PFF defensive grades week 5

[atlantacowboy]

Hard for me to blame Bloom. I don't see position coaches as responsible for scheme - assignments.

I remember a game where the coverage focused on Lee explaining to the coaches that the assignments on the play were impossible to fulfill. To my eyes, the LBs are hesitating because they're being targeted for a bind in their assignments.

I think you're wrong about the dline's responsibilities in the defense. Marinelli wants them getting upfield if they can and where they think it makes sense. That does expose the LBs to the oline more. That's a tradeoff he's willing to make.

Without Woods, we don't have a 1T who can hold his ground even if the play calls for it.

I don't blame DLaw for his negotiating tactics or his play. He's playing like the very good but injured player I think he is. The blame I have with DLaw is for the front office paying him instead of moving on. And also, Jerry got outmaneuvered on the negotiations, but still wasn't willing to fold a bad hand. That's a big Jerry failure.

Marinelli is playing a DL scheme that requires talent that we do not currently possess. We don't have a 1-tech b/c Marinelli has stated he doesn't want one. We've been passing over them and removing them from our draft board since he arrived. The lack of talent on the DL is absolutely impacting the LBs. The Rams exposed this in the playoff game. We played great D all season but they figured something out and we haven't adjusted. The Saints and Packers followed their model. Granted not every team has the OL and rb combo to accomplish it effectively as we witnessed the first 3 games.

DLaw delaying his surgery until he was under contract was the end for me. I no longer pull for him. He still had the option of not playing even if he had the surgery earlier. I expected Jerry to fall for it b/c he's that kind of fool.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Marinelli is playing a DL scheme that requires talent that we do not currently possess. We don't have a 1-tech b/c Marinelli has stated he doesn't want one. We've been passing over them and removing them from our draft board since he arrived. The lack of talent on the DL is absolutely impacting the LBs. The Rams exposed this in the playoff game. We played great D all season but they figured something out and we haven't adjusted. The Saints and Packers followed their model. Granted not every team has the OL and rb combo to accomplish it effectively as we witnessed the first 3 games.

DLaw delaying his surgery until he was under contract was the end for me. I no longer pull for him. He still had the option of not playing even if he had the surgery earlier. I expected Jerry to fall for it b/c he's that kind of fool.

That other teams have "figured something out" beat our scheme doesn't establish that personnel is the problem. If anything, it points to scheme and not personnel. You can add Colts to that list, though.

Of course you do better with better players. But if the problem is scheme, those better players can still be beat. Rams it was reported not even as scheme, but as tells.

I still pull for Lawrence, as bidness is bidness, but I admit to some anticipatory "told you so" feelings as I watch too. Too many red flags for me. And then because of the holdout, we're eating half his first season as he plays himself into shape and knocks the rust off? Bleh.

It's something how last year's dline is coming up empty this year. Covington, Quinn, Armstrong are 1,2,4 in tackles. Gregory gone. Woods has barely played. Crawford too. Collins maybe ok for a 3T. Lawrence good. Looking at it, we turned over half the rotation. Maybe it's early to for people to throw fits with so much injury, surgery, and turnover. The only guys coming back intact from last year is Collins.

 

[atlantacowboy]

That other teams have "figured something out" beat our scheme doesn't establish that personnel is the problem. If anything, it points to scheme and not personnel. You can add Colts to that list, though.

Of course you do better with better players. But if the problem is scheme, those better players can still be beat. Rams it was reported not even as scheme, but as tells.

I still pull for Lawrence, as bidness is bidness, but I admit to some anticipatory "told you so" feelings as I watch too. Too many red flags for me. And then because of the holdout, we're eating half his first season as he plays himself into shape and knocks the rust off? Bleh.

It's something how last year's dline is coming up empty this year. Covington, Quinn, Armstrong are 1,2,4 in tackles. Gregory gone. Woods has barely played. Crawford too. Collins maybe ok for a 3T. Lawrence good. Looking at it, we turned over half the rotation. Maybe it's early to for people to throw fits with so much injury, surgery, and turnover. The only guys coming back intact from last year is Collins.

Its both scheme and personnel. If we had Warren Sapp or even a Henry Melton level talent in the middle, its probably a different story. Maybe if last years group is intact , its a different story. I am not sure there is a defensive adaptation we could make with the current group that would matter. But, Marinelli has to try something else or the season is lost.

 

[charron]

The defense was as putrid as it looked. But here is the best and worst of it. Just FYI anything under 60 is bad.


1. Tyrone Crawford 73.8
2. Joe Thomas . 70
3. Awuzie 69.3
4. Jaylon . 67.1
5. Dorrance Armstrong 65.8

the bottom 5

Xavier Woods 53.9
Sean Lee 51.6
Robert Quinn 51
Jeff Heath 39
LVE 30.9 . (OMG!!) . This is the lowest PFF score for a starting LB I ever seen. He's gotta be injured.

Other notables

Byron Jones 54.9
DALW 56.8

Seems high. They should all get zero's.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Its both scheme and personnel. If we had Warren Sapp or even a Henry Melton level talent in the middle, its probably a different story. Maybe if last years group is intact , its a different story. I am not sure there is a defensive adaptation we could make with the current group that would matter. But, Marinelli has to try something else or the season is lost.

Woods was listed as questionable for the last game. He should be back this week. Crawford got snaps. Two more games til the bye. We should be over the worst of it from a personnel perspective. We'll get better soon in that respect.

