Is the defense actually better?

[percyhoward]

I don't disagree with that but the defense still has to stop the opposing team.

That's my point, too. You can't take this year's offense's TOP and apply it to last year's defense and get this kind of performance out of it.

 

[BlindFaith]

I'm considering it, which is why I say the defense only deserves "most" of the credit. I think some are overstating it.

If merely increasing the offense's time of possession had this much effect on a defense, then you'd see this effect across the league on a yearly basis.

Well, the offense does still have to score...even if every drive they have takes 10 minutes. And chances are if the offense is controlling the clock like that, then later in the game the opposing defense will start to wear down. Meaning scoring will become easier.

But ultimately your points are still very valid. The defense still has to stop the other teams offense from scoring. And the more three and outs it can get, the more the offense can keep wearing down the other teams defense. All the while keeping our defense fresh, putting even more pressure on the other teams offense.

 

[Doomsday101]

Not this much better though. We're not talking about "things that can make a defense better," so much as "why is this defense so much better?" The reasons you mentioned don't fully answer that question.

One, I think when your signing guys on Monday to play the following sunday you are going to have a lot of problems. Guys not knowing fully their assignment having no feel for the guys playing next to you. Right now these guys do not look confused they are seeing the play and reacting to it they are flying to the ball.

 

[Eanwen]

Yup... It was a lot of points scored and we needed more to win. If they would have did a little bit better it wouldnt have come down to the last drive for us. Anytime you defense stop Peyton you have to cash out.

The defense didn't force a single punt in that game. I think we got 2 turnovers and got 10 pts off them.

As to the thread in general, I'd like to see before and after stats with respect to Spencer at DE and Crawford at DT (and obviously Scandrick starting, but I think that was one game before Spencer came back).

 

[BlindFaith]

One, I think when your signing guys on Monday to play the following sunday you are going to have a lot of problems. Guys not knowing fully their assignment having no feel for the guys playing next to you. Right now these guys do not look confused they are seeing the play and reacting to it they are flying to the ball.

This absolutely had a lot to do with why we were so poor last year. And being in the scheme for the first time. And some questionable coaching from Kiffen. And the offense stalling out at the worst times, putting even more pressure on the defense.

 

[cowboys2233]

By the eye test they are playing MUCH better. The average yds per play might be the same, but we are consistently getting stops on 3rd down. We are also getting timely turnovers. The defense has looked stronger at the end of games, mainly due to the rotation of bodies. I think the defense will continue getting better as guys get healthier and we add in a few more bodies.

Yeah, I've seen some numbers that suggest it is only an average defense. My eyes tell me otherwise. We have an absolutely swarming defense that also plays very disciplined. The numbers might not show it right now, but I believe we have a top-five defense to go along with our top-one offense.

 

[Doomsday101]

I felt the defense would play better this season but frankly I thought the improvement would take a bit longer with improvements happening later in the season. Guys are playing their tails off and if we can start to get a pass rush with guys like Spencer as he gets up to speed and Lawrence coming in this defense has a chance to be vastly better late in the season.

 

[Kevinicus]

Yup... It was a lot of points scored and we needed more to win. If they would have did a little bit better it wouldnt have come down to the last drive for us. Anytime you defense stop Peyton you have to cash out.

They stopped Peyton twice. Both times the offense scored a TD. And whenever Denver was "held" to a FG, the offense also got TD's. It's simply the worst possible example to make that point...the worst.

 

[Doomsday101]

This absolutely had a lot to do with why we were so poor last year. And being in the scheme for the first time. And some questionable coaching from Kiffen. And the offense stalling out at the worst times, putting even more pressure on the defense.

True, offense being able to control the ball helps but there is a world of difference that I am seeing with this defense and how they react to the ball. I have seen more text book tackles by this group than I have seen in a while and guys swarming to the ball. I do agree the talent is not overly great but Rod has them playing as a single unit and above the individual talent level.

 

[Baileyneverfailey]

Points given up per defensive drive is a much better metric to judge by, and they're better there.

 

[theSHOW]

You can filter out the offense's influence on the defense's game stats by looking at each drive. The defense is facing fewer plays per drive, facing shorter drives, and allowing fewer points per drive, mostly because it's giving up fewer first downs.

