It wasn't just yesterday

[Doomsdayblitz]

I have not felt good about this defense all season. We have a great offense, even though its coordinator did a terrible job of giving up on the run way too soon against the 'Skins.

My concern is the defense. When your offense has to score over 20 every game to be competitive, you have a problem. Sooner or later, you have a bad offensive game, and your defense can't hold 'em. I see this with the Cowboys. We have two great players up front in DWare & Ratliff. Ellis is still playing great ball too, although he seems to be getting dinged up too often. It was so good to see Spencer back yesterday. He is the future on the LOLB, and he will be there for years. Ratliff needs help, though. Just one big 'un with speed & power just doesn't cut it. Spears & Canty are excellent run stuffers, but where are they when it's passing time? Canty might have one great passing play per game, Spears, nnaaahhhh.

So, it's obvious to me, that if this team is ever to get to Super Bowl level again, it has to bring in at least one more beast on the D-line. With two guys coming hard both inside & out, the offense has no place to go. Even with those 4 terrors, something has to be done to free up DWare. He's getting double & triple teamed on almost every play, and that will wear down any player. It is also demoralizing to the player. Ware was throwing RBs around toward the end of the game instead of concentrating on getting upfield. Moving him around isn't enough. Another player needs to come in hard and slam into the "chipper" a number of times. Not only will this free Ware up more often, it will also have the chipping back scanning the field to see who is going to nail him this time.

The bottom line is that the defensive line has to be the strongest part of this team. The "O" line the other. We got our ***** kicked in the trenches Sunday, so we either need to get better players or bigger stones on the lines---where it counts.

 

[Boysboy]

I have not felt good about this defense all season. We have a great offense, even though its coordinator did a terrible job of giving up on the run way too soon against the 'Skins.

My concern is the defense. When your offense has to score over 20 every game to be competitive, you have a problem. Sooner or later, you have a bad offensive game, and your defense can't hold 'em. I see this with the Cowboys. We have two great players up front in DWare & Ratliff. Ellis is still playing great ball too, although he seems to be getting dinged up too often. It was so good to see Spencer back yesterday. He is the future on the LOLB, and he will be there for years. Ratliff needs help, though. Just one big 'un with speed & power just doesn't cut it. Spears & Canty are excellent run stuffers, but where are they when it's passing time? Canty might have one great passing play per game, Spears, nnaaahhhh.

So, it's obvious to me, that if this team is ever to get to Super Bowl level again, it has to bring in at least one more beast on the D-line. With two guys coming hard both inside & out, the offense has no place to go. Even with those 4 terrors, something has to be done to free up DWare. He's getting double & triple teamed on almost every play, and that will wear down any player. It is also demoralizing to the player. Ware was throwing RBs around toward the end of the game instead of concentrating on getting upfield. Moving him around isn't enough. Another player needs to come in hard and slam into the "chipper" a number of times. Not only will this free Ware up more often, it will also have the chipping back scanning the field to see who is going to nail him this time.

The bottom line is that the defensive line has to be the strongest part of this team. The "O" line the other. We got our ***** kicked in the trenches Sunday, so we either need to get better players or bigger stones on the lines---where it counts.

So now we can agree TO and his fragile ego is not the problem?

 

[khiladi]

Spears & Canty are excellent run stuffers, but where are they when it's passing time? Canty might have one great passing play per game, Spears, nnaaahhhh.

Canty is a great run-stuffer? How come most of Portis' runs came to the Commander's left-side...

 

[1fisher]

Count me as one that is NOT at all impressed with this defense. :bang2:

 

[halcyon]

The defense played great against Green Bay and to an extent Cleveland. Other than that, it has taken a lot of luck to have beaten the other teams.

I think this defense is laking "nastiness", and this has happened since last year. In a possitive spin, I hope that this defeat makes everbody realize that there are errors to be corrected and not to be so full of themselves; I know that the players have been saying the correct things with the press but their play yesterday, in my view, said otherwise.

I like Wade Phillips, but if it is true that the teams usually "adopt" the personalities of their leaders, then it would seem that Wade is too nice, which is the image Wade projects in his press conferences and interviews.

 

[Boysboy]

The defense played great against Green Bay and to an extent Cleveland. Other than that, it has taken a lot of luck to have beaten the other teams.

I think this defense is laking "nastiness", and this has happened since last year. In a possitive spin, I hope that this defeat makes everbody realize that there are errors to be corrected and not to be so full of themselves; I know that the players have been saying the correct things with the press but their play yesterday, in my view, said otherwise.

