Not so fast, my friends; defense not that good

[romothesavior]

It seems like a lot of folks on here and around the organization are getting the idea that this defense is better than expected. Yes, they played decent last week against San Fran when the 9ers got up big and went conservative. And yes, today's performance was decent as well. They put up a zero in the first half, made a great red zone stand in the second half, and Rolando is looking like he could be a stud.

But I'm still alarmed by a lot of things from today's win, and they're the same things I was worried about to start the year. No pass rush. No physicality to contend with physical wideouts/tight ends. And Claiborne still couldn't cover a night stand with a tablecloth.

All game long we benefited from Locker's errant throws. It seemed like he often had guys open and had time to throw, but couldn't connect. On a few of the drives where he got in sync with his receivers, they carved us up like bread. I still don't see how this team can stop an elite passing attack.

Not trying to poo on a good game today, and I hope I'm wrong. But I've seen this "lose on national tv, win a noon game the next week" seesaw BS enough times over the past few years to get at all excited about this squad. Won't be the slightest bit surprised when the Saints hang 50 on us in front of a house full of black and gold.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Won't be the slightest bit surprised when the Saints hang 50 on us in front of a house full of black and gold.

That will be the first big test. We'll have OScan back and some of the returning parts on the DL will shake off some more rust. So all things considered I'd take the under on that 50 points.

 

[Tabascocat]

Just wait until we are 2-1 after next Sunday, we will be Super Bowl bound!

Who knows what's in store, just enjoy the ride until it is apparent that we have no chance.....games 4 through 9 will tell the tale IMO.

 

[Zman5]

My main concern is our inability to cover TEs. This has been a problem for a while and so far Wilcox or Church hasn't shown anything to make me feel better about this.

 

[waving monkey]

as poster above said 'just enjoy the ride'

 

[kTXe]

It seems like a lot of folks on here and around the organization are getting the idea that this defense is better than expected.

Wait, are you trying to say that this defense isn't better than expected? Through two games, it clearly is. Now, that doesn't mean it's good, but being better than expected isn't a very high bar to surpass.

 

[Deep_South]

I'm planning on enjoying the ride after the seemingly endless off-season, but I'm also enjoying seeing enough here and there to have a little bit of hope. I've missed that, and I'm not giving it up.

 

[Derekmtl85]

It's sad if you can't compliment your team after a nice win. Enjoy the good games.

 

[AKATheRake]

I think if this team continues to play to its strengths, running the ball and getting it into Dez's hands.

Than it will buy time for this team to improve upon it's weakness' and therefore improve overall as a team.

Here are where improvements are going to come barring further injury in priority order:

1) Romo, if not banged around should get healthier and into better game shape. Will also operate smoother with the WR's/TE's on passing plays. We should be able to incorporate more play action as we run well and as Romo gets his wheels back have him on more roll outs and throwing on the go where he is very good at. Changes things up on offense and even when not running keeps the run in the mind of the defense.

2) Improved pass rush from the DE positions. Spencer is on the horizon and Lawrence should be back mid season which will give us something different on the line, especially in nickel situations.

3) Scandrick will be back which also means we'll be better during nickel situations in the secondary where we played mostly all last game.

4) This defense has a lot of new faces in the front 7 that did not get to play together much in the preseason. Furthermore, starters like Melton and McClain are healing up and should only get healthier improving the interior of our line. Again, Spencer and Lawrence getting healthy too only improves the quality of our line. Rolando McClain is getting better every game as his conditioning is increased and the rest of the defense plays together more and therefore gels better. This defense should only get better barring further injuries.

5) Our o-line is the strength of this team right now and they are very young. This group is only going to get better as they play more together and gel. Our team can then finally develop a much needed identity. Physical football, balanced offense that controls the time of possession that lessen's the probability of turnover. An opportunistic bend but don't break defense that is adapt at creating game changing turnovers. Because of the o-line this team can keep the defense fresh and bludgeon the opposing defenses players physically. Leave Romo in position to make plays not only in desperation, but because the opportunity is there to be capitalized on, because the run has to absolutely be accounted for.

The teams that make it to the playoffs are the ones that remain in the hunt record wise but improve as a team while the season goes on. Our division is weak and our schedule is not looking overly imposing and this is why we can stay in the hunt while improving like Philly did last year.

