Is It a better strategy to finish the Offense or build the defense

[fredp22]

with the cap you can't concentrate on one side or the other to heavily. You need a balance and right now our defense is to far behind the offense. Sure the offense will have some positions with average/weaker players but if u continue to concentrate on them your defense will get even weaker.
concentrate on the Defense and address our offensive holes with 2nd level players. You dont need a pro bowler at every posn (well maybe Garrett does but most coaches dont)

 

[Jake]

I'm tired of watching teams that need to score 30 or more far too often win games. The Cowboys have never a championship with that type of team; few have.

You can't expect to "finish the fight" if you need to score 31 AND have the ball last to avoid elimination.

 

[Verdict]

1. I agree with what a few of you have already said. BPA, BPA, BPA. Add talent where you can add it. Talent wins out. Filling a hole with just a guy means you still have a hole.

2. If I could upgrade Free I would definitely do it. Green may be that upgrade if he stays healthy.

3. Upgrade tight end and/or limit Wittens snaps. If a top flight tight end falls in our laps I have no problem with upgrading. If that doesn't happen, I would force Witten to take a pay cut and play Hanna and Swaim more. If Wiiten would not take a pay cut I would cut Wiiten and play Hanna, Swaim and a draft pick/fa.

4. Upgrade the defense as the opportunity presents its self. We should be able to add a pass rusher and a corner somewhere in this draft that can play. We might get lucky and be able to add two of one or the other out of this draft.

5. I would also "shop" Dez to see what I could get in return for him. If I could get two firsts or a first and a third he would be long gone. I would try to add speed receiver in the draft if possible. None of our guys are outright burners on this entire receiving corps.

 

[Verdict]

with the cap you can't concentrate on one side or the other to heavily. You need a balance and right now our defense is to far behind the offense. Sure the offense will have some positions with average/weaker players but if u continue to concentrate on them your defense will get even weaker.
concentrate on the Defense and address our offensive holes with 2nd level players. You dont need a pro bowler at every posn (well maybe Garrett does but most coaches dont)

I feel your pain but the defense doesn't have a long way to fall.

 

[big dog cowboy]

I hate the argument that our offense is good enough to win the super bowl

Hate it all you want but it's the truth. Any top 5 offense is. Including the Cowboys.

Other side of the ball.....not so much.

 

[percyhoward]

Kurt Warner says hi.

Brady says hi.

Defensive ranks
1999 Rams 2nd
2001 Patriots 6th
2003 Patriots 1st
2004 Patriots 4th
2014 Patriots 8th
2016 Patriots 1st

 

[conner01]

There will always be players on both sides of the ball you want to upgrade. And if you draft the best players you will keep filling spots. But no team has a perfect roster. And you are pretty dang good on offense so if the players are there then you go defense. Don't draft position but all things being fairly equal you go defense
The biggest weakness we have is pass rushers and just so happens this draft is deep there.

 

[GhostOfPelluer]

Because of the depth at DE and DB if a stud WR or even the tackle from Wiscy is sitting there at 28 you don't hesitate. You can get a good DE or two and a good DB in rounds 2-4

 

[Gameover]

I'd work on that defense starting with the linemen. You "win and lose in trenches" as the old adage goes.
Let's get some war daddies.

In regards to Field stretching TEs - we have Hannah who is currently faster and more mobile than Witten while still having decent blocking abilities, and we have Swaim. If we need a pass catching TE, there are decent options out there including Cook from Greenbay. WR #2 - there are plenty of FAs that can fill this need.

On a Cowboys note....good lord those 90s Cowboys were stout.

What were the Cowboys rankings this year?

 

[LocimusPrime]

Defensive ranks
1999 Rams 2nd
2001 Patriots 6th
2003 Patriots 1st
2004 Patriots 4th
2014 Patriots 8th
2016 Patriots 1st

Brady has had some great defenses to help him. Yes sir

 

[LocimusPrime]

What were the Cowboys rankings this year?

5th in offense and 14th in defense I believe.

Not good enough....not YET! But every offseason, I'm hopeful.

