washington and McDonald really hasn't made much of an impact, either.

Well, I love Witherspoon, as you know… he will have some growing pains but he will be a star, if he isn’t already.

I haven’t really paid attention to Forbes or McDonald. I know that Washington is a mess right now so I don’t put much stock into anything they have going on over there. I don’t trust them to put him in good positions.

 

[The Natural]

The defense doesn’t look elite against good teams and that is certainly a concern.

 

[Cowboyny]

Well, I love Witherspoon, as you know… he will have some growing pains but he will be a star, if he isn’t already.

I haven’t really paid attention to Forbes or McDonald. I know that Washington is a mess right now so I don’t put much stock into anything they have going on over there. I don’t trust them to put him in good positions.

I seen Devin a few times, he is an impact player. Does get over aggressive at times looking for that big hit, though.

Forbes really struggled against A.J. Brown, but that is a tough matchup for any corner.

McDonald barely plays, due to the Jets deep rotation. If he was just going to play limited snaps, why take him? They had bigger needs along the OL. This is what happens when you have a defensive minded HC.