Optimistic about our D

[pitt33]

While I am cautiously optimistic about our defense as well, it still comes down to the most important defensive statistic...scoring defense. The league leaders there almost always make the playoffs and go pretty far in said playoffs.

You can give me the stats on defensive yards allowed all day long. 3rd down stoppage percentage and points allowed per tilt still reign supreme in this league fellow sports fans.

 

[pitt33]

I am optimistic that they've finally gotten serious about paying attention to the D side; however, I feel this is going to be a year where they see where the real holes are in getting to that contender status with a D.

The only stats that really matter are scoring D and turnovers and how that relates to net turnovers.

beat me to it Couch Man!

 

[ShiningStar]

Lets be real clear.

By week 2 we were done with the season when a bad Denver team beat us.

Our season ended with that game.

The rest of your stats do not warrant us anything else.

 

[kskboys]

While I am cautiously optimistic about our defense as well, it still comes down to the most important defensive statistic...scoring defense. The league leaders there almost always make the playoffs and go pretty far in said playoffs.

You can give me the stats on defensive yards allowed all day long. 3rd down stoppage percentage and points allowed per tilt still reign supreme in this league fellow sports fans.

Yeah, Bellychickens thought that way too as the Eagles drove up and down the field on him!!!!! !!!!!!! Yup, yards don't matter!!!!

 

[CouchCoach]

He's fairly well respected. I wouldn't read a lot into Carroll not bringing Richard back. He's somewhat known for when he makes changes he goes all in. They got rid of pretty much most of their staff, including both coordinators, as Carroll was trying to shake up just about everything.

I didn't read it that way. Carroll is a D coach and he didn't keep his DC. And if he's respected, shouldn't he have received DC interest from other teams?

I am not saying he's a bad coach because I don't know a lot about him but I didn't see great things from him in SEA with a better front 7 than ours and 3 pbers in the secondary.

 

[kskboys]

I didn't read it that way. Carroll is a D coach and he didn't keep his DC. And if he's respected, shouldn't he have received DC interest from other teams?

I am not saying he's a bad coach because I don't know a lot about him but I didn't see great things from him in SEA with a better front 7 than ours and 3 pbers in the secondary.

I"m not impressed w/ Carroll. I think he made the Jerry mistake and actually thought that D was built around the flash. The real strength of that D was the deepest DLine in the NFL, and as soon as they dumped 3 players from that DL, they've never been the same.

IMO, Carroll fell into a great situation. And didn't know what he had. Marshawn Lynch and the DL were the primary factors in that super bowl win.

 

[pitt33]

Yeah, Bellychickens thought that way too as the Eagles drove up and down the field on him!!!!! !!!!!!! Yup, yards don't matter!!!!

Bellychickens?? Haven't heard that one before...

You can't win every SB you play in. And the Eagles waltzed to that game. They were pretty good against every defense last year.

 

[DogFace]

When we were one of the top scoring defenses that was the wrong way to rank how good a D is. Now yards are wrong for ranking a D.

Thank you

 

[kskboys]

Bellychickens?? Haven't heard that one before...

You can't win every SB you play in. And the Eagles waltzed to that game. They were pretty good against every defense last year.

Of course not. However, their D giving up a ton of yards cost them that super bowl. They couldn't have stopped a HS team.

And when you're evaluating a D, it's all important. Yds, pts, 3rd downs, TO's, all of it. Yds is the easiest and most accurate way for a standalone stat. Pts are inaccurate because not all pts given up are on the D.

Are pts allowed most important? Absolutely. However, teams score by driving the field, so yds allowed are important also.

Pats actually lost to JAX, and got bailed out in a major way. How else do you explain a D that had almost no penalties last year suddenly getting a pile of key ones in that game?

 

[kskboys]

When we were one of the top scoring defenses that was the wrong way to rank how good a D is. Now yards are wrong for ranking a D.

Thank you

It's all of it. If you want to truly rank a D, got to look at all of it.

 

[OmerV]

It helps the stats when you play the Giants twice and the eagles backups the last week of the season.

​

I agree 8th is a bit misleading, and keep in mind that was 8th in yradage allowed, whereas they were 13th in points allowed.

Even so, in fairness, other teams are helped by playing Cleveland twice, and other teams by playing the Colts twice, and other teams by playing the Cardinals twice, anod others by playing the Bears twice .... this isn't a phenomenon unique to the Cowboys and the NFC East.

 

[CowboyRoy]

They finished as the 8th overall defense last year. It’s been years since we have had a championship caliber defense— but I think we are on our way— with only a couple holes/flaws. Here is why I believe this unit jumps from top 10 to top 5 this year:

1. PassRush depth. We have not been this deep in a long time. Marinelli wants a strong rotation— and I think this unit is deep and talented enough to consistently disrupt teams passing games even more than they did last year.

2. LBer team speed. Jaylon is healthier and showing more explosiveness. LVE is the best athlete at LBer in this draft class. His speed and coverage ability will help shrink the field. Joe Thomas and Covington are nice additions and Wilson and/or March-Lillard round out a nice corps.

3. Kris Richard. Enough has been said about him already— but a tougher mentality and a more aggressive style should result in more turnovers and better secondary play.

Our only legit holes are at S and 1Tech. Irving/Collins/Ward/Price is not a bad interior rotation— and with the pressure from DE, some of these guys will see favorable matchups.

Safety is where we can get hurt imo. We are young and vulnerable on the back end. Adding ET would go a long way to shoring this hole up— but even if the trade doesn’t occur, I think they will be protected by a great passrush and better overall coverage by the LBs.

