Parcells needs a Def. Philosophy change

[BulletBob]

Zimmer's got to go, he's not a wartime coordinator and his vanilla schemes are going to cost this team games this season!

Pop had Genco; look what I got.

 

[StarAmongStars]

Pop had Genco; look what I got.

Precisely......

 

[conner01]

teams who can pressure the qb without blitzing will get more turn overs simply because they have more guys in coverage.blitzing alot may look good but sure did'nt help the eagles last week did it?in a perfect world you don't need to blitz and you can get pressure with your front 4 and still have the coverage too

 

[Stautner]

Just read the Ware comments about Merriman, it's amazing that Parcells will talk about percentage offense. How turnovers will dictate games and yet he doesn't have a defense philosophy that will try to create them.

That swaring blitzing defense that creates pressure and shut down Manning for the last five years, yea we won't do that. We'll to cover you to death for 5 minutes. Leftwich seemed to have beat good coverage. Great defenses dictate what happens. Parcells is passive and in order not to fail. It's not a philosophy that the top defenses have.

Ware is a waste in coverage. They should use him as SD does Merriman. Our defense never scores points and has ranked low in turnovers for a long time.
It's no wonder we watch teams slowly pull back into games. They figure out the scheme and start to pick it apart alla Jacksonville.

It's sad to hear Ware's and Ellis' comments. I could see if we had Frazier covering, but we don't. With the rules now, even the best corners can't cover for ever.

First, you must not have seen the Washington game - far from a conservative game plan ....... get up to date.

Second, there is more to percentages than attacking all the time - getting burned by one on one coverage when blitzes are picked up hurts the percentages. Right or wrong, Parcells is playing a balancing act with what he is comfortable doing.

Third, you can't just project one team's situation on another as if the variables are identical. We don't have the same personnel, so we might not be as effective with it as they are - just because San Diego is successful with something doesn't mean everyone else can do the same - or that they should even try.

 

[joseephuss]

Problem is, when you start playing good offensive teams they will pick apart conservative defenses that play bend-don't-break.
See Jacksonville in the opener.
Also see Parcells first season with Dallas. Ended up being ranked statistically high on defense but got totally carved up by Car. in the playoffs.

The Dallas defense just did not execute in that playoff game. They were in position to stop Carolina's big plays, but either didn't knock down the ball or make the tackle. Steve Smith made a hell of a catch for a TD on one play where Newman had him tightly covered. Dallas did not get out schemed that day, they got out played.

I don't think this is a conservative defense. It just isn't an ultra aggresive defense either.

 

[raichledog]

It's funny because around the NFL, Parcells is viewed as a defensive genius, but listening to some on here you would think the guy is clueless! He has completely re-vamped this defense from a small 4-3 to a HUGE 3-4, and finally has the pieces of the puzzle in place to make some noise. We had 6 freaking sacks vs. the Commanders and people are still whining about lack of pressure. Go re-watch the game for heavens sake, Bruenell never had time to breathe. Demarcus Ware is a COMPLETE lb who can change a game in more than one way. Listen to Madden talk about him and you will get an idea of the kids value.

 

[Frosty]

Thats all great and jim dandy,

But there is alot of #1 picks on the cowboys defense and alot of dollars tied up in Free Agents all in the Defense. Its time to produce sacks and turn overs, not bend and don't break or bendover and get burned.

Its about Smash mouth defense not excuse me is it Ok If rush the qb now .
Don't care if its a Zone Blitz or what, The Cowboys got the players they wanted NOW PRODUCE.....for 16 games

 

[Rampage]

There are time that Dallas is very aggressive with the defense. I think it is smart to pick and choose within a game of how aggressive you are as well as when to be a bit on the side of caution. I'm sure Philly wish they could take that blitz back that gave the Giants the winning TD.

was that a dumb call or what. lets leave a 6'6 wr in man to man at about our 30 yard line in ot. stupid coach reid

 

[lspain1]

Problem is, when you start playing good offensive teams they will pick apart conservative defenses that play bend-don't-break.
See Jacksonville in the opener.
Also see Parcells first season with Dallas. Ended up being ranked statistically high on defense but got totally carved up by Car. in the playoffs.

I disagree with this on so many levels. We lost to Jacksonville because we executed poorly and racked up large numbers of penalities. The "scheme" had nothing to do with it.

Parcells' first season with the Cowboys has zero relationship to what we are doing today and the personnel we are executing with.

 

[Doomsday101]

was that a dumb call or what. lets leave a 6'6 wr in man to man at about our 30 yard line in ot. stupid coach reid

Tom Landry once said teams who live by the blitz die by the blitz. I agree with that. The play right before the TD was a false start and Philly showed the Giants exactly what they were going to do so next play Manning went were he knew the coverage would be one on one and as you said with a big WR going aginst a smaller CB. Advantage giants. I like to bring the blitz but I think you need to pick and choose when you do it.

