DMN JJT Blog: Why are some of you ripping the Cowboys' defense

[WoodysGirl]

Why are some you ripping the Cowboys' defense

11:28 AM Mon, Sep 08, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Jean-Jacques Taylor E-mail News tips

Would someone explain to me why I'm getting a string of e-mails this morning about how the Cowboys' defense struggled against Cleveland?

Some of you even said they played poorly. I don't know what game you were watching. Were they flawless? Of course not.

But they played well against a good team. I mean all we heard before the game was how Kellen Winslow Jr., Jamal Lewis and Braylon Edwards were one of the best young triumvirates in the league and Derek Anderson was a terrific quarterback.

Well, they didn't do much yesterday. And it wasn't like they didn't try.


But Anderson completed only 11 of 24 passes for 114 yards and Edwards caught only two passes for 14 yards, despite having 11 directed his way. I know he dropped a touchdown pass, but we can all play coulda, woulda, shoulda.

Jason Witten dropped a 30-yard pass too.

Winslow didn't do anything in the second half and Lewis wasn't a factor. Obviously, Philadelphia will pose a much stiffer test next week, but that has nothing to do with shutting down the Browns' potent offense.

 

[Doomsday101]

I agree with JJT we took one of the best offenses in the NFL and pretty much shut them down. The 1 TD drive they had came about because on 2 3rd down plays that we helped them out by keeping their drive alive with penalties. There was no one standout player for the defense but it was a great group effort by the defense as a whole.

 

[Achozen]

I think people said they played poor because we had like one sack and zero picks.

That's what most people look at when they look at the defense.

 

[Real1st]

We got lucky that Edwards had the dropsies.

But other than that they played a good game. We shut down K2 and the run so that is what shut down their offense.

 

[Doomsday101]

I think people said they played poor because we had like one sack and zero picks.

That's what most people look at when they look at the defense.

True, what I look at is how many points did you give up. Cleveland was a team who had no problems putting up points and at home in this game they put up 10. If I had to give a grade to the defense they get an "A" from me

 

[dmq]

one of the best young triumvirates in the league

Yes, I always here about what great triumvirates they are when talking smack w/ football fans.

 

[Brandon4Cowboys]

the defense will be just fine if the injury gods are on our side.

 

[FolsomCowboy]

Seriously, read some of these threads, I almost believe that some "fans" really only feel good if they can complain and interject their armchair coaching/gming. They throw out the 99% positve things that happen in a game and focus on the 1% negative. Dallas is a really good team right now, enjoy it.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

The defense played very, very well.

But still too many penalties.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Seriously, read some of these threads, I almost believe that some "fans" really only feel good if they can complain and interject their armchair coaching/gming. They throw out the 99% positve things that happen in a game and focus on the 1% negative. Dallas is a really good team right now, enjoy it.

Amen.

To answer JJT's question, some fans just don't know what they're watching. They expect us to score every drive and make the other team go three and out every possession... Just totally unrealistic.

 

[Real1st]

The defense played very, very well.

But still too many penalties.

Too many. But at least they got off the field on 3rd down at times. When we didn't it was mainly because of the penalties

 

[Kangaroo]

The defense started off poor and shot itself in the foot early in the game where most people I saw complaining about early on.

For every positive play they would give it back with a stupid penalty not even an effort penalty

Like someone said if Edwards did not have the dropsies the defense may have played as well

It looked like they settled down and started getting after it but man that 1st qtr looked all to much like preseason

 

[khiladi]

The defense played very, very well.

But still too many penalties.

I guess we gotta live with them, because they have been penalized throughout the years way too many times... Whether it was the Parcells era or Wade era...

 

[bbgun]

Four sacks and you wouldn't have heard a peep out of anyone.

 

[Rick_Deckard]

Because they picked the Cowboys as their fantasy football defense and now expect a shutout with six sacks and three interceptions every week.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

A lot of us have totally unrealistic expectations. We forget the other team is trying just as hard to win as we are.

 

[AdamJT13]

They expect us to score every drive and make the other team go three and out every possession.

Some fans wouldn't be happy if we allowed three-plays-and-a-punt on every possession, because they'd want turnovers.

 

[Rack]

I haven't "Ripped" our defense, but to be honest, I'd really rather our D play like the Bears D played last night. With all the picks and money we've invested in that side of the ball, I expect them to be more "Dominant".


Now, I don't think they HAVE to play like the bears D for us to win a superbowl, it's just personal preference (and opinion based on everything we've invested in our D).

 

[TwentyOne]

Good Team ?

they were missing their 2nd WR. Thats Edwards and Winslow and an RB who was only 50% healthy. And we had our hands full with both of them. edwards had some key drops.

We stopped them but that was more because of the bad play by the browns then by domination of the cowboys. and to me i don't expect good play from our defense - with alls those talented players i expect that the defense carries us with dominant plays.

i remember when the moderator said in the third quater "thats what phillips defense is all about, playing with a lead, thats where it can play to full potential". that was a sentence i heard last year also. but there was not alot of preasure on the cleveland qb. ok given maybe we didn't need to take a risk. but last year even when we needed to preasure we couldn't - like say the giants. I watched the same thing yesterday.

don't get me wrong, we played ok maybe good. but thats far from what i expected. so i understand that some people are in the mood to rip them (a bit).

but i have to admit one more thing. i like our run defense. that was a beauty to watch

 

[Undisputed]

Like our players have said, this defense just isn't dominant yet. Probably not even great yet.

They played a good game, but it felt more to me a product of the Browns hurting themselves. They remind me of a less mature version of our team. Them shooting themselves in the foot gave me terrible flashbacks of our first half play last season.