Barring setbacks from injuries (Lee/D Law in particular) I think this D can shoulder more of the load than they have in years. Excited to see them take the field and hopefully take the next step in their development.

They were definitely NOT the 8th best D. Not by a long shot. Yards allowed is a joke of that is what you are using.

 

[CowboyRoy]

They finished as the 8th overall defense last year. It’s been years since we have had a championship caliber defense— but I think we are on our way— with only a couple holes/flaws. Here is why I believe this unit jumps from top 10 to top 5 this year:

1. PassRush depth. We have not been this deep in a long time. Marinelli wants a strong rotation— and I think this unit is deep and talented enough to consistently disrupt teams passing games even more than they did last year.

2. LBer team speed. Jaylon is healthier and showing more explosiveness. LVE is the best athlete at LBer in this draft class. His speed and coverage ability will help shrink the field. Joe Thomas and Covington are nice additions and Wilson and/or March-Lillard round out a nice corps.

3. Kris Richard. Enough has been said about him already— but a tougher mentality and a more aggressive style should result in more turnovers and better secondary play.

Our only legit holes are at S and 1Tech. Irving/Collins/Ward/Price is not a bad interior rotation— and with the pressure from DE, some of these guys will see favorable matchups.

Safety is where we can get hurt imo. We are young and vulnerable on the back end. Adding ET would go a long way to shoring this hole up— but even if the trade doesn’t occur, I think they will be protected by a great passrush and better overall coverage by the LBs.

Barring setbacks from injuries (Lee/D Law in particular) I think this D can shoulder more of the load than they have in years. Excited to see them take the field and hopefully take the next step in their development.

We have two legit proven pro bowl types on the defense. The rest are either young, they suck, or they are injured or suspended.

 

[Hawkeye19]

They were definitely NOT the 8th best D. Not by a long shot. Yards allowed is a joke of that is what you are using.

There were two defenses to evaluate last season— the one with Lee on the field— and the one without him.

When Lee was on the field— they were giving up less than 20 pts a game and under 100 yards rushing. That is good. Not elite by any stretch— but good.

When he was off the field— they cratered and could not stop the run. They had to lean waaaay too much on Jaylon due to zero LBer depth when Hitch and Lee were hobbled, and their stats took a beating across the board.

IF they stay healthy (certainly a big IF with Lee) they will improve on what they were last year. Which was solid— at least when Lee was able to play.

 

[CowboyRoy]

There were two defenses to evaluate last season— the one with Lee on the field— and the one without him.

When Lee was on the field— they were giving up less than 20 pts a game and under 100 yards rushing. That is good. Not elite by any stretch— but good.

When he was off the field— they cratered and could not stop the run. They had to lean waaaay too much on Jaylon due to zero LBer depth when Hitch and Lee were hobbled, and their stats took a beating across the board.

IF they stay healthy (certainly a big IF with Lee) they will improve on what they were last year. Which was solid— at least when Lee was able to play.

If Lee stays healthy, I think they definitely improve. All depends on the secondary and how far along Jaylon and V become.

 

[visionary]

We don't have a single player at DT or safety who would start on a top 5 defense in the league

Not one

 

[Batman1980]

We don't have a single player at DT or safety who would start on a top 5 defense in the league

Not one

How's that different from the last 16 years?

 

[buybuydandavis]

1. PassRush depth. We have not been this deep in a long time. Marinelli wants a strong rotation— and I think this unit is deep and talented enough to consistently disrupt teams passing games even more than they did last year.

2. LBer team speed. Jaylon is healthier and showing more explosiveness. LVE is the best athlete at LBer in this draft class. His speed and coverage ability will help shrink the field. Joe Thomas and Covington are nice additions and Wilson and/or March-Lillard round out a nice corps.

3. Kris Richard. Enough has been said about him already— but a tougher mentality and a more aggressive style should result in more turnovers and better secondary play.

Our only legit holes are at S and 1Tech. Irving/Collins/Ward/Price is not a bad interior rotation— and with the pressure from DE, some of these guys will see favorable matchups.

We're weak at DT and SS. Adding ET improves us, but doesn't help where we're hurting - at SS. I hope they pick up a 1tech.

This could be the year for Jerry to spoonfeed a lot of people a lot of crow.

Looks like we're getting Jaylon healthy and The Stoner on the field. Top 5, Top 10. We didn't get the value of those picks in the years we made them, but they're coming to fruition now, and we're getting multiples of the value of those picks with still 3 years of rights remaining, and at a much cheaper price.

It's a massive jump in talent on this defense before counting our 1st round LB.

 

[kskboys]

We don't have a single player at DT or safety who would start on a top 5 defense in the league

Not one

Teams w/ top 5 D's understand that up the middle is the most important on D, and that you will not have a super bowl caliber D w/o a dominant DL, and you will not have a dominant DL playing 3 techs out of position.

 

[kskboys]

There were two defenses to evaluate last season— the one with Lee on the field— and the one without him.

When Lee was on the field— they were giving up less than 20 pts a game and under 100 yards rushing. That is good. Not elite by any stretch— but good.

When he was off the field— they cratered and could not stop the run. They had to lean waaaay too much on Jaylon due to zero LBer depth when Hitch and Lee were hobbled, and their stats took a beating across the board.

IF they stay healthy (certainly a big IF with Lee) they will improve on what they were last year. Which was solid— at least when Lee was able to play.

And if Lee makes that much difference, we have a poorly constructed D.