How bad do you expect this defense to be really?

[The Natural]

I WANT to believe this defense shocks the world on Sunday, believe me I do. But when I look at the depth chart I just don't see it.

 

[cowboys1981]

I WANT to believe this defense shocks the world on Sunday, believe me I do. But when I look at the depth chart I just don't see it.

We lack depth on the Dline. Outside of our projected starters on the line we're very thin with quality.

I'm with you on wanting our defense to prove people wrong and get off the field before the opponent scores, more often.

 

[KJJ]

How bad?

I just don't see how our defense is going to be that bad. We have a few games against fairly weak offenses (Rams, Jaguars, Texans, Titans).

I'm not saying they are going to be great, or even good for that matter. I just don't see all the doom and gloom.

It's easy to see why there's so much doom and gloom when you look at the players the Cowboys lost from an already terrible defense. The Cowboys lost their pass rush from last season (17 sacks) and their leader in int's (4 int's) plus they lost arguably their best corner for the first 4 games of the season. They even lost their top defensive pick for half the season. With all the players the Cowboys lost on defense it's still going to be difficult for the D to be as bad as it was last season because it was the 3rd worst statistically in NFL history. Hard to be worse than that but you never know.

The defense will be bad this season there's no way around it due to the lack of defensive talent the Cowboys have. They're not going to have much of a pass rush this season and that right there spells doom and gloom with some of the QB's they'll be facing. The bottom line is we won't know how bad it will be until we start playing for real on Sunday. We're all holding our breath the D isn't going to be as bad as most of us fear but one thing I'm certain of it's going to be REAL ugly when the Cowboys head to Seattle in week 6....OUCH!!! Lynch may have 200 yards rushing by halftime.

 

[Teague31]

No worse than last year

 

[CF74]

Somewhere between average, slightly above average, and not nearly as bad as most would think. I'm more worried about the offenses production and ability to sustain long drives because without a Top 5 offense, we are all but sunk...

 

[MissouriCowboy]

How bad?

I just don't see how our defense is going to be that bad. We have a few games against fairly weak offenses (Rams, Jaguars, Texans, Titans).

I'm not saying they are going to be great, or even good for that matter. I just don't see all the doom and gloom.

Selvie had a decent year last year rushing the passer. Mincey and Melton are both solid players. Scandrick is a very good CB. I like Church and Wilcox at the safety positions. Durant is solid and Bruce Carter could be a fantastic player as long as he sets his mind to it, the athleticism is there. Terrell McClain played on very good defenses in Baltimore. Carr, while ultimately not worth the big contract, isn't terrible.

We need a few players to step up and play really well, namely Morris Claiborne and Rolando McClain, as well as our D-Line depth.

This defense isn't nearly as devoid of talent as some are making it out to be, in my very humble opinion.

Not looking to start a war here, just wondering what all of you think of this 2014 defense.

I agree with you. It has no where to go but up.

 

[NumOneQB]

Record breaking bad....

 

[Craig]

I think it would take quite a few injuries to be worse than last year...though they have shown that they are capable up putting up big numbers in the injury department.

 

[MissouriCowboy]

Man Niners offense is lacking in air. Load up and stop run.

 

[CrownCowboy]

Until I see them improve, I'll keep expecting them to be awful.

Just because they were last in the league last year, doesn't mean that it can't get worse. If they stay healthy, they will improve. imo

As mentioned, I think we should load up the box and make stopping the run a priority. We need to blitz and bring pressure and let the chips fall where they may when the 49ers pass. Anything is better than laying back in a zone reacting and being dictated to. We need to attack, take chances and be aggressive.

 

[KJJ]

Somewhere between average, slightly above average, and not nearly as bad as most would think. I'm more worried about the offenses production and ability to sustain long drives because without a Top 5 offense, we are all but sunk...

