Officially on the anti-zimmer bandwagon

[Maikeru-sama]

We are now ranked 4th in the nfl in overall defensive yards allowed.
We're ranked 3rd in the NFL in rushing yards allowed.
We're ranked 12 in the NFL in passing yards allowed.

We're ranked 8th in the NFL on 1st downs allowed.
We're ranked 8th in the NFL on 3rd down conversion percentage allowed.

We're rated 7th in the NFL in opponent Passing rating. So much for the lack of blitz really hurting us. We're also rated 11th in the NFL in total sacks throughout the season. Only 3 teams with more sacks than us have a lower allowed QB rating. Chicago has the lowest QB rating allowed, and has only 4 more sacks than us.


Ranked 6th in the NFL in penalties on Defense.

I will pass on the Quantitative Data for now and go with the Qualitative Data (watching the games).

I am not for getting rid of Zimmer as much as I use to be, because I think at the end of the day, this Defense will be ran the way Parcells wants it to be run.

The really good defenses dont always get a ton of sacks. It's the constant pressue, batting down balls, forcing offenses to keep extra men in to block and constantly keeping a QB on his heels.

Our defenses, which I think are "bend but dont break defenses", dont get constant pressure on the Quarterback. Ellis and Ware will get sacks, but throughout the course of the game, the Quarterback does have alot of time to throw.

Im sticking with Qualitative Data (my own eyes) and like yesterday, for the most part the QB doesn't have constant pressure and our blitz schemes up the middle are still being foiled because the defender gets caught up in the middle.

But suffice it to say, I think blaming Zimmer for the lack of pressure and blitz packages is not reasonable, as I think he is just a "Caretaker" for Parcells' defense.

- Mike G.

 

[dbair1967]

I blame Spears/Canty more than Zimmer. Those guys can't rush the passer.

you can blame whomever you'd like, but the facts are nobody consistently rushes the passer here, and havent sine Zimmer has been DC

Canty was never a pass rusher in college anyway, what he was good at was eating up space and making plays vs the run game...Spears however was a very good pass rusher in an aggressive, attacking scheme

all you Zimmer spinners, just how much longer and how many more good players do we need to add before you get it?

David

 

[dbair1967]

Yeah, (3) sacks, a forced fumble and gave up 204 total yards (1) TD was on a short field via a turnover. I think the Cowboys dominated Carolina. Sure there were a few plays were less than what you want, but that happens in every game. 204 yards of total offense is nothing. Subtract garbage time yards and it's even worse than 204 total yards.

what happens if you dont subtract all the dropped passes on plays when the opposing QB had an eternity to throw?

It was a nice win people, but we didnt exactly shut down the Colts here...Carolina was averaging under 18 pts a game coming in and was near the bottom 1/2 or 1/3 of the league in most offensive statistics

David

 

[MichaelWinicki]

you can blame whomever you'd like, but the facts are nobody consistently rushes the passer here, and havent sine Zimmer has been DC

Canty was never a pass rusher in college anyway, what he was good at was eating up space and making plays vs the run game...Spears however was a very good pass rusher in an aggressive, attacking scheme

all you Zimmer spinners, just how much longer and how many more good players do we need to add before you get it?

David

Ah... wrong on that count David. You look up Spears' numbers in college. He was far from being a "sack machine".

 

[ravidubey]

Merriman's success has prompted this discussion again I see.

Yes SD's coordinator often moves SM around to create mismatches for him, but try to take a step back and see that the game isn't about glorifying a single player. The defense must perform well overall.

Give me a team over one player any day. Terence Newman, Roy Williams and DeMarcus Ware are better than Shawn Merriman. They are better than Troy Palomalu. They are better than Champ Bailey. Individually they are not he best at their position, but in combination they are arguably the best in the business.

 

[Doomsday101]

you can blame whomever you'd like, but the facts are nobody consistently rushes the passer here, and havent sine Zimmer has been DC

Canty was never a pass rusher in college anyway, what he was good at was eating up space and making plays vs the run game...Spears however was a very good pass rusher in an aggressive, attacking scheme

all you Zimmer spinners, just how much longer and how many more good players do we need to add before you get it?

David

I don't give a damn about how many sacks we get. Teams with the most sacks don't win the game the defense that gives up the fewest points normally does. Sorry if you think defense is all about sacks that is your business but the fact is it is not. Dallas is not going to live and die by the blitz, I would agree that we need to do a better job of getting more consistant pressure with the base front but I don't think throwing blitz after blitz is that smart of a move

 

[dbair1967]

We are now ranked 4th in the nfl in overall defensive yards allowed.
We're ranked 3rd in the NFL in rushing yards allowed.
We're ranked 12 in the NFL in passing yards allowed.

