Our defense in the 5 playoff losses in last decade

Bobhaze said:
In all but one of those losses, our opponents converted 50% of their third downs. (Btw it included the 19-12 loss to niners where we allowed them to convert 7/14 third downs) That’s a pattern.

In two of those losses we did not get a single sack, and in those 5 losses we still only had 4 sacks total! That’s a pattern.

In 4 of those 5 losses, our rushing defense gave up 273, 169, 113, and 143 yds. The only decent one was 87 yards vs the pack in the Jan 2017 34-31 loss where our defense gave up a 3rd and 35 with seconds left to set up the pack’s winning FG. That’s a pattern.

In 4 of the 5 losses, the defense gave up points first, 3 times before the offense had even touched the ball for the first time. Again a pattern.

Twice in the OP I said that Dak Prescott had blame for this too. It’s not “all defense” or “all offense”. It’s both. But in my research, I found the defense to be worse. Again, it’s not all on them. But there are definitely patterns that are there.

Dak has thrown 6 INTs in those 5 games. But 4 of those 6 happened in the last two playoff games. Not defending Dak, just clarifying some details.

Bottom line for me, Dak Prescott is an above average QB who requires a strong defense and run game to be effective. It’s obvious he will never be able to carry a team alone. That’s true about any QB in this league not named Mahomes. (And Mahomes has a great defense!)

So why does our FO not get this? They overpay Dak then don’t see that a QB like that needs a strong defense. It’s dumb.
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I certainly agree with you that Dak is a good but not great QB, that any QB needs a run game and a defense, etc.

You know what the pattern I see: Dallas has been routinely outcoached in the playoffs. That's been the most consistent thing. Jerry simply doesn't value coaching and it shows up most visibly in the playoffs. That GB blowout was ridiculous. The team wasn't ready to play. It had a terrible game plan and when things didn't go well, they didn't adjust.

You can pull up stats but if you watch that GB game, GB was cramming the ball down Dallas' throats with the run. Dallas was still putting 6 men in the box, one of which was a converted safety. So yeah, the box score says the defense stunk but the game film says it stunk because the coaches wanted it to. I can't even blame the personnel. If Dallas had gone bear front and still couldn't stop the run, then that's an issue with personnel.
 
shabazz said:
Solid points taken and yes the defense blows chunks, just as it did with Romo, but when you look at 4 of those 5 losses you mentioned, the Cowboys offense never scored more than 7 point in the ENTIRE FIRST HALF!!

That's an offense that got deballed 4 out of 5 first halfs when it counted most......and that speaks for itself
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Yeah,
that kinda offensive ineptitude definitely confirms it was as much at fault as the defense in those losses.
If not more.
 
to bad they dont use more resource on d then

but they cant since they have to use it all to make the offense dak friendly so they dont look so stupid giving a mid qb so much $$$money$$$

no matter what i will always find a way to blame dak :p greedy guy want all the money and cap space he can have all the blame
 
Shannon1 said:
I’ve always said it’s our defense that keeps us from the nfc championship game ! I seen the 90s teams they had a top defense ,I seen the 70 s we had a top defense, That s the difference!
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All but a few of the teams that make it to the conference championship game have really good defenses. There are exceptions. Like the commanders last year. The bengals in ‘21.

Look at the SB teams the last two SBs. KC vs SF and Philly vs KC. All those teams had outstanding defenses.

Yes, you have to have a great offense too, and having a great QB is huge. But look at these recent examples of defense:
  • KC and Mahomes’ last championship in the 2023 season. The chiefs defense really won the AFC championship game that year when the chiefs won in Baltimore holding the ravens to 10 points. The chiefs offense scored 17.
  • This year’s eagles championship was led by their smothering defense with two picks, one for a TD and 6 sacks. (The Cowboys have had 4 sacks in 5 playoff games!) Jalen Hurts (who is IMO younger healthier Dak) threw 25 passes total. He didn’t need to do more! He is surrounded by a great D and great running game. Voila!
  • In 2020 season, Tom Brady’s championship with Tampa Bay- Brady threw 3 INTs vs Aaron Rodgers and the pack in the NFC championship game. The buccaneers defense bailed him out with some huge stops and sacks. Brady doesn’t win that last SB w/out that Bucs defense.
That’s just in the last 5 years.

Yes, Dak and the Cowboys offense deserve their share of criticism for the playoff woes we’ve seen. I would say about 30-40% of the blame. The rest is on the defense - at least 60%.

But even more accurately - 100% of the blame goes to our GM who is still clueless how to construct a roster that can win playoff games.
 
doomsday9084 said:
I certainly agree with you that Dak is a good but not great QB, that any QB needs a run game and a defense, etc.