 

[phildadon86]

Giants defense says hi when the undefeated Brady Patriots met the Giants in the Superbowl

David tyrees helmet says hi right back.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

There will always be players on both sides of the ball you want to upgrade. And if you draft the best players you will keep filling spots. But no team has a perfect roster. And you are pretty dang good on offense so if the players are there then you go defense. Don't draft position but all things being fairly equal you go defense
The biggest weakness we have is pass rushers and just so happens this draft is deep there.

If the best player at 28 available is a rt. Trade down.

But people get this bpa thing so wrong. Every time. Every team generally ranks players in order but within tiers. And when it's your time to draft violating bpa is more about grabbing a player at a position of need in a tier below your highest rated remaining players. But within a top tier you're free to make some roster related selections.

It's like going back to Ramsey verses Zeke. Everyone was like we had to go Zeke because he was rated a tick above Ramsey on our board. But both players were likely in our top tier of players. Grabbing Ramsey therefore would not be violating the spirit of bpa. Draft rankings are not a precise science where player 1 on the board is measurably better than player 2 especially across positions.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

not exactly true. and the cowboys are a hell of a lot closer to being elite on O than they are D.

"Closer to being elite on O"

Come again?

What exactly was not elite about having the 3rd best offense in football?

I hate the argument that our offense is good enough to win the super bowl when we didn't win the super bowl. The offense made plenty of mistakes in the loss to GB.

You said what m8?

Our offense was absolutely championship worthy. Unfortunately offense is merely one of three phases of the game. If we continue to ignore the other really important phase (defense) disappointing results will be concomitant.

 

[Supercowboy1986]

I believe it's 9 times a number 1 offense faced a number 1 defense in the Superbowl, and it's 8-1 or 7-2 in favor for the defense, Dallas lost to Green Bay, why because they didn't score enough or they couldn't stop Green Bay on defense.......I've said it all year this defense was a mirage....and now all I hear is this utter FANTASY LEAGUE PLAYERS nonsense that we should invest more in the offense to make it so called elite,,,,,,this team was 13-3 and elite enough last year on offense....Money and assets need to be put into the defense because other than Sean Lee, there isn't much on this defense that would replace another player on a another team

I've seen this stat before and although true, I think this year could be considered an exception. The falcons should of won with the lead they had. They just didn't run the ball and got pass happy.. with a lead! Freeman only rushed 4 times when the falcons were winning 21-0 or something like that.

 

[DandyDon52]

thinking youre finished is a good way to fall behind. Both will always need work. defense currently needs a lot more work.

True, but dont forget the coaching staff lol we need upgrades there too.

 

[DandyDon52]

I've seen this stat before and although true, I think this year could be considered an exception. The falcons should of won with the lead they had. They just didn't run the ball and got pass happy.. with a lead! Freeman only rushed 4 times when the falcons were winning 21-0 or something like that.

coaching can lose games, and same for dallas playoff game.
We can get different players, but with same coaches, how much will change?

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

If I had a nickle for every time I've heard this discussed on this board........

I don't boys but here's what I'll tell ya. At some point, somebody in this organization better get right with the fact that you need some boys on the Defensive side of the ball to stop somebody if you plan on winning another championship.

 

[ABQcowboyJR]

If I had a nickle for every time I've heard this discussed on this board........

I don't boys but here's what I'll tell ya. At some point, somebody in this organization better get right with the fact that you need some boys on the Defensive side of the ball to stop somebody if you plan on winning another championship.

A catalytic rusher can make a big impact on an average defense.

 

[GhostOfPelluer]

"Closer to being elite on O"


You said what m8?

Our offense was absolutely championship worthy. Unfortunately offense is merely one of three phases of the game. If we continue to ignore the other really important phase (defense) disappointing results will be concomitant.

Our defense was ranked higher than Green Bay and Atlanta. But our offense was not. And both of those teams advanced further.

You are what your record says you are. Our offense is very good - much better than our defense. But it's not championship worthy until we win a championship.

The whole reason for my argument wasn't that the defense doesn't need more help than the offense, it does. But you can't act like the offense is just fine and ignore it. It needs help, too. You improve wherever you can possibly improve, that's how you build a team capable of winning a championship. If our offense scores a touchdown on the last possession against Green Bay, they can't kick a field goal to beat us. If our offense doesn't lay an egg in the first half, Green Bay doesn't build a 21-3 lead.