Everybody Predicted The Cowboys Defensive Line Would Be Terrible, Everybody Was Wrong

[Stash]

Ooooh I think I can meet that criteria.

You're hired!

 

[Gameover]

I didn't

 

[Rogerthat12]

The D line has had one really good game vs the Bengals. Let's not go crazy.

We are 18th in total yards given up.
21st against the pass
12th against the rush
9th in points

WHAT has helped more than anything, IMO, is our offenses time of possession keeping the D off the field. One of the main reasons for taking Zeke in the first place.

I would only add that we also had a 3-4 TD lead, you bet the pass rush will look better, probably will come back to earth in close contests.

 

[Doomsday101]

I think Rod is doing a great job of getting these guys to play to a higher level. As I have said before they will not be confused with the defensive front of Denver or Minn but given the fact there are no real star players on the DL they are playing better than expected but would not call it great at this stage.

 

[theogt]

They have been terrible in all but one game.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

The best laid plans often go awry, but sometimes they go exactly to plan, and that was certainly the case on Sunday when the Cowboys had their most impressive overall team performance since 2014. Coming into the season everybody knew the Cowboys defense was not the most talented, especially along the defensive line. Despite suspensions to Demarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory the team did not do much to address the defensive end position aside from signing little known free agent Benson Mayowa, a player with only two career sacks over three seasons, and drafting Charles Tapper at the top of the fourth round. The defensive tackle position was more stable with veterans Tyrone Crawford, Terrell McClain, and Cedric Thornton, although McClain was coming off a 2015 season where he only played two games while rookie Maliek Collins had missed almost the entire offseason with a foot injury. Orlando Scandrick was the team leader in career sacks coming into the season and it wouldn’t have been a stretch to say that the Cowboys had one of the five worst defensive lines in the league.

With that said, the Cowboys were confident in their defensive line for two reasons: Rod Marinelli’s ability to get the most out of his players and develop an effective rotation where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and the potentially dominant offense and running game on the other side of the ball, which would hopefully build leads and shield the defense. The faces weren’t all the same on Sunday with Tony Romo and Dez Bryant out but that plan worked to perfection, and with the return of Lawrence it certainly looked like the decisions made by the Cowboys front office and coaching staff during the offseason were at least somewhat validated.

link/http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2016...marcus-lawrence-cedric-thornton-benson-mayowa

I was certainly wrong, matey!
They have heart and bend but do not break!

 

[nobody]

They have been terrible in all but one game.

They have made stops when it matters. While they haven't faced juggernaut offenses, they did enough to help the team win. That's what counts.

 

[windjc]

Easy to be good when your up a few TDs.

Lets see them preform in close games or trailing.

Yeah still waiting for us to have a close game. LOL

 

[skinsscalper]

remember 2014 don't forget the magic

Also don't forget that in 14 an average D-line cost us a chance at the NFCCG when we couldn't sniff a hobbled Rodgers (and we were actually creating turnovers at a respectable rate that year, which we haven't done yet, this year).

I like what we're seeing, so far, but, as another poster pontificated, let's not pat ourselves on the back, just yet, my brother.

 

[skinsscalper]

The DT's are starting to come around. Thornton in particular. T. Crawford isn't DE material. Although it's a bit unfair to him as he built his offseason around being in DT physical shape and they move him to DE and he's coming off injury. Unfortunately, I think we're going to have to find a way to ditch that contract because he's not going to play up to it. Lawrence was a nice edition.

I'd like to get stronger at DT though. If we had an Aaron Donald type I think that would have a larger impact than a very good DE. I would also like to see us get a good MIKE. Hitchens struggles to play the zone at the MIKE and isn't big enough to take it on.




YR

Just wanted to say that I love your avatar, brother. Worked in the golf industry for about 13 years and have a ton of respect for The King.

 

[waving monkey]

Also don't forget that in 14 an average D-line cost us a chance at the NFCCG when we couldn't sniff a hobbled Rodgers (and we were actually creating turnovers at a respectable rate that year, which we haven't done yet, this year).

I like what we're seeing, so far, but, as another poster pontificated, let's not pat ourselves on the back, just yet, my brother.

fair enough


however we are well better then the forecast by many on this board

 

[drawandstrike]

It wasn't very good up until this last game. You have to look at each player.

1) Thornton was expected to be an immediate impact player. He started off slow but looked much better this past game. Still hasn't lived up to what we were expecting from him.

2) D-Law was suspended so it's hard to judge. The D-line seemed to do much better once he came back. We'll see if it was a fluke or if he transformed the line.

3) McClain exceeded everyone's expectations. The best and most consistent player on the D-line so far this year.

4) T. Crawford was a bit of a disappointment early on at DT. Jury's still out on whether or not he'll be a good DE.

5) Irving hasn't been anything special this year.

6) J. Craw is J. Craw.

7) Collins has impressed. Not many people expected him to replace T. Craw as the starting DT.

8) Mayowa sucked early on. Doesn't seem to be a reliable starter. Maybe he's better off as a backup.

So basically, the two big free agent signings (Thornton and Mayowa) have been slight disappointments and haven't proven they could be quality starters. But rookie Collins and especially McClain have been the biggest surprises and have made DT look pretty good. Still haven't shown much at DE. Hopefully Lawrence and T. Craw can turn that around.

You've left out Davis, who had a sack wiped out on Sunday by a ticky tack holding call on Durant.

 

[drawandstrike]

Hey a 4 sack game and people will start getting really really optimistic.

Let's do it again in Green Bay and I'll start to get excited.

 

[Fmart322]

They did the same thing in 2014. They cowboys DL played well most of that season except by the end of the year their pedigrees really started to show.

Hopefully the next few drafts they get ready to play players for the defensive front 7.

 

[DogFace]

The usual party poopers come and let us know it's not a time to be excited and to not be hopeful about 1 positive showing. Even though our best player came for that 1 game.

At least op gave them something to post about because their per day post averages are way down for some reason.


Here's me though

 

[waving monkey]

The usual party poopers come and let us know it's not a time to be excited and to not be hopeful about 1 positive showing. Even though our best player came for that 1 game.

At least op gave them something to post about because their per day post averages are way down for some reason.


Here's me though

 

[hutch1254]

I felt last week against Cincy was the first time this year the D line was able to make the QB uncomfortable on a consistent basis. Was real good but got a long way to go and if Dak / Zeke are the future then our next few drafts should be about pass rushers, linebackers, O line depth and WR's.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

They were terrible vs. the Giants.

They've shown progressive improvement... Terrible... Bad... Below Average... OK... Good.

If every game the rest of the season was like the Cincinnati game, then I'd feel confident in the group. However I think they'll go bounce back & forth between "OK" and "Good" the rest of the season.

Another DE is certainly needed.

 

[Don Corleone]

Easy to be good when your up a few TDs.

Lets see them preform in close games or trailing.

They held up well when trailing by 14 to the Niners.

 

[Hardline]

We're actually attempting to brag about our defensive line?

The bar has been set really low maybe.