 

[BoysFan4ever]

They don't get much of a pass rush but hey a win is a win.

They're better than I thought possible.

 

[Nation]

All-22 will be interesting this week. Watching it live I thought Locker missed a lot of throws, as opposed to him being harassed and throwing into tight coverage. I'll take the win either way, but only one of those two is something to actually build on.

 

[Brooksey]

It seems like a lot of folks on here and around the organization are getting the idea that this defense is better than expected. Yes, they played decent last week against San Fran when the 9ers got up big and went conservative. And yes, today's performance was decent as well. They put up a zero in the first half, made a great red zone stand in the second half, and Rolando is looking like he could be a stud.

But I'm still alarmed by a lot of things from today's win, and they're the same things I was worried about to start the year. No pass rush. No physicality to contend with physical wideouts/tight ends. And Claiborne still couldn't cover a night stand with a tablecloth.

All game long we benefited from Locker's errant throws. It seemed like he often had guys open and had time to throw, but couldn't connect. On a few of the drives where he got in sync with his receivers, they carved us up like bread. I still don't see how this team can stop an elite passing attack.

Not trying to poo on a good game today, and I hope I'm wrong. But I've seen this "lose on national tv, win a noon game the next week" seesaw BS enough times over the past few years to get at all excited about this squad. Won't be the slightest bit surprised when the Saints hang 50 on us in front of a house full of black and gold.

In all fairness we just played against two of the better offensive lines in the league and won both battles, were you expecting domination? We have no Lawrence or Spencer yet. I'm estatic over the performance of the defense, it should only improve as we get healthier.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

Let's enjoy the win for 24 hours. Then let's get critical.

It's like watching your team win isn't even fun for most you guys. The same people saying pump the breaks this week were talking gloom and doom last week.

It's weird.

 

[LatinMind]

It seems like a lot of folks on here and around the organization are getting the idea that this defense is better than expected. Yes, they played decent last week against San Fran when the 9ers got up big and went conservative. And yes, today's performance was decent as well. They put up a zero in the first half, made a great red zone stand in the second half, and Rolando is looking like he could be a stud.

But I'm still alarmed by a lot of things from today's win, and they're the same things I was worried about to start the year. No pass rush. No physicality to contend with physical wideouts/tight ends. And Claiborne still couldn't cover a night stand with a tablecloth.

All game long we benefited from Locker's errant throws. It seemed like he often had guys open and had time to throw, but couldn't connect. On a few of the drives where he got in sync with his receivers, they carved us up like bread. I still don't see how this team can stop an elite passing attack.

Not trying to poo on a good game today, and I hope I'm wrong. But I've seen this "lose on national tv, win a noon game the next week" seesaw BS enough times over the past few years to get at all excited about this squad. Won't be the slightest bit surprised when the Saints hang 50 on us in front of a house full of black and gold.

So its all about the other teams inconsistency and the Cowboys have nothing to do with that. I got it. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

It's sad if you can't compliment your team after a nice win. Enjoy the good games.

What do you think the coaches will be doing with the team going over the game tape?

Reality must be faced, win or lose.

 

[LatinMind]

It's sad if you can't compliment your team after a nice win. Enjoy the good games.

Cowboys could win the superbowl and they would still come out out of the woods

 

[panchucko]

So I take it SF also went into cruise mode against Chicago last night. They didn't do crap in the 2nd half of that game either. Maybe our defense played ok in the 2nd half against SF.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

What do you think the coaches will be doing with the team going over the game tape?

Reality must be faced, win or lose.

Is your job professional ball coach? You going to be reviewing film all day today?

You're a fan. Take a moment to enjoy the win. Who knows how many we have...

 

[jazzcat22]

So the cowboys defense has a very good game, and it's the other teams fault because the QB didn't play well...maybe he was off, because the defense had something to do with it.

I was waiting for this excuse to come out. Enjoy the win and an overall solid performance. Now, let's see if they can do it again next week. Then a very good test against the saints after that.

 

[noshame]

Locker missed WRs that were so open that even Romo could have hit them. That said, we have a blueprint on offense, the defense should hold against the rams. 3-1 should be in our future.