DMN: Defense is why Goose doubts Dallas

[diehard2294]

it's the only thing that scares me about this defense

 

[Chocolate Lab]

The Packers play better defense than the Cowboys, plain and simple.

We allow fewer yards per game than they do. Football Outsiders has our D ranked higher.

And they haven't played the Patriots.

Not saying we're perfect, but why again are they clearly superior?

 

[Silverstar]

If the Super Bowl were played tomorrow
The AFC rep is automatic – the Patriots. The NFC rep is not. I waffle back and forth by the week between the two 9-1 NFC teams, Dallas and Green Bay. This week I like the Packers. I'm old school. I believe defense wins championships. The Packers play better defense than the Cowboys, plain and simple. It was unnerving what a young quarterback (Jason Campbell) with a battered offensive line (starters Jon Jansen and Randy Thomas out) did against the Cowboys on Sunday at Texas Stadium. Wade Phillips has six weeks left to make his defense Super Bowl-worthy.


Around the Ranch
The Indianapolis Colts won the Lombardi Trophy last season despite a scoring defense that ranked 21st in the NFL. But the Colts were an exception. Scoring defense has been the most consistent single statistic among Super Bowl champions. Thirty-five of the 41 Super Bowl champions ranked in the top 10 in scoring defense. Teams that allow the fewest points stand the best chance for success in January and February. That's my concern with the Cowboys. They rank 18th in the NFL in scoring defense. Worse, they rank 10th in the NFC.

LINK

Blah, blah, blah...

Goose can go suck an egg.

 

[Oh_Canada]

New England is the best team in the AFC right now, but New England getting to the super bowl is not automatic. Injuries play a huge part. Even assuming that New England remains injury free, the monkey gets a little bit heavier every week they go without a loss. I think there is a decent chance that the Pats go undefeated in the regular season and fail to reach the super bowl.

I think the worst thing for the Pats is they will probably have home field come playoff time. To me, Foxboro in January is about the only thing that can slow this offense down.

 

[WoodysGirl]

That's something else, Goose alluded to in the article...

Flawless fall doesn't guarantee winter winner in NFL


12:28 PM CST on Tuesday, November 20, 2007



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I've always used the 10-game mark as a barometer of the good football teams. The weeding out process has begun, and the NFL playoff field starts to materialize as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday each year.

The 10-game mark this season tells us the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers are very good football teams, clearly the best in the NFC. The Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers look like solid Super Bowl contenders in the AFC.

But the 10-game mark also tells us that the New England Patriots are the league's best team. The Patriots are a perfect 10-0 and have the statistics to match, ranking first in the NFL in offense and fourth in defense. New England looks both unstoppable and unbeatable.

But let's hold off on shipping the Lombardi Trophy to Foxborough for the holiday season. Plenty of NFL teams have looked unstoppable after 10 weeks.


Getty Images
Quarterback Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are 10-0 after a 56-10 win against the Bills. The 2005 Indianapolis Colts started 10-0 in 2005. So did the Miami Dolphins in 1984. Both were dominant on offense, just like these Patriots. Peyton Manning with those Colts and Dan Marino with those Dolphins were both carving up NFL secondaries at a record clip, as is Tom Brady this season. But neither the Colts or Dolphins wound up winning the Super Bowl those seasons.

In the 27 seasons since 1980, the team with the best record in the NFL after 10 weeks managed to win the Super Bowl only a dozen times.

In 1988, the Buffalo Bills were steaming along with a 9-1 record and an explosive offense with Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed. The San Francisco 49ers were sitting back in the pack at 6-4 at the 10-game mark but wound up winning the Super Bowl that year.

Here's a look at the 10-game mark since 2000, listing teams with the best records and the teams that won the Super Bowl that season:


Year Best record Teams
2000 8-2 Miami, Minnesota, Oakland, St. Louis, Tennessee
Super Bowl champion: Baltimore (6-4 after 10 games)
2001 8-2 Chicago, Oakland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis)
Super Bowl champion: New England (5-5 after 10 games)
2002 8-2 Green Bay, Tampa Bay
Super Bowl champion: Tampa Bay
2003 9-1 Kansas City
Super Bowl champion: New England (8-2 after 10 games)
2004 9-1 New England, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh)
Super Bowl champion: New England
2005 10-0 Indianapolis
Super Bowl champion: Pittsburgh (7-3 after 10 games)
2006 9-1 Chicago, Indianapolis
Super Bowl champion: Indianapolis



So there's still a lot of football to be played. Coach Bill Belichick and his Patriots are right each week when they say in their drab monotone voices that they haven't accomplished anything yet. It's not how you start a season that matters. It's how you finish it.

 

[Gryphon]

Green Bay's going to the Super Bowl

So says Hall of Fame scribe Rick "Goose" Gosselin in this week's From the 50, although he reserves the right to change his mind.

The AFC rep is automatic – the Patriots. The NFC rep is not. I waffle back and forth by the week between the two 9-1 NFC teams, Dallas and Green Bay.

This week I like the Packers. I'm old school. I believe defense wins championships. The Packers play better defense than the Cowboys, plain and simple. It was unnerving what a young quarterback (Jason Campbell) with a battered offensive line (starters Jon Jansen and Randy Thomas out) did against the Cowboys on Sunday at Texas Stadium. Wade Phillips has six weeks left to make his defense Super Bowl-worthy.

 

[Aikbach]

Green Bay's going to the Super Bowl? I guess they got tickets.

 

[Big Dakota]

"I waffle back and forth by the week "


The size of the walnuts on this man

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Same could be said about the Packers. We rank higher than them in pass defense. Both teams have the same sack totals but Dallas leads the Pack in ints.

let alone the fact Testaverde almost put up 300 against them without Steve Smith.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Our secondary continues to be both hobbled and a work in progress. I don't think it will be any different all season. We'll see how it performs, but Goose is right to question whether it will be good enough.

Exactly right.


This secondary more resembles a Chinese fire drill than it does a well-synchronized unit.

 

[theebs]

Exactly right.


This secondary more resembles a Chinese fire drill than it does a well-synchronized unit.

That is exactly what it was sunday.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

Look at all the close games Green Bay had this year, what's wrong with Goose...

 

[Deep_South]

Goose needs to move to Miami.

Not only would it get him away from the Cowboys, but he could pick the Dolphins to lose every week and be right for a change.

 

[zack]

All valid points and cant say I disagree.

Washington is a rival game. What will happen when the Lions beat the Packers on Thanksgiving. What will he say then?