Our Misguided Defensive Philosophy

[Majic]

Damone Clark 6’3” 240
Eric Kendricks 6’0” 232
Marist Liufau 6’2” 239
DeMarvion Overshown 6’2” 220
Micah Parsons 6’3” 245

Other than Overshown who didn’t play last year, they’re much bigger than last year. It’s interesting you base giving up on the season the size of the defense.

Now, who‘s the DE that’s too big and too heavy?

Lawrence and Kneeland have little bend,

You have quoted undersized LB'S on the whole. Anything under 240 is undersized

 

[DeaconMoss]

Our Defensive Philosophy is misguided. We have LB's with speed and are undersized and powerful DE's with no bend (not including Parsons). Should be other way around in my opinion. Does not bode well for this season.

So you want big slow linebackers and weak DE's that can run fast around the edge. SMH

 

[DeaconMoss]

Lawrence and Kneeland have little bend,

You have quoted undersized LB'S on the whole. Anything under 240 is undersized

Fred Warner is listed as 230. Roquan Smith 236. Demario Davis 236. Do I need to continue?

 

[Rockport]

Lawrence and Kneeland have little bend,

You have quoted undersized LB'S on the whole. Anything under 240 is undersized

 

[Majic]

Fred Warner is listed as 230. Roquan Smith 236. Demario Davis 236. Do I need to continue?

I would say 240lbs as the ideal weight. Our LBs have not held up as the season progresses. Bill Parcells taught us the importance of this.
Let's review this at the end of the 24 season.

 

[TwistedL0g1k]

LB's have to cover. The problem arises when the team has athletic speed rushers who are good at pressuring the QB, but weak against the run. This was the issue last season. The DL needs power and containment, not just speed.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

Lawrence and Kneeland have little bend,

You have quoted undersized LB'S on the whole. Anything under 240 is undersized

What year is this?

 

[Chasing6]

Our Defensive Philosophy is misguided. We have LB's with speed and are undersized and powerful DE's with no bend (not including Parsons). Should be other way around in my opinion. Does not bode well for this season.

If we had DT's that kept our LB's clean it would work, but we don't and seem to have no interest in fixing it for some reason.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

If we had DT's that kept our LB's clean it would work, but we don't and seem to have no interest in fixing it for some reason.

Again, what year is this?

DTs who "keep LBs clean" are not valuable and rarely exist in the NFL anyway because you have to be mobile and big to eat doubles. OL are athletic and can easily seal guys who can't move. The flip side is that, if you have LBs who need to be kept clean, then you do not have good LBs.

Plus, smart teams run when they have numbers advantages - i.e. 7 blockers to 6 defenders. It doesn't matter if a DT eats a double team, because there's still a man to block every defender.

This is one of my favorite plays. Derrick Brown wins his gap but is sealed by Terrence Steele, and Luepke comes through the B gap leaving 4 blockers on 4 defenders on the left side of the OL. Biadasz/Martin have trouble and Biadasz struggles to get second level, but it doesn't matter, because the the LB (54, Green) now has to defend multiple gaps. The DL almost all win and it doesn't matter because they are outschemed.
https://www.dallascowboys.com/video/tony-pollard-scores-td-with-last-second-extension

Point being - players like Brown don't matter, because you can just run away from them. 54 has no chance, because they do not have enough bodies in the box as the high safety has to account for CD on the bottom. The counter to this is to have penetrating pressure players who can force a quick throw against press or a disguised so that you can put numbers in the box. Brown, or DTs who "keep LBs clean" can't do that.

 

[speedkilz88]

I would say 240lbs as the ideal weight. Our LBs have not held up as the season progresses. Bill Parcells taught us the importance of this.
Let's review this at the end of the 24 season.

Parcells had big LBs because he was running a 3-4.

 

[Majic]

Parcells had big LBs because he was running a 3-4.

Exactly, that's where we should be heading. Really surprised Zimmer did not bang the drum for this when he evaluated Parsons. A mistake in my opinion.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

Exactly, that's where we should be heading. Really surprised Zimmer did not bang the drum for this when he evaluated Parsons. A mistake in my opinion.

A 3-4 or 5-2 is a defense that gets you killed. You can't win doing that because you will ALWAYS be outgapped. I'll share this play again.

This is one of my favorite plays. Derrick Brown wins his gap but is sealed by Terrence Steele, and Luepke comes through the B gap leaving 4 blockers on 4 defenders on the left side of the OL. Biadasz/Martin have trouble and Biadasz struggles to get second level, but it doesn't matter, because the the LB (54, Green) now has to defend multiple gaps. The DL almost all win and it doesn't matter because they are outschemed.
https://www.dallascowboys.com/video/tony-pollard-scores-td-with-last-second-extension

Point being - players like Brown don't matter, because you can just run away from them. 54 has no chance, because they do not have enough bodies in the box as the high safety has to account for CD on the bottom. The counter to this is to have penetrating pressure players who can force a quick throw against press or a disguised so that you can put numbers in the box. Brown, or DTs who "keep LBs clean" can't do that.