But I'm not confident about Marinellichard trying something else, or renewed dline rotation fixing it. GB looked more like a LB issue to me. What happened to LVE?

 

[atlantacowboy]

Woods was listed as questionable for the last game. He should be back this week. Crawford got snaps. Two more games til the bye. We should be over the worst of it from a personnel perspective. We'll get better soon in that respect.

But I'm not confident about Marinellichard trying something else, or renewed dline rotation fixing it. GB looked more like a LB issue to me. What happened to LVE?

LVE is a bit of a mystery. His last game was the worst game I have ever seen somebody play. It was on par with Chaz Green against Atlanta. He scored 30 on the PFF grading scale. He was in the 70's after the first 4 games. So, he might be playing dinged up and just not complaining about it. He doesn't seem like the diva type thats going to miss time for a hang nail.

 

[buybuydandavis]

LVE is a bit of a mystery. His last game was the worst game I have ever seen somebody play. It was on par with Chaz Green against Atlanta. He scored 30 on the PFF grading scale. He was in the 70's after the first 4 games. So, he might be playing dinged up and just not complaining about it. He doesn't seem like the diva type thats going to miss time for a hang nail.

I can't see anything wrong as he runs, and I'm the guy grousing on Jaylon's gait. Just seems to be taking the wrong angles way too often. Not getting to the right place. It's like the Rams game, where the problem was passed off as him having the flu, but it seemed worse here.

 

[CowboyRoy]

The defense was as putrid as it looked. But here is the best and worst of it. Just FYI anything under 60 is bad.


1. Tyrone Crawford 73.8
2. Joe Thomas . 70
3. Awuzie 69.3
4. Jaylon . 67.1
5. Dorrance Armstrong 65.8

the bottom 5

Xavier Woods 53.9
Sean Lee 51.6
Robert Quinn 51
Jeff Heath 39
LVE 30.9 . (OMG!!) . This is the lowest PFF score for a starting LB I ever seen. He's gotta be injured.

Other notables

Byron Jones 54.9
DALW 56.8

LOL...…...our vaunted defense?

And to think all the homers were talking about how great our defense was in the preseason. They were warned!!!

Heath at 39? Is it any wonder we suck? "We like our guys". LOL

 

[StarBoyz83]

The whole defense besides heath has regressed. Its unbelievable

 

[Keithfansince5]

Well next week we match up with the Jets so Demarcus Lawrence and pad his stats against a bad team enough to justify that contract.

He MIGHT get 1 sack. Maybe. Not much stat padding will be going on for DLaw.

 

[Keithfansince5]

Yeah, this was his worst game in 2 years. But we couldn't afford Earl Thomas?

NO because we paid Lawrence. One of the dumbest things Dallas has done this year. Signing Zeke doesn't seem so bright either...

 

[Keithfansince5]

I just looked up the front 4 of Dallas Doomsday 2 defense. For you younguns that would be Harvey Martin, Brandy White, Larry Cole and Too Tall Jones. Do you know how many games all 4 missed in their collective careers combined?15. Larry Cole missed 12. The rest didn't play in 1 game each for their entire careers. R. White 1 game missed in 14 years. Too Tall 1 game missed in 15 years. Harvey Martin 1 game missed in 11 years. Larry Cole 12 games missed in 13 years.

Think about that in today's "oh coach I stubbed my toe and need to sit out a couple games" NFL.

 

[atlantacowboy]

NO because we paid Lawrence. One of the dumbest things Dallas has done this year. Signing Zeke doesn't seem so bright either...

I was against signing both. BUT, we didn't know back in February that Zeke was going to holdout and demand a 9 figure extension. All the discussion here was about how expensive he was and how we couldn't afford him. Apparently, there was plenty of cap space.

 

[Keithfansince5]

I was against signing both. BUT, we didn't know back in February that Zeke was going to holdout and demand a 9 figure extension. All the discussion here was about how expensive he was an dhow we couldn't afford him. Apparently, there was plenty of cap space.

As a fan, I wanted both to remain Dallas Cowboys. I had no idea they would get as large a piece of the pie they did and then play so poorly afterwards. Zeke actually has played better than Lawrence. I am very sour on Lawrence and it might never change for me. I think he is a punk.

 

[atlantacowboy]

As a fan, I wanted both to remain Dallas Cowboys. I had no idea they would get as large a piece of the pie they did and then play so poorly afterwards. Zeke actually has played better than Lawrence. I am very sour on Lawrence and it might never change for me. I think he is a punk.

I soured on DLAW when he pulled the whole "i'm not having surgery until you give me what I want" BS. I soured on Zeke for demanding an extension with 2 years left on his deal and spending his training camp in Cabo. I can't believe Jerry is so desperate that he caved.

 

[atlantacowboy]

As a fan, I wanted both to remain Dallas Cowboys. I had no idea they would get as large a piece of the pie they did and then play so poorly afterwards. Zeke actually has played better than Lawrence. I am very sour on Lawrence and it might never change for me. I think he is a punk.

More reasons to hate DLAW.........he tweeted this.....

DeMarcus Lawrence on playing with injuries right now: "Who cares? You care? Be honest. Do you really care? Nobody cares. Nobody cares about your feelings. Nobody cares if you're hurt. Nobody cares if you're broke, rich. Nobody cares. Who cares? Be you. Go to work. Peace."

He's got his money. Why should he care?