We're ranked 8th in the NFL on 1st downs allowed.
We're ranked 8th in the NFL on 3rd down conversion percentage allowed.

We're rated 7th in the NFL in opponent Passing rating. So much for the lack of blitz really hurting us. We're also rated 11th in the NFL in total sacks throughout the season. Only 3 teams with more sacks than us have a lower allowed QB rating. Chicago has the lowest QB rating allowed, and has only 4 more sacks than us.


Ranked 6th in the NFL in penalties on Defense.

this is the same thing you guys do every week before we play a good team, and the three games vs good offensive teams, please tell me how the defense fared...I know you can only beat up who you play, but our defense was lousy vs Jacksonville, Philly and NYG...and it was lousy because it gave the opposing QB all year to throw the ball

David

 

[dbair1967]

I don't give a damn about how many sacks we get. Teams with the most sacks don't win the game the defense that gives up the fewest points normally does. Sorry if you think defense is all about sacks that is your business but the fact is it is not. Dallas is not going to live and die by the blitz, I would agree that we need to do a better job of getting more consistant pressure with the base front but I don't think throwing blitz after blitz is that smart of a move

its not the sacks man...its the pressure...we almost never even bother QB's...forget sacking them, I';d just like to see us knock guys down some

David

 

[dbair1967]

Ah... wrong on that count David. You look up Spears' numbers in college. He was far from being a "sack machine".

he had 9 sacks as a Senior...didnt say he was a sack machine, but he was a good pass rusher...I saw the guy play virtually every week for two seasons

so sorry, your wrong MW

David

 

[YosemiteSam]

what happens if you dont subtract all the dropped passes on plays when the opposing QB had an eternity to throw?

It was a nice win people, but we didnt exactly shut down the Colts here...Carolina was averaging under 18 pts a game coming in and was near the bottom 1/2 or 1/3 of the league in most offensive statistics

David

Go back to the other games and subtract out the subpar play of Watkins against high rated offensives of Philly and the Giants and how did the Cowboys fair? Pretty good. Short fields (turnovers) and big plays given up by Watkins killed the Cowboys. Beyond Watkins that the Cowboys defense actually dominated. How do you think they are rated what they are? Philly was #1 in offense (higher than the Colts) and yet the Cowboys (minus Watkins) did a damn good job of shutting them down overall.

Carolina was avg under 18pts a game and Dallas did what they should have done. Dominated them. People are complaining because Dallas did what they should have done? Plain nuts.

 

[Doomsday101]

its not the sacks man...its the pressure...we almost never even bother QB's...forget sacking them, I';d just like to see us knock guys down some

David

I just want us to keep them from putting points on the board and we have done that pretty well. In the games like Jacksonville and Philly our turnovers cost us more than anything and we lost those game. If you want to rant on about Zimmer that clearly is your right but not everyone sees it the same as you.

 

[Galian Beast]

The defense wasn't horrible against Philly. It's a good defense but if you give the ball to the other team in our side of the field obviously they dont have to go far to beat you.

And if you turn the ball over for points its the same thing. That isn't on the defense at all.

i wouldn't be surprised if 40-60% of our points allowed have come straight off of turnovers.

You give up the big play, and it isn't the entire defenses fault when its just one guy letting up. Same with the coaches. You take the guy out, and hope the guy who replaces him is more competent.

 

[theogt]

The defense wasn't horrible against Philly. It's a good defense but if you give the ball to the other team in our side of the field obviously they dont have to go far to beat you.

And if you turn the ball over for points its the same thing. That isn't on the defense at all.

i wouldn't be surprised if 40-60% of our points allowed have come straight off of turnovers.

You give up the big play, and it isn't the entire defenses fault when its just one guy letting up. Same with the coaches. You take the guy out, and hope the guy who replaces him is more competent.

Search for a thread called "Opponents' Touchdowns." The breakdown was exactly 50/50.

 

[gbrittain]

you can blame whomever you'd like, but the facts are nobody consistently rushes the passer here, and havent sine Zimmer has been DC

Canty was never a pass rusher in college anyway, what he was good at was eating up space and making plays vs the run game...Spears however was a very good pass rusher in an aggressive, attacking scheme

all you Zimmer spinners, just how much longer and how many more good players do we need to add before you get it?

David

I will give you major credit for coming in here after a decisive win and talking about the lack of pressure on the QB. I am not being sarcastic either, because I agree with this sentiment.

It is most definitely not about sacks, as you say but about putting pressure on the QB. Sacks though are like INTs. Sacks may not be the best measurement, but usually the teams that sack the QB the most are the same teams that tend to pressure the QB the most. Sounds kind of silly even having to type such elementary logic there, but it is true.