 

[Teague31]

Figured this would have been a thread about drafting a nose in round 1 and then telling him to lose 40 pounds and change positions

 

[Chasing6]

Again, what year is this?

DTs who "keep LBs clean" are not valuable and rarely exist in the NFL anyway because you have to be mobile and big to eat doubles. OL are athletic and can easily seal guys who can't move. The flip side is that, if you have LBs who need to be kept clean, then you do not have good LBs.

Plus, smart teams run when they have numbers advantages - i.e. 7 blockers to 6 defenders. It doesn't matter if a DT eats a double team, because there's still a man to block every defender.

This is one of my favorite plays. Derrick Brown wins his gap but is sealed by Terrence Steele, and Luepke comes through the B gap leaving 4 blockers on 4 defenders on the left side of the OL. Biadasz/Martin have trouble and Biadasz struggles to get second level, but it doesn't matter, because the the LB (54, Green) now has to defend multiple gaps. The DL almost all win and it doesn't matter because they are outschemed.
https://www.dallascowboys.com/video/tony-pollard-scores-td-with-last-second-extension

Point being - players like Brown don't matter, because you can just run away from them. 54 has no chance, because they do not have enough bodies in the box as the high safety has to account for CD on the bottom. The counter to this is to have penetrating pressure players who can force a quick throw against press or a disguised so that you can put numbers in the box. Brown, or DTs who "keep LBs clean" can't do that.

If they are not valuable then we should be able to find them easily. You don't need to be mobile to eat double teams.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

If they are not valuable then we should be able to find the easily. You don't need to be mobile to eat double teams.

Yes, you do. There is no point in doubling a player who can't be disruptive, and you can't be disruptive if you can't move.

 

[Chasing6]

Yes, you do. There is no point in doubling a player who can't be disruptive, and you can't be disruptive if you can't move.

If you DT is pushed back 3 yards into your LB you have a problem.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

If you DT is pushed back 3 yards into your LB you have a problem.

Ok?

You know the best way to not get pushed back 3 yards? Get off the ball and capture a gap. Doesn't matter if you are 330 and the OL immediately gets leverage.

 

[charron]

Last years linebackers were too light once LVE went down. Coupled with the DL focus on getting to the QB using too many twists/stunts/games it really just left gaps open. There is a time and place for a quick defense but you also need to be able to play smash mouth football where the DL can at the very least hold its ground.

 

[thunderpimp91]

A 3-4 or 5-2 is a defense that gets you killed. You can't win doing that because you will ALWAYS be outgapped. I'll share this play again.

This is one of my favorite plays. Derrick Brown wins his gap but is sealed by Terrence Steele, and Luepke comes through the B gap leaving 4 blockers on 4 defenders on the left side of the OL. Biadasz/Martin have trouble and Biadasz struggles to get second level, but it doesn't matter, because the the LB (54, Green) now has to defend multiple gaps. The DL almost all win and it doesn't matter because they are outschemed.
https://www.dallascowboys.com/video/tony-pollard-scores-td-with-last-second-extension

Point being - players like Brown don't matter, because you can just run away from them. 54 has no chance, because they do not have enough bodies in the box as the high safety has to account for CD on the bottom. The counter to this is to have penetrating pressure players who can force a quick throw against press or a disguised so that you can put numbers in the box. Brown, or DTs who "keep LBs clean" can't do that.

I agree with you on the general principle about not needing big bodies and how overrated the 3-4 defense is in the modern game. I'm surprised that Cowboy fans are so quick to forget Dontari Poe and how easily teams just shielded and ran around him, but not sure this is a great example.

Brown is a C gap player here. He gets shielded off, but that isnt what makes this play work for Dallas. Your 1T and middle backers should be responsible for the dive. The nose gets blown out of the play. He started inside the hash mark, and ended up on the 1st and 10 graphic. I love Frankie Luvu as a player, but this is a horrible play. This was a power run play all the way and his first step was back. Just a bad read by Luvu which caused him to not initiate contact with the FB until 4 yards past the LOS. The other back should be playing in the UFL from this film. You're absolutely right that the scheme puts him at a disadvantage and this is the major downside of playing a 5-2 look as he needs to cover the dive as well as the back side gaps. That said though this is horrible LB play. The C completely failed to get to the 2nd level (because of how dominated the nose was) and barely got hands on the backer. Absolutely zero excuse for that backer to not fill the gap and make that play for a 2-4 yard gain.

This is why defensive depth is so important. You can have stars on the defensive side of the ball, but if you have a weakness it can be exploited and none of that star power matters.

 

[TwistedL0g1k]

To be fair, Dallas had the #5 defense in the NFL (2023) based on yardage, and the #5 defense based on scoring. Certainly there were some weaknesses, but that's a pretty good defense. I'm not sure Zimmer can match it, much less surpass it.