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Q: Dallas' defense has lots of talent, but their schemes seem very vanilla. DBs are always playing 10 yards off the ball and almost every play playing zone. When they rush four, which is most of the time, it seems they only let DeMarcus Ware bull rush or speed rush, as well as others … not much scheming. When the ball is snapped I can tell you where they're coming from. Ware never loops to center and shoots; they never disguise the blitz like Philly, Chicago and others. They have as much or more talent on D than the rest of the league, but [they're] so plain vanilla, and they repeat even if it's not working … your thoughts?
Thomas
A: You're right in the sense that the Cowboys' defense has underachieved. They have too much talent to be giving up 22 points a game. I think a lot of that is the teams that they've played. The Cowboys have played teams with a 47-33 record from last year including two teams that made the playoffs, the Commanders and Packers. When they left Lambeau Field with a victory over the Packers, everyone including myself proclaimed them the top team in the league. The schedule gets softer in the second half, and that's when the defensive numbers will start coming down. Wade Phillips runs a nice version of the 3-4. He's doesn't limit his defensive linemen to two-gapping 60 plays a game, so the linemen get to shoot through gaps and attack the quarterback. To me, it doesn't look as though they will fix their coverage holes at safety until next year when they move Anthony Henry to full time. Terence Newman can't shake injuries this season. Adam Jones is rusty after being suspended last year. Plus, he's not as comfortable in zone coverages yet. Mike Jenkins is a rookie who is still learning. I'm a little concerned about a lack of dominance at the nose tackle position. But overall, they will be fine.
Thomas
A: You're right in the sense that the Cowboys' defense has underachieved. They have too much talent to be giving up 22 points a game. I think a lot of that is the teams that they've played. The Cowboys have played teams with a 47-33 record from last year including two teams that made the playoffs, the Commanders and Packers. When they left Lambeau Field with a victory over the Packers, everyone including myself proclaimed them the top team in the league. The schedule gets softer in the second half, and that's when the defensive numbers will start coming down. Wade Phillips runs a nice version of the 3-4. He's doesn't limit his defensive linemen to two-gapping 60 plays a game, so the linemen get to shoot through gaps and attack the quarterback. To me, it doesn't look as though they will fix their coverage holes at safety until next year when they move Anthony Henry to full time. Terence Newman can't shake injuries this season. Adam Jones is rusty after being suspended last year. Plus, he's not as comfortable in zone coverages yet. Mike Jenkins is a rookie who is still learning. I'm a little concerned about a lack of dominance at the nose tackle position. But overall, they will be fine.
