Pass defense in '08

[percyhoward]

Adam, you keep assuming what you claim to be proving.

A great way to settle this would be to select 10 defenses at random, then look at all the games last year in which each of those defenses faced 9-11 possessions, compare it to all the games in which that same defense faced 13-15 possessions, and see if really gave up 33% more points in that second set of games.

 

[jobberone]

I agree and I don't. I agree that our pass D was a glaring weak spot on the team last year, however I feel that it compared favorably to the rest of the NFL.

The misconception out there is our team is the only one giving up first downs; our team is the only one giving up yards and touchdowns to good QBs; our team is the only one that bumps their stats up feasting on crummy QBs; our team is the only one that had the offense bail out the defense, etc.

This misconception is fueled by the fact that fans on this board may watch a couple games here and there of another team, but not as many as they do the Dallas Cowboys.

Can the Cowboys improve upon last year's play? Definately. Were they as good as the stats indicate? That's debateable. Were they as bad as some make out? Nope, not any worse than every other defensive secondary in a pass-friendly NFL.

Normally I'd say one is mutually exclusive of the other but I understand what you're saying. I wasn't quanitating our problems nor comparing them to the rest of the league. Our biggest weakness on the entire team was our pass D.

If it was so good, as some are saying, we wouldn't have basically fired 2/5s of the starting CBs nor would be have been the only team in the NFL to go after Adam Jones, nor would we have drafted two very good CBs spending a one on Jenkins and basically two second day picks on Scandrick.

We have gone, on paper, from an ordinary at best pass D to what may be a championship one. If we get Jones for the year, Jenkins plays well, and most importantly TNew and Henry stay on the field, we will be a dominant pass D; assuming the pass rush stays the same or gets better.