I like Wade Phillips, but if it is true that the teams usually "adopt" the personalities of their leaders, then it would seem that Wade is too nice, which is the image Wade projects in his press conferences and interviews.

*shrugs* Parcells was always nasty, but the D didn't respond like that.

I'm tired of all these excuses. I'm tired of pointing fingers in the wrong direction. I'll bet you my bank account that we hire a Dom Capers next year, and everything will be the same, while Wade will go off to New Orleans and make them a dominant D.:bang2:

 

[AmishCowboy]

We'll just have to face it that our Defense is just average and we'll go as far as the Offense takes us, we need to score between 27-30 points to feel safe.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

So, it's obvious to me, that if this team is ever to get to Super Bowl level again, it has to bring in at least one more beast on the D-line.

Thank you. If people want a truly *dominant* defense, this is what we need. It's the main reason I think people overrate our defensive potential... Because the players on the D-line aren't that great. Ratliff has made himself into a really nice player, but I still think he's more of an end. Canty is a good player, but hardly a great one. Spears is a JAG. Tank's hype is way bigger than his actual game. None of the guys are a Haynesworth or that type of anchor player to a "best in the league" kind of defense.

That's another reason I'm wary of the Roy Williams trade talk, even though I like him as a player -- because we need to spend a high pick on a D-lineman and ILB next year, IMO. Those positions are way more important than another WR.

All that said... People need to step away from the ledge. Way, way too much overreaction today.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I haven't had any faith in this defense since it went to the 3-4. Not saying that the 3-4 is the problem, I just haven't trusted it since then.

This team has been using that soft zone nonsense since Parcells was here and I'm sick of it. Teams move up & down the field without a problem against it.

 

[Doomsdayblitz]

The defense played great against Green Bay and to an extent Cleveland. Other than that, it has taken a lot of luck to have beaten the other teams.

I think this defense is laking "nastiness", and this has happened since last year. In a possitive spin, I hope that this defeat makes everbody realize that there are errors to be corrected and not to be so full of themselves; I know that the players have been saying the correct things with the press but their play yesterday, in my view, said otherwise.

I like Wade Phillips, but if it is true that the teams usually "adopt" the personalities of their leaders, then it would seem that Wade is too nice, which is the image Wade projects in his press conferences and interviews.

You're absolutely right. I love Ware. I think he is one of the most talented players in the NFL, but he would be THE most feared defender if he would put a lot more "nasty" in his play. He probably leads the league in QHs every season. He could turn so many of those into SACKS if he just got pissed off. The same with the rest of this team. I would say Jay Ratliff has more nasty in his game than any other Cowboy. (Other than MBIII, but he's on offense).

 

[Velvet Jones]

Going 3-1 for the toughest four game stretch of our season is pretty good to me. And besides that two TD drive that was called back for Washington, it wasn't like they kept biting themselves in the butt. We both played, the defense wasn't poor, the offense wasn't poor, we got beat soundly. Not a whooping but a sound defeat. Facing an unknown in Cleveland, an always tough Phily team, a Packer team on fire and a Washington team that brought everything they had.. 3-1 is a good start.

 

[Boysboy]

You're absolutely right. I love Ware. I think he is one of the most talented players in the NFL, but he would be THE most feared defender if he would put a lot more "nasty" in his play. He probably leads the league in QHs every season. He could turn so many of those into SACKS if he just got pissed off. The same with the rest of this team. I would say Jay Ratliff has more nasty in his game than any other Cowboy. (Other than MBIII, but he's on offense).

Funny you said how this loss was largely b/c of TO's fragile ego needing to be fed. Now you're saying it's the D?

 

[Eskimo]

Going 3-1 for the toughest four game stretch of our season is pretty good to me. And besides that two TD drive that was called back for Washington, it wasn't like they kept biting themselves in the butt. We both played, the defense wasn't poor, the offense wasn't poor, we got beat soundly. Not a whooping but a sound defeat. Facing an unknown in Cleveland, an always tough Phily team, a Packer team on fire and a Washington team that brought everything they had.. 3-1 is a good start.

Reskins exposed us - run tough between the tackles and take those short 5-yard passes to WRs and TEs that are always open and move the ball down the field with ease. You can also be guaranteed one of those 5 yarders will become a 30 yarder when someone misses a tackle.

I expect to see this every game from now on and until we bring in a NT and change our coverages, the best we can do is hope to hold people to FGAs. The last couple of weeks would have looked a lot worse for the D if we weren't better in the red zone.

 

[Velvet Jones]

Exposed us? Isn't that what GB was doing? Isn't that what WC offenses do?