CFZ Mike Zimmer's defensive philosophy gives us a better chance

[Cowboys5217]

I disagree 100%.

Reasons:
Zimmer has only ever made it to one conference title game as a coach/DC in a very long career.

Zimmer already failed here 20 years ago as DC with an NFL record worst run defense. Our biggest problem on defense is not stopping the run, so the answer is to hire the guy who broke the NFL shame record the first time you put him in charge?

Zimmer's defenses have a long track record of choking on the last drive of the game when you need THIS STOP. This has a lot to do with how scared he calls defense late in games.

Zimmer is a dinosaur who had been out of the league in 2023. Nobody wanted him.

Zimmer is safe, familiar, not serious about winning a SB, comfortable hire for Jerry. When has that ever worked for us?

Zimmer's defenses with Dallas were poor at generating turnovers.

I'd love to eat crow on this, but does anybody really think I'm going to have to when it's all said and done?

 

[Cowboys5217]

I realize I'm just an armchair DC, but I will gladly take a few less sacks and interceptions for a stouter run defense.

Zimmer will certainly give you less sacks and turnovers, and you will get a worse run defense.

People are going to miss DQ real quick is my prediction.

 

[CATCH17]

The NFL is not about Defense it’s about offense.

Defense is the new special teams and with all the rule changes you just do the best you can.

All of the Cowboys success is dependent on how well the offsense performs and if the offense performs it makes the defense better.

You want better defense? Do better on offense.

 

[Nova]

I prefer Zimmer's defense to Quinn's.

But I must say, I think the main problem with Quinns defense was personnel-- especially at the end.

There have been a few additions to help that, but we're still not investing in the trenches properly.

It's a little late complaining about re-signing Diggs, but those resources would have been better spent in the front 7 IMO.

 

[Playmaker3128]

Quinn was overrated in my opinion. When teams got rid of the ball quickly or ran it at us he had no answer. When teams had a mobile qb his defenses struggled.

Micah literally got him a head coaching job. Without parsons he wouldn’t have been as good as he was.

 

[rojan]

it wasn't DQs plan to be thin at MLB. He wanted to sign Wagner but was overruled by the Jones'. We also lost LVE during the season. Mazi was a complete bust.

 

[Reid1boys]

our defense was top 5. We created more turnovers and had so many sacks... we cant possibly expect more from a defense. They literally won games by themselves.

Yea, Im well aware, they stunk in some big games.... but so did the offense.

 

[Coogiguy03]

Feel the same Bob less interceptions but more disciplined football and guys not being lost and confused.

I do however feel that we're going to struggle with blitzing and it being picked up well by the opposing offense

 

[doomsday9084]

Double edged sword.

Dallas won a lot of games with Quinn's defense and part of the reason is that as soon as a team was behind, they were screwed. The defense could turn a 7 point lead into a 20 point lead rather quickly. That's somewhat rare in the NFL where comebacks are somewhat common.

Zimmer may help the team when it is down but mark my words here, Zimmer is going to surrender a few leads and its going to look like the Marinelli days when every game came down to the last possession and the team finished around 0.500.

 

[Bobhaze]

The NFL is not about Defense it’s about offense.

Defense is the new special teams and with all the rule changes you just do the best you can.

All of the Cowboys success is dependent on how well the offsense performs and if the offense performs it makes the defense better.

You want better defense? Do better on offense.

This is simply not true. Great defenses STILL matter. I agree with you offense is huge in today’s NFL. Yes Mahomes is pure greatness but the chiefs don’t win last year’s SB without their excellent defense. That defense was the second ranked defense in the NFL last year. Below are some specifics.

Last year’s AFC championship is a good example. That was a road game for the chiefs at Balt, and Mahomes and the chiefs offense had a so-so game only producing 17 points. But their defense held the ravens to only 10 points. The ravens had averaged 32 points a game at home in 2023 and yet they only scored 10 against the KC defense.

And then last year’s SB vs the niners - the chiefs had 5 offensive possessions in the first half - punt, punt, fumble, punt and FG. But the niners were held to 10 points in the first half by the chiefs defense or that game would have been lost. The chiefs defense kept them in the game until Mahomes and the offense could get 22 points in the second half.

The Brady-led Bucs that won the SB in 2020 would not have won that SB without their D. Evidence? How about the NFC championship game vs the packers that year. Brady had a bad game. He threw 3 interceptions, 2 of them in Bucs territory. But the Bucs defense held the pack with no points after two of those pics. The SB game that followed, that Bucs defense held Mahomes to 9 points and completely frustrated him.

Brady is the GOAT but even he said they don’t win that championship without that defense. Defense STILL matters.

 

[CATCH17]

This is simply not true. Great defenses STILL matter. I agree with you offense is huge in today’s NFL. Yes Mahomes is pure greatness but the chiefs don’t win last year’s SB without their excellent defense. That defense was the second ranked defense in the NFL last year. Below are some specifics.

Last year’s AFC championship is a good example. That was a road game for the chiefs at Balt, and Mahomes and the chiefs offense had a so-so game only producing 17 points. But their defense held the ravens to only 10 points. The ravens had averaged 32 points a game at home in 2023 and yet they only scored 10 against the KC defense.

And then last year’s SB vs the niners - the chiefs had 5 offensive possessions in the first half - punt, punt, fumble, punt and FG. But the niners were held to 10 points in the first half by the chiefs defense or that game would have been lost. The chiefs defense kept them in the game until Mahomes and the offense could get 22 points in the second half.