 

[LatinMind]

Zimmer's got to go, he's not a wartime coordinator and his vanilla schemes are going to cost this team games this season!

how is it zimmers fault? when he has to follow parcells parameters on what he can and cannot do on defense?

typical parcells homer, blame everybody else but the man who's philosophy is drilled into every coordinator in dallas..maybe thats why no top coordinator will even listen to coming to dallas while parcells is in dallas

 

[wileedog]

how is it zimmers fault? when he has to follow parcells parameters on what he can and cannot do on defense?

typical parcells homer, blame everybody else but the man who's philosophy is drilled into every coordinator in dallas..maybe thats why no top coordinator will even listen to coming to dallas while parcells is in dallas

Why is anything anyone's fault?

Our defense got left out to dry by the offense in a tough road game against a very real SB contender and then they obliterated the Commanders, including 6 sacks.

Why is this thread working under the assumption that the defense is failing?

 

[InmanRoshi]

Problem is, when you start playing good offensive teams they will pick apart conservative defenses that play bend-don't-break.

From TMQ article last year, who has charted blitzes and their effectiveness in the NFL...

Stop Me Before I Blitz Again! (Annual Stats Edition): Didn't mean to pick on you, Jaws; many sportscasters and sportswriters overstate the degree of blitzing. Consider the four games this weekend. There were 463 offensive snaps and 57 blitzes -- 12 percent blitzing. That's probably a little lower than the league average, which I'd guess at around 15 percent. But then the wild-card entrants, being winning teams, are better than the league average. Winning teams blitz less than losing teams. The chicken-or-egg question I'll leave to you.

Washington has been blitzing less in the second half of the season, and here's an instance where injuries may actually have helped a team. The Commanders suffered cornerback injuries in November. As pointed out by James Collins, football coach at my kids' high school, cornerback injuries meant the tastefully named Gregg Williams had to provide safety help for the corners, which in turn meant Williams began calling few blitzes. Washington's defensive performance immediately improved. In their first 11 games, the Commanders allowed 20.3 points per game; during the team's six-game winning streak, which coincided with dinged-up cornerbacks and few blitzes, Washington has allowed 13.1 points per game. Elite corner Shawn Springs is expected back for the upcoming Washington at Seattle contest. For heaven's sake, tastefully named Gregg, don't use that as an excuse to go blitz-wacky.

Now to my incredibly scientifically advanced methodology. When I run items noting blitzes that backfired, readers protest that some blitzes do work and that down-and-distance must be factored in. To accommodate these concerns, when I chart the entire weekend my blitz calculation centers on long-yardage downs -- those plays when defenses are likely to blitz, and the offense knows that. I define long-yardage downs as first and more than 10, second and 8 or more, and third or fourth and four or more. I calculate average yards per play, first downs achieved, touchdowns, turnovers committed and kicks forced. When the defense gains yardage on a turnover, I count that as negative offensive yards; a stop on fourth down is counted as a takeaway. I also track blitzes that occur when not expected, on downs other than long yardage downs.

Here are the blitz numbers for the last two years; now the numbers for this weekend. On 158 long-yardage downs, there were 113 instances of conventional defense and 45 blitzes. Offenses averaged 4.3 yards gained per play against conventional defense and 8.7 yards per play against the blitz. Offenses scored three touchdowns against conventional defenses, a 2.6 percent touchdown rate, and three touchdowns against the blitz, a 6.7 percent touchdown rate. Offenses gained 19 first downs against conventional defense, a 16.8 percent first-down rate, and 15 first downs against the blitz, a 33.3 percent first-down rate. Conventional defense forced 27 kicks, a 23.8 percent forced-kick rate; blitzing forced four kicks, a 8.9 percent forced-kick rate. Conventional defense achieved five takeaways, a 4.4 percent turnover rate by the offense. Blitzing achieved two takeaways, an identical 4.4 percent turnover rate by the offense. Conventional defense scored one touchdown for the defense, while blitzing produced no defensive touchdowns.

This is pretty much a slam-dunk for conventional defense over the blitz. Sure, blitzing is effective sometimes, but on the whole blitzing allowed twice as many yards per offensive play, twice as many first downs per play and three times as many touchdowns per play. Blitzing forced the offense to kick less than half as often per play as conventional defense, while producing turnovers only at the same rate.

Offensive touchdown rates are especially revealing. This season the NFL touchdown rate for all offensive plays was 3.7 percent, 1,172 touchdowns on 32,021 offensive snaps. On expected-blitz downs, conventional defense allowed touchdowns at a rate of 2.6 percent while blitzing allowed touchdowns at a rate of 6.7 percent. This suggests blitzing on expected-blitz downs is to blame for a disproportionate share of NFL offensive touchdowns. Consider the decisive play of the Jacksonville-New England contest. The Patriots led 14-3 in the third quarter, and faced third-and-13 on their 37 yard line. Had Jax played straight defense, a forced kick was statistically likely. Instead Jaguars' coaches called for a six-blitz that included a blitzing safety. This left only middle linebacker Mike Peterson to cover Pats' tight end Ben Watson -- who broke Peterson's tackle and ran 63 yards for the touchdown that ended Jacksonville's season. Want to generate a touchdown for the opposition's offense? Call a big blitz on a down when the offense expects you to blitz.