You know what the pattern I see: Dallas has been routinely outcoached in the playoffs. That's been the most consistent thing. Jerry simply doesn't value coaching and it shows up most visibly in the playoffs. That GB blowout was ridiculous. The team wasn't ready to play. It had a terrible game plan and when things didn't go well, they didn't adjust.

You can pull up stats but if you watch that GB game, GB was cramming the ball down Dallas' throats with the run. Dallas was still putting 6 men in the box, one of which was a converted safety. So yeah, the box score says the defense stunk but the game film says it stunk because the coaches wanted it to. I can't even blame the personnel. If Dallas had gone bear front and still couldn't stop the run, then that's an issue with personnel.
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That bottom paragraph says it all...

"THE COACHES WANTED IT TO"

we can play make believe all day...Jerry wants early playoff exits it's for sports media money

Drama sells
 
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2024/opp.htm

Here is how Dallas has ranked defensively for the past 10 years for "expected point contribution"
2024: 28th
2023: 9th
2022: 3rd
2021: 3rd
2020: 22nd
2019: 12th
2018: 14th
2017: 26th
2016: 21st
2015: 18th

I think this is generally what Bob is getting to. For the most part, Dallas has been a mediocre to poor defense. Only one burst of that being good, which are the years the offense let the team down in the playoffs.

Jerry usually doesn't take defense seriously and as long as that is true, the team isn't going to be a serious threat in the playoffs.
 
Chasing6 said:
Good playoff teams neutralize your best players and make you beat them with someone else.

This is just another indicator that we are not a balanced complimentary football team.

We are expecting to win big games playing HERO ball.
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“We” haven’t seen this team play a single game yet.
 
Bobhaze said:
In the last decade, the Cowboys have played in 7 playoff games, winning 2 and losing 5. The two wins in the last decade were a 2018 wild card win vs Seattle and a 2021 wild card win vs Tampa.

The five playoff losses in the last decade are what I want to focus on here because the similarities in what caused those losses are glaring. Those losses aren’t all on the defense. Yes, Dak has some blame for sure. But it’s not all on him either.

Here are the 5 playoff losses in the last decade:
  • 2016 L 34-31 vs packers in divisional round at home.
  • 2018 L 30-22 vs rams in divisional round on the road.
  • 2021 L 23-17 vs niners in wild card round at home.
  • 2022 L 19-12 vs niners in divisional round on the road.
  • 2023 L 48-32 vs packers in wild card round at home.
I want to look at our common problems in these playoff losses and whether they have been addressed. Here are some stats that show patterns in the 5 playoff losses:
  • Cowboys defense in the 5 playoff losses:
    • Avg giving up 31 points per game. (Take out the GB loss and still avg giving up 27 ppg)
    • Avg giving up 157 yards per game on the ground. (Take out the 273 in the 2018 rams L and we still avg giving up nearly 130 yds per game on the ground)
    • 3rd down conversions. In the 5 playoff losses of the last decade, our defense allowed 30 of 58 3rd downs to be converted. 52%!! Horrible.
    • Despite being one of the best sack teams in the league, the Cowboys only had 4 total sacks in all 5 playoff losses. Less than 1 per game.
    • Despite being one of the better defenses to create TOs, our D only had 3 TOs created in the 5 playoff losses.
These 5 losses weren’t all on the defense. Yes, Dak has played poorly at times, especially the last two playoff losses. But if we are being objective, he’s not been as bad as our defense.

Because if you avg giving up 30 points in a playoff game, avg giving up 157 yards rushing in the playoffs, and allow the opponents a 52% third down conversion rate, can’t sack the QB or get TOs, it’s pretty hard to win.

Does the FO understand this yet?
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No they don’t, and appreciate someone finally spelling out the obvious. Got our tall Jr. Randy Moss from Pittsburgh, another 1st round offensive lineman, and some other things I see hyped in the forums but all I ask is what has this team done to improve its Front 7 because every year, at some point, teams decide to run on us and we’re full of defensive speed bumps by the time the Playoffs hit and our one strength - one of the best pass rushers in the NFL - becomes an overpaid edge because teams don’t have to pass.
 
Bobhaze said:
All but a few of the teams that make it to the conference championship game have really good defenses. There are exceptions. Like the commanders last year. The bengals in ‘21.

Look at the SB teams the last two SBs. KC vs SF and Philly vs KC. All those teams had outstanding defenses.

