Defensive Ineptitude

[Gameover]

I guess you don't realize, they aren't talented on defense. Fans are so stupid. Coming in to season everybody thought they would challenge for the worst D ever. Why are we then surprised that their not good. And it's late in the season, and the good players we have are wearing down. You want them to be something they aren't capable of being... Dominate

 

[mahoneybill]

Our D may not be what we want, but they play hard for Marinelli.

Give him some studs and we can be a very formidable opponent for anyone.

 

[WV Cowboy]

Yes the game would have been different if they score instead of turning it over. Get another expected onside kick. Score again instead of turning the ball over. And don't allow us to block another PAT.

Unfortunately a for them (and for the zone posters who just want to watch the world burn) all of that didn't happen.

This discussion didn't start with, and was never about us talking about whether it did happen or not, .. we all know it didn't.
This began with how we managed the clock and the game, .. and how that mismanagement opened the door for Chicago to get back into the game.
Which should have never happened.

It was heading in that direction too quickly for my liking, .. thank goodness Cutler threw a stupid game-ending pick to us.

 

[KingintheNorth]

Fans want dominating blowouts. Coaches want wins. Up 4 scores with a quarter to play you're just trying to keep the clock moving and prevent big plays.

That's what we did.

Move on. You look dumb as hell right now.

Pretending this defense isn't a huge liability makes "dumb" look like a milestone you would be lucky to ascend to.

 

[links18]

It's a combination of mediocre talent and questionable coaching. As I said in another thread last night, in Dallas games Aikman has done, he's constantly pointed out that while not great, we are a better man coverage team than zone. And yet Marinelli is hell bent on playing a lot of zone because he's married to that system. We played a lot of zone and Philly just sliced and diced us. And they will do it again next week if Marinelli again wants to play passively with 3 man rushes and deep zones, etc.

I think a lot has to change on the defensive side of the ball this offseason - talent AND coaching.

Well we did sign a 50 million dollar man corner and then spend two picks on another only to switch to a zone scheme a year later.....

 

[EPL0c0]

Big problem is the DE's are non-existent. Spencer is our best DE at this point. So now the opposing offenses can pinch the interior and shut down the DT's.

When you play zone, you need to get pressure, otherwise it becomes like shooting ducks in a barrel for the QB.
YR

Even when Dallas plays man, with the kind of time QBs are getting, the DBs can only keep up for so long. The lack of a pass rush really exposes the 2ndary.

Maybe I know nothing about football, but they gotta do something about the situation with the DEs right? 10days off would be a great time to bring somebody in, but who? Pickings are slim to none out there. It was frustrating watching the DEs unable to get off of one-on-one blocks. THey don't have to get sacks, but if they can just get NEAR the QB that'd be a major improvement.

very frustrating to watch

 

[kramskoi]

Even when Dallas plays man, with the kind of time QBs are getting, the DBs can only keep up for so long. The lack of a pass rush really exposes the 2ndary.

Maybe I know nothing about football, but they gotta do something about the situation with the DEs right? 10days off would be a great time to bring somebody in, but who? Pickings are slim to none out there. It was frustrating watching the DEs unable to get off of one-on-one blocks. THey don't have to get sacks, but if they can just get NEAR the QB that'd be a major improvement.

very frustrating to watch

The Cowboys have what they have on defense. They have known this from the start. Actually, they are playing better than anyone would have dared to predict before the season started. Their 9-4 record raises expectations for the future that the defense cannot ensure. Fans, including myself, don't like this because it appears that a once improbable season as arrived before we really expected it to. Now that it has, we of course, want it all, as humans are want to behave.

However...

I have said it before ... the offense is going to determine how far they will be able to push this thing. Right now it's not good enough, and definitely not with a defense that has cooled a bit over the last 4-5 games. Dez Bryant's demonstrative outbursts, on the surface, look like petty selfishness, but as we have learned later, Bryant is simply recognizing what the Cowboys have struggled with in December...the letdown, the beatdown, the comedown. What happened in the fourth quarter of the Chicago game was like a microcosm of how the team has comported itself down the stretch for too many years. Bryant could see it for what it was and it is going to take that kind of Spartan WILL to get them where they want to go. I would prefer to see Garrett exhorting these guys, rather than simply clapping his hands. It unnerves me that on nights like Thursday, to see fire coming from the players, when perhaps it should be coming from the coach as well. Garrett must realize that he must elevate himself along with the players as the second season approaches. It is why I would trust Tom Coughlin at the helm of this team in December over Garrett...and I say this only because Coughlin is a motivator, and sometimes, as in Shakespeare's "Titus" ... there is a time to storm!

 

[Toruk_Makto]

Pretending this defense isn't a huge liability makes "dumb" look like a milestone you would be lucky to ascend to.

Where exactly did I say this defense wasn't the team's liability?