Blitzing when it's not expected? Blitzes not on long-yardage downs resulted in 2.7 yards gained per play, no offensive or defensive touchdowns, forced kicks at a 8.3 percent rate and turnovers at a 16.7 percent rate. That is, surprise blitzing (on first-and-10, for example) works quite well.

Finally, just as announcers and sportswriters overstate the degree of blitzing, they also overstate the degree of big-blitzing. It's common to hear sportscasters bellow, "They were blitzing eight men!" Most blitzes are five-man; six-man blitzes are invitations for an offensive touchdown, seven- or eight-man blitzes exceedingly rare. Counting all blitzes (on long yardage downs and surprise downs), in this weekend's games there were 49 five-man blitzes, seven six-man blitzes, one seven-man blitz and no eight-man blitz. But then, the teams that played this weekend were winning teams, so they know to use the big blitz sparingly. My guess is if you broke it down you'd find losing teams are much more likely to big-blitz than winning teams.

...........

Contrary to your statement, its even less effective to blitz against better offenses. Good offense are far more capable of punishing you for taking risks. In November 2001, the Patriots played the "Greatest Show on Turf" Rams blitzed 39 times and lost. Two months later in the Super Bowl the Patriots played the Rams again, blitzed eight times and won. When the Patriots shut down Peyton Manning in the playoffs, they much more liekly to drop 9 back than they are to send 8. Lombardi refered to the blitz as the "The Weapon of Weaklings". If there is a defense to model yourself after, it would be the 2001 Baltimore Ravens. They set the bar when it comes to post-free agency defense, and every other team falls far, far, short. They never blitzed. Their sack totals were nothing more than respectable (their top two individual sack totals were 10 and 8 respectively). They prevented the run and forced long down and distance situations and physically beat you up at the point of attack on all four positions.

Everyone remembers the times when a "conservative" defense fell short, but everyone seems to have selective amnesia when it comes to blitzing. Just recently, Jim Johnson lost the game for his team this weekend with his love affair with the blitz. He exchanged 370 yards, 24 points for 8 sacks. If he would have played smarter, the Giants wouldn't have been able to come back from 17 points down. He sent 8 rushers on the game winning TD throw to Burress and left his CB's alone on Burress without safety coverage. It cost them the game. But I'm sure he'll continue to get accolaides from those who care more about style than winning football games.

 

[LatinMind]

Why is anything anyone's fault?

Our defense got left out to dry by the offense in a tough road game against a very real SB contender and then they obliterated the Commanders, including 6 sacks.

Why is this thread working under the assumption that the defense is failing?

all leads back to scheme..parcells gameplanning is predictable..and by the 2nd half coaches have it figured out..thats why parcells is a .500 coach in todays game

and not saying u will..but if u do dont go into all that well he got a bad team when he came to dallas..that bad team got him a 10-6 record.

 

[wileedog]

all leads back to scheme..parcells gameplanning is predictable..and by the 2nd half coaches have it figured out..thats why parcells is a .500 coach in todays game

So coaches in the "old game" couldn't figure out his "predictable" game planning but now these coaches can?

okay....

Cause he's not doing much different than he did at 3 other coaching tours which will land him in the HOF.

and not saying u will..but if u do dont go into all that well he got a bad team when he came to dallas..that bad team got him a 10-6 record.

4 wins against horrible Giants and Skins teams. If we had that team today we would go 0-8 in the division easy and be at a 6-10 record. Like 2004.

 

[superpunk]

4 wins against horrible Giants and Skins teams. If we had that team today we would go 0-8 in the division easy and be at a 6-10 record. Like 2004.

I don't know. I think we could handle Arizona. :

jk....I agree with you completely. parcells defensive philosphy is fine. Teams blitz because they have to. If any - ANY - HC or DC in the league had his druthers, he would never rush more than 4. And if it was possible to do it with just 4 all the time, you'd see alot less teams putting together creative blitz packages. It takes a special front 4 to make that happen, though.

 

[Stautner]

all leads back to scheme..parcells gameplanning is predictable..and by the 2nd half coaches have it figured out..thats why parcells is a .500 coach in todays game

and not saying u will..but if u do dont go into all that well he got a bad team when he came to dallas..that bad team got him a 10-6 record.

Really? At what point in the 2nd half did Joe Gibbs figure it out? And how did you know when he figured it out - what was the tip off because I missed it.

 

[superpunk]

Really? At what point in the 2nd half did Joe Gibbs figure it out? And how did you know when he figured it out - what was the tip off because I missed it.

Did you see that "great" (Gibbs quote) drive they had against us in the final two minutes.

Gibbs has Parcells under his thumb.

 

[Doomsday101]

The game of football has not changed that much and the same thing you needed to be successful years ago are the same thing you need to be good at in todays game. I don't see a need in Parcells changing his philosophy

 

[Stautner]

Did you see that "great" (Gibbs quote) drive they had against us in the final two minutes.

Gibbs has Parcells under his thumb.

Maybe that's what influences LatinMind's thinking - maybe he sees teams move the ball on us when we are protecting a lead and playing to prevent the big play and mistakes that for "figuring us out".