Yes, you have to have a great offense too, and having a great QB is huge. But look at these recent examples of defense:
  • KC and Mahomes’ last championship in the 2023 season. The chiefs defense really won the AFC championship game that year when the chiefs won in Baltimore holding the ravens to 10 points. The chiefs offense scored 17.
  • This year’s eagles championship was led by their smothering defense with two picks, one for a TD and 6 sacks. (The Cowboys have had 4 sacks in 5 playoff games!) Jalen Hurts (who is IMO younger healthier Dak) threw 25 passes total. He didn’t need to do more! He is surrounded by a great D and great running game. Voila!
  • In 2020 season, Tom Brady’s championship with Tampa Bay- Brady threw 3 INTs vs Aaron Rodgers and the pack in the NFC championship game. The buccaneers defense bailed him out with some huge stops and sacks. Brady doesn’t win that last SB w/out that Bucs defense.
That’s just in the last 5 years.

Yes, Dak and the Cowboys offense deserve their share of criticism for the playoff woes we’ve seen. I would say about 30-40% of the blame. The rest is on the defense - at least 60%.

But even more accurately - 100% of the blame goes to our GM who is still clueless how to construct a roster that can win playoff games.
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This is an absolute great and informative post. Unfortunately, according to many here, 100% of the blame goes to our quarterback. Our quarterback is the first in history to be blamed for defensive and special teams shortcomings, event though he only plays on offense.

We've been the most penalized team for 3 or 4 years straight and it's our quarterback's fault despite the fact that he committed none of them.

I know im being partially sarcastic, but unfortunately there is some truth to what im saying about how many here portion out the blame for ALL losses. Great post though!!
 
Bobhaze said:
In the last decade, the Cowboys have played in 7 playoff games, winning 2 and losing 5. The two wins in the last decade were a 2018 wild card win vs Seattle and a 2021 wild card win vs Tampa.

The five playoff losses in the last decade are what I want to focus on here because the similarities in what caused those losses are glaring. Those losses aren’t all on the defense. Yes, Dak has some blame for sure. But it’s not all on him either.

Here are the 5 playoff losses in the last decade:
  • 2016 L 34-31 vs packers in divisional round at home.
  • 2018 L 30-22 vs rams in divisional round on the road.
  • 2021 L 23-17 vs niners in wild card round at home.
  • 2022 L 19-12 vs niners in divisional round on the road.
  • 2023 L 48-32 vs packers in wild card round at home.
I want to look at our common problems in these playoff losses and whether they have been addressed. Here are some stats that show patterns in the 5 playoff losses:
  • Cowboys defense in the 5 playoff losses:
    • Avg giving up 31 points per game. (Take out the GB loss and still avg giving up 27 ppg)
    • Avg giving up 157 yards per game on the ground. (Take out the 273 in the 2018 rams L and we still avg giving up nearly 130 yds per game on the ground)
    • 3rd down conversions. In the 5 playoff losses of the last decade, our defense allowed 30 of 58 3rd downs to be converted. 52%!! Horrible.
    • Despite being one of the best sack teams in the league, the Cowboys only had 4 total sacks in all 5 playoff losses. Less than 1 per game.
    • Despite being one of the better defenses to create TOs, our D only had 3 TOs created in the 5 playoff losses.
These 5 losses weren’t all on the defense. Yes, Dak has played poorly at times, especially the last two playoff losses. But if we are being objective, he’s not been as bad as our defense.

Because if you avg giving up 30 points in a playoff game, avg giving up 157 yards rushing in the playoffs, and allow the opponents a 52% third down conversion rate, can’t sack the QB or get TOs, it’s pretty hard to win.

Does the FO understand this yet?
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48 last playoff, Dak spotted them 21-24 points then almost didn't even get the 7 before half when LB out right dropped wide open pick in the endzone. Dont forget what trash we have at QB people.
 
Bobhaze said:
Despite being one of the best sack teams in the league, the Cowboys only had 4 total sacks in all 5 playoff losses. Less than 1 per game.
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That's why a juicy contract for an undersized EDGE might not be a good idea. But it's just peachy when the primary goal is to sell tickets and keep the homers drinking the Kool Aid.
 
McKDaddy said:
D did their job in these games. They needed some help from the rest of the team.
  • 2021 L 23-17 vs niners in wild card round at home.
  • 2022 L 19-12 vs niners in divisional round on the road.
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Mac, I can only agree the D kept the score down. But….
  • In the 23-17 loss, they gave up 169 yards rushing and had 5 lining up offsides penalties, and zero sacks. And it was 7-0 SF before our offense got on the field. Offense was bad too.
  • In the 19-12 gameat SF, our defense played its best of the 5 playoff losses. But they gave up 7 of 14 third down conversions, including 3 in the 4th qtr when we needed the ball. Dak and the offense played worse.
Again, I’m not blaming this all on the defense. Dak and the offense share a lot of blame. But we have not had a defense that was playoff level.
 
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