The Brady-led Bucs that won the SB in 2020 would not have won that SB without their D. Evidence? How about the NFC championship game vs the packers that year. Brady had a bad game. He threw 3 interceptions, 2 of them in Bucs territory. But the Bucs defense held the pack with no points after two of those pics. The SB game that followed, that Bucs defense held Mahomes to 9 points and completely frustrated him.

Brady is the GOAT but even he said they don’t win that championship without that defense. Defense STILL matters.

We play incredible defense when the offense is performing.

Our takeaways are ridiculous.

It’s an offensive league now and the Chiefs defense looks better than what it is because their offense is terrifying to deal with.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Zimmer is a good, solid, coach and I like his old-school and disciplined nature, but he's not some transcendent difference-maker.

I think it's like most believe: we'll give up fewer big plays and play the run better, but probably get fewer sacks and flashy plays.

I doubt the end result is a lot different. Which is fine, because Quinn was a good coach also. But I don't expect a huge jump forward.

He improved the last two spots he was at.

 

[Chuck 54]

Don’t get me wrong - Dan Quinn was a huge upgrade as DC here from the days of Mike Nolan and Rod Marinelli. Quinn’s style produced great turnover and sack numbers and our defense became synonymous with that. The problem was his style worked as long as we were comfortably ahead. When Quinn’s D had to stop the run - a must when your team is behind, we couldn’t do it.

Last year the Cowboys were 10-0 when scoring first and 2-6 (including the playoffs) when the opponents scored first. Quinn was forced last year to play S Marquese Bell as a 210 LB and teams like Buffalo and GB just trucked us in the run game.

Mike Zimmer’s defensive philosophy is pretty straight-forward: Stop the run with a physical DL that can tie up the opponents OL and off of the LBs who are freer to make tackles. The secondary takes less chances. A big IF here: If our FO can provide a better interior DL, this defense could be much better in the next two years. That’s a big IF.

Here‘s what I think will be better under Zim:

• If Mazi, Osa, and the newly acquired Jordan Phillips can do what Zimmer wants, we should be better against the run. (Another IF)
• From what I’ve seen, Zim is planning to use Micah Parsons as more than just a pass rusher. I think this is good. Parsons is a special talent and I felt Parsons was being worn down the way Quinn always used him. We should see Parsons being used in multiple ways.
• Even though I expect less interceptions than we’ve had under Quinn, I also expect better overall coverage under Zimmer.

As I stated several times, there are HUGE IFS. And we must also remember that with Zimmer and the entire coaching staff on one year contracts, if this team doesn’t make the playoffs, it may mean this new defensive philosophy is not given enough time to develop. Time will tell.

Nail on the head. I would only add that despite all the other failures, come playoff time, you must be able to play tough physical defense that can stop the run, and you must be able to grind out some run success yourself and convert some third downs by running. Also, I love that Jerry and Mike are supporting Zim in the draft and free agency and trades to get bigger at DT, DE, and LB. I think Parsons could rush the QB all day and not wear down, but Quinn played him way too much vs the run. That’s where he gets worn down and exposed. Through roster building and moving some of our 3 tech projects back outside to their natural positions, I think we are really going to see improvement in how we compete vs the best teams and the best run games.

In one more year of draft and other moves, along with a year’s experience in Zim’s system, I believe we will have one of the best defenses because we already have a secondary that can hold up. Now, if the OL comes along and becomes more physical with greater size, We just need a stud RB next year. Then we may be able to go into a playoff game with greater expectations, not just hopeful trepidation.

 

[Stash]

Zimmer is a good, solid, coach and I like his old-school and disciplined nature, but he's not some transcendent difference-maker.

I think it's like most believe: we'll give up fewer big plays and play the run better, but probably get fewer sacks and flashy plays.

I doubt the end result is a lot different. Which is fine, because Quinn was a good coach also. But I don't expect a huge jump forward.

What I expect is more consistency, and fewer peaks and valleys where we either steamroll the Giants or GET steamrolled by the Packers.

 

[Bobhaze]

We play incredible defense when the offense is performing.

Our takeaways are ridiculous.

It’s an offensive league now and the Chiefs defense looks better than what it is because their offense is terrifying to deal with.

The chiefs offense in 6 qtrs - The full AFC championship game and the first half against the niners in the SB scored 20 points. In those same 6 quarters had their defense not been great they would not have won the SB.

Yes the chiefs offense is great. But even the greatest offenses have bad games…in the playoffs too, Then what? Better have a great defense too.

 

[thunderpimp91]

We play incredible defense when the offense is performing.

Our takeaways are ridiculous.

It’s an offensive league now and the Chiefs defense looks better than what it is because their offense is terrifying to deal with.

KC had the #2 defense both in terms of yards allowed and scoring. Among 4 playoff games they gave up just 15.75PPG. They didn't create a ton of turnovers, but aside from that they were an elite unit last season.

The KC offense certainly isnt the monster it has been in previous years. 12 games scoring 25 or less last year, 9 of those they scored 20 or less.

 

[LonnieElam]

Remember when Rob Ryan was going to save our defense? We were so young and carefree back then.

 

[charron]

Quin was better than what we had the previous 10 years but i'm hoping Zimmer takes it another notch up.

 

[tyke1doe]

Remember when Rob Ryan was going to save our defense? We were so young and carefree back then.

And stupid.

 

[Plankton]

I'm wondering at what week this season the calls of Zimmy-wuss will start.

Zimmer's defense is generally sound, but he will be limited by how weak this defense is at the line of scrimmage. Just as Quinn was (more at DT than this outfit, which is weak at end as well).