Plays per Drive
DEFENSE
2014 - 5.6 (8th)
2013 - 6.1 (28th)

Time of Possession per Drive
DEFENSE
2014 - 2:34 (9th)
2013 - 2:41 (21st)

Points per Drive
DEFENSE
2014 - 1.69 (7th)
2013 - 2.31 (30th)

Drive Success Rate (percentage of down series that result in 1st down)
DEFENSE
2014 - 67.1% (4th)
2013 - 74.3% (32nd)

Good stat comparison. The 14' Cowboys defense beats the 13" defense and remember that the 13' D had some pretty good games before the midseason injury bug hit very hard. Our overall depth in 14' is far better as we gave away the Ware/Hatcher star players for the interchangeable players on this team.

 

[locked&loaded]

Running the ball effectively don't correlate strongly with winning NFL games, and it's true. Passing effectively does. Which statistically still appears to be the case if you look at our rushing efficiency, passing efficiency, and won-loss record this season. The game we lost we lost because we passed ineffectively, while we've run well across the board.

The person I am talking about was arguing that running the ball at all was a negative

 

[Gameover]

I thought yards were for losers?

Eyeball test, bald head Bob

 

[visionary]

If "making a play" is fluky, is "giving up a big play" fluky, too?

We've given up a lot of big plays on defense -- 10 plays of 30 yards or more (only four teams have allowed more), including four plays of 50 yards or more (only three teams have allowed more). Both of those are a higher rate than we allowed last year (23 of 30-plus and nine of 50-plus), even though we have been much better on defense in most other ways. So perhaps those big plays allowed are the flukes, and not the plays we've been able to make? And perhaps those fluky plays are why our yards allowed per play is similar to last season?

It certainly stands to reason
My feeling us that if we keep playing disciplined football , all this will even out over the season because fluky things have a way of doing that given a large enough sample size

 

[WoodysGirl]

Is the defense actually better?

Yes

 

[xwalker]

It would seem that way if you just count opponents' drives. Our defense is facing fewer drives per game this year. Then you look at what's happening on a per drive basis, and you have to give the defense most of the credit.

Give last year's defense this many drives to face per game, and its performance is not nearly as good as this year's.

People have an agenda. People that said this defense would be terrible are now trying give the offense credit for the success of the defense.

The stats that you and Adam have provided show that the 2014 defense is better than the 2013 defense regardless of the offensive time of possession.

People also forget that part of the reason that the Cowboys offense has a good TOP is because the defense is limiting the other teams TOP.

 

[AdamJT13]

Out of curiosity, weren't you the guy saying last year running the ball well doesn't win you games or something like that...

Being able to run the ball well and stop the run -- in other words, running the ball better than your opponent (YPC) -- has very little to do with winning in the NFL. The team that passes the ball better almost always wins.

In our games this season, the team that has passed the ball better is 6-0, while the team that has rushed the ball better is 1-5. The Titans' running backs averaged 6.6 YPC against us, Zac Stacy averaged 5.6, the Saints' backs averaged 8.2, Arian Foster averaged 6.8, and Marshawn Lynch averaged 6.1 -- and all of their teams lost. As good as DeMarco Murray has been, we aren't 5-1 if we don't pass the ball better than our opponent in each of our past five games.

 

[NickZepp]

Lynch only ran the ball 10 times and had 32 yards on one run. He had like 9 carries for 30 yards or something like that which is pretty solid defense. And the long run didn't lead to any points on that drive. Big plays happen on just about every team in the NFL with the way the rules are set up.

 

[Doomsday101]

Being able to run the ball well and stop the run -- in other words, running the ball better than your opponent (YPC) -- has very little to do with winning in the NFL. The team that passes the ball better almost always wins.

In our games this season, the team that has passed the ball better is 6-0, while the team that has rushed the ball better is 1-5. The Titans' running backs averaged 6.6 YPC against us, Zac Stacy averaged 5.6, the Saints' backs averaged 8.2, Arian Foster averaged 6.8, and Marshawn Lynch averaged 6.1 -- and all of their teams lost. As good as DeMarco Murray has been, we aren't 5-1 if we don't pass the ball better than our opponent in each of our past five games.

and if Dallas does not run as well as they have they are not winning. Passing is important but having an offense capable of running and passing matters. It is not all about the passing game.

 

[AdamJT13]

and if Dallas does not run as well as they have they are not winning. Passing is important but having an offense capable of running and passing matters. It is not all about the passing game.

People like to say that, but the same thing has been true for the past few decades -- you win by passing the ball better than your opponent, not by running it better. It doesn't matter that much whether you're good at running the ball or bad at running it, or whether you're good at stopping the run or bad at it, if you can pass well and stop the pass, you'll win the vast majority of games, and if not, you won't. This has been proved time and time again, year after year.