If the defense is average to slightly above average the Cowboys won't nearly be sunk without a top 5 offense. The Cowboys offense ranked 16th last season and the team was still able to win 8 games despite the 3rd worst defense in NFL history. If the defense is average to slightly above average the 2014 season won't be a bad as some of us are predicting because the Cowboys have the talent offensively to be very good.

 

[KJJ]

Man Niners offense is lacking in air. Load up and stop run.

The Cowboys are lacking in coverage so they can't just focus on stopping the run. Some are acting like Kap is no better than Tebow at passing the football. With Claiborne having missed the entire preseason and still battling a shoulder injury the Niners will come after him. If the officiating crew is making tight calls on illegal contact Claiborne may get flagged all day. If SF is able to run that's going to open up the play action pass and Davis is very dangerous down the field.

 

[Nightman]

It's the go to story for the Boys leading into the season. They will not be as bad as the team they fielded the last half of last year and won't come close to being as bad as they are being talked about. I think they will create a lot of turnovers and give up a lot of big plays, but I don't think that teams will just blow them off the field.

The secondary and LBs are solid and the D Line has better depth imo. We got nothing from Hayden and Ware last year and Selvie and Melton should be as good as Hatcher/ Ware. Marinelli's D has to be more creative than the vanilla schemes Kifkin was forced to run last year.

 

[CF74]

If the defense is average to slightly above average the Cowboys won't nearly be sunk without a top 5 offense. The Cowboys offense ranked 16th last season and the team was still able to win 8 games despite the 3rd worst defense in NFL history. If the defense is average to slightly above average the 2014 season won't be a bad as some of us are predicting because the Cowboys have the talent offensively to be very good.

16 is half of 32 which is interesting to note we won 8 games, so somewhere between Top 5 to Top 7 in offense is where we need to be to really make a run.

 

[Tabascocat]

I don't care what the final rankings will be, it is what happens in-between that is important. I just want to see the majority of the defense play together for the season so the coaches can properly evaluate the group as a whole. I am tired of dumpster diving week in and week out to fill in the holes and end up being ranked in the bottom with no one in particular being held accountable.

There needs to be an answer as to why this defense is bad and the injury excuse is getting old.........

 

[KJJ]

16 is half of 32 which is interesting to note we won 8 games, so somewhere between Top 5 to Top 7 in offense is where we need to be to really make a run.

It's going to come down to how many points the defense gives up especially when games are on the line in the 4th quarter vs how many points the Cowboys offense puts up. If the defense can't keep opponents out of the endzone the Cowboys may have to be a top 5 to top 7 offense in scoring to make a run. If the defense can't hold teams to FG's it's going to put a lot on the plate of Romo and the offense. If the offense and Romo have to have their A-game every week to overcome the defense it's going to be a long season.

 

[blindzebra]

I know it won't matter to the usual crowd but our 1st team D gave up 6 points in 3 preseason games and got turnovers. I suspect they will give up yards but not a lot of points and get a fair share of turnovers.

GB and NO won Super Bowls with below average defenses in yards that got a lot of turnovers. Our offense is as good as either of those teams.

 

[Hoofbite]

They had plenty of games against crap teams last year.

The defense will be bad. What has changed that would make anyone think otherwise?

 

[CF74]

It's going to come down to how many points the defense gives up especially when games are on the line in the 4th quarter vs how many points the Cowboys offense puts up. If the defense can't keep opponents out of the endzone the Cowboys may have to be a top 5 to top 7 offense in scoring to make a run. If the defense can't hold teams to FG's it's going to put a lot on the plate of Romo and the offense. If the offense and Romo have to have their A-game every week to overcome the defense it's going to be a long season.

Well yeah duh, the D is full of holes but the O is stacked to be just that, unless Romo is still hurt or even worse, done.. It's up to the O to be all it should be, we already know the D is not there...

 

[TX_Yid]

Other than they are not all injured yet like last year, I'm not sure what anyone could point to that would suggest that the defense isn't going to be worse than last year.

I'm looking forward to next year already!