endersdragon
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Hearing a couple of other conversations around here I got to thinking is our defense really that bad? After all they are 10th in points suggesting they are a bend but don't break type of team. To which many say, that's just because they control the ball so well, which is also true, they are #1 in both plays and time per drive (which I really like moving forward BTW, yes it's because there aren't any deep completions but I love controlling the ball). In fact the Cowboys offense is dominant in pretty much every per drive stat (except for TDs which I think getting Romo back well help a lot with, not to mention Dak getting more experience).
So I started looking at the defensive per drive stats that supposedly the Cowboys are so bad at... And outside of yards I didn't see anything that horrifying. 18th in points, 14th in takeaways, 13th in points per red zone appearance. In terms of what I see mattering the most, points and takeaways (in that order) we are really pretty average, maybe slightly below. This is being done without our best pass rusher in DLaw who was averaging a sack a game at the end of last year and seemed to be getting regular pressure throughout the game.
While some might argue that this is because we played 3 bad teams... The Skins and Giants really aren't that horrible on offense, both are middle of the pack. The Bears are horrible sure, but then again we probably had better stats against the Giants and Commanders because we gave up so much against the Bears in garbage time.
Is there room for improvement, sure. I think getting the aforementioned DLaw back will help a lot there. Could this be a top 10 defense by the end of the year... Probably not. Could they perform our defense from two years ago... Probably. I think our secondary is there, we need a LB to go with Lee and we really really need a pass rusher. Maybe Durant and DLaw? Maybe?
P.S. the most telling stat for me our offense starts the average drive up 4.69 points, 5th in the league. Our defense might not be doing that good but our offense is picking up the slack in a big way.
Edit: stats were found at http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/drivestatsoff2016
So I started looking at the defensive per drive stats that supposedly the Cowboys are so bad at... And outside of yards I didn't see anything that horrifying. 18th in points, 14th in takeaways, 13th in points per red zone appearance. In terms of what I see mattering the most, points and takeaways (in that order) we are really pretty average, maybe slightly below. This is being done without our best pass rusher in DLaw who was averaging a sack a game at the end of last year and seemed to be getting regular pressure throughout the game.
While some might argue that this is because we played 3 bad teams... The Skins and Giants really aren't that horrible on offense, both are middle of the pack. The Bears are horrible sure, but then again we probably had better stats against the Giants and Commanders because we gave up so much against the Bears in garbage time.
Is there room for improvement, sure. I think getting the aforementioned DLaw back will help a lot there. Could this be a top 10 defense by the end of the year... Probably not. Could they perform our defense from two years ago... Probably. I think our secondary is there, we need a LB to go with Lee and we really really need a pass rusher. Maybe Durant and DLaw? Maybe?
P.S. the most telling stat for me our offense starts the average drive up 4.69 points, 5th in the league. Our defense might not be doing that good but our offense is picking up the slack in a big way.
Edit: stats were found at http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/drivestatsoff2016