I love the fact that we held Carolina to one hard earned TD and one fairly cheap TD. I will take that every day of the week. Problem is flaws usually at some point get exposed. Some blame Mike Zimmer and others blame the players execution. I am not even up for that debate right now, but the bottom line is Dallas is not that good at pressuring the QB right now.

It reminds me of the Stink fans ever since they beat the Cowboys with two miracle throws with less than a few minutes to play. All I heard was how great they were, it was not luck, and etcetera. The reality of it was, you enjoy a win like that, but realize that hopefully next week you do not wait until the very last second and pray that you get really lucky for a win.

I feel kind of the same way in regards to the way Dallas has not pressured QBs. I will take the final results that Dallas held them and held them well. I never had that feeling though that the defense was totally in charge and dominating. I do feel if we harrassed the QB, and that you add all the other good things our defense did that we would have a dominant defense.

 

[Stautner]

This is basically a ridiculous argument. There are simple truths that shouldn't be that hard to agree on.

SIMPLE TRUTHS:

1. While Zimmer coordinates the defense, he doesn't decide the defensive style - Parcells does.

2. Sacks aren't everything, but our lack of QB pressure is still a weakness of our defense.

3. Defensive schemes and blitz packages can help get pressure, but they can't completely cover for a lack of pass rushing talent.

4. Ware is not a sack machine, and it isn't Zimmer's fault. Ware is who he is and has to work to get better.

5. Spears and Canty weren't drafted to be major cogs in the pass rush.

6. Manning will eat us alive in a few weeks if we don't find a way to generate a better pass rush.

 

[gbrittain]

This is basically a ridiculous argument. There are simple truths that shouldn't be that hard to agree on.

SIMPLE TRUTHS:

1. While Zimmer coordinates the defense, he doesn't decide the defensive style - Parcells does.

2. Sacks aren't everything, but our lack of QB pressure is still a weakness of our defense.

3. Defensive schemes and blitz packages can help get pressure, but they can't completely cover for a lack of pass rushing talent.

4. Ware is not a sack machine, and it isn't Zimmer's fault. Ware is who he is and has to work to get better.

5. Spears and Canty weren't drafted to be major cogs in the pass rush.

6. Manning will eat us alive in a few weeks if we don't find a way to generate a better pass rush.

Very good post.

 

[Doomsday]

I was pretty irritated with Zimmer recently for some of his play calling that left Watkins in single coverage with WRs but I have to say its pretty hard to complain when the defense only gives up 14 points and 7 of them came from a real short field. Carolina had some chances like the Keyshawn drop but for the most part the defense played well against a good team in my opinion. I will be glad when Hatcher comes back and helps Ellis and Ware with the lack luster pass rush.

 

[dallasfan]

Jimmy Johnson's Cowboys didn't blitz too often until afteer they had a lead. They relied on the front four to get pressure. Once they got the lead, then they would release the hounds. This was the common MO. The same one that Parcell's likes to use as well. They may vary it a bit, but most of the time they won't blitz until they feel secure about their lead.

That was playing to the teams strengths. With Small LBs and a quick front four, you should allow your lineman to rush the passer and let your LBs cover. This isn't the case with our defense, but Parcells has said he prefers not to blitz.

 

[Sportsbabe]

Okay...I give up...I'm finally in the group that thinks he has to go or get more direction from somewhere.

Last night was a microcosm of our entire season in the 3-4...no pressure on the QB when the game was close...very little pressure on the QB when we were behind.

The only time we start blitzing and bringing people from different and creative angles is when we get the lead...when we're the frontrunners.

Carolina wasn't scoring at will, but they were still making small gains in the running game, finding receivers open, especially the RB's who dropped quite a few first down opportunities, and several 3rd down plays when Delhomme had plenty of time to do whatever he wanted.

This is a storyline that I intend to watch more closely in the future...if we can bring all those blitzes that not only get to the QB but also shut down the run game and confuse the offense when we have a lead, why don't we ever use them when the game is close or when we are behind.


I want to see Zimmer start being more aggressive all game long instead of only when we have a cushiony lead.

Thoughts?

You daggone right I've got some thoughts. You just opened my eyes to something I didn't realize. Why is it we can do what needs to be done when we're in the lead but at no other time in the game? Weird??

And then there's our DBs. What's wrong with Newman? Why does he keep playing with his back to the receiver?

I believe in our players so it must be Zimmer. But defense is Bill's forte so why aren't we more physical and dominating like he wants his defenses to be? This defense is soooo confusing to me.

 

[Sportsbabe]

If you want the D to me more agressive get rid of BP. He's the one who doenst like to blitz. I just dont understand why people dont understand that. Especially since BP has stated it before. I could care less if we got rid of Zim but he's not the one who chooses to have a passive D.

Good point. I forgot that.