Physicality on Defense- A+

[mmohican29]

I was extremely impressed with the tackling and nastiness of our Defense last night.

Hitchens set the tone with that pop at the goal line.

BTW, Hitchens is a quality NFL LB'er that gets little love from this board. When he is right physically, he is a fine football player himself. If we have a better player in wait in Jaylon, we're in great shape at LB'er. Nzeocha looks like decent depth but is still getting his legs, and Wilbur isn't as terrible as everyone makes him out to be either.

Woods, Frazier, Thomas - these guys all can really bring the noise from the secondary. The Rams didn't show any kind of regard for the football, but some of this was due to the play after play physicality the Cowboys brought to the game. They were punishing everybody all night.

I felt Taco was excellent. Taco reminds me of Aldon Smith, who early had people concerned with where his ceiling was, but by the middle of his rookie season was a force when the 49ers figured out how good he was at "2 man game" pass rushing. That sack showed extreme quickness and good hand technique in a one on one situation. He was a blue blur that engulfed Mannion like saran wrap. And I felt he was good vs the run as well.

The player I think we need to see more snaps for with the 1st and 2nd units is Lenny Jones. He might have been the best player on the field last night in totality. Completely disruptive and assignment sound. Showed plus-instincts and pursuit skills. He looks like a real player to me.

Irving was very good last night as well.

Interior depth played much better than game 1. We are very stout vs the run with whichever unit is on the field. Even guys like Ivie, Ash, Carrell all showed some ability vs the competition in front of them.

I am not an ultra-knowledgeable fan on these players' college careers, but I tend to be able to identify sustainable talent. I felt the depth on defense was startlingly good and there wasn't one guy that played last night on that side of the ball that was out of his depth playing in this league somewhere. That's excellent news.

 

[erod]

That was the star of the night.

Dallas was hitting, man. Geez, those were some blows.

 

[Section446]

Yeah, last night seemed uncharacteristically violent.

 

[kevm3]

After Rush scored, that defensive series was crazy. Those guys were launching themselves. We're finally creating the kind of defense that other teams will hate playing.

 

[perrykemp]

BTW, Hitchens is a quality NFL LB'er that gets little love from this board. When he is right physically, he is a fine football player himself. If we have a better player in wait in Jaylon, we're in great shape at LB'er.

Hitchens isn't a bad a player, I'd say he is average.

Last year, in 16 starts, Hitchens had:

• 78 tackles
• 0 interceptions
• 0 forced fumbles
• 0 fumble recoveries
• 1 pass defensed
• 1.5 sacks

I understand that not every starting player can be All-Pro / Pro-Bowl level. Unfortunately for the past 4-5 years the Cowboys have had too many of these kinds of players on the defense -- players who aren't just capable of 'making something happen' on their own, creating any sort of splash play, etc.

On really good defenses, these kinds of players are the exception, not the standard.

I wouldn't lose any sleep if Hitchens ended up being replaced by someone a little more dynamic. I'm not sure if that person is currently on the roster so it's probably a non point for this season.

 

[Risen Star]

After Rush scored, that defensive series was crazy. Those guys were launching themselves. We're finally creating the kind of defense that other teams will hate playing.

Yeah. Now if we could just keep playing the Rams we're good to go.

 

[Daillest88]

Hitchens isn't a bad a player, I'd say he is average.

Last year, in 16 starts, Hitchens had:

• 78 tackles
• 0 interceptions
• 0 forced fumbles
• 0 fumble recoveries
• 1 pass defensed
• 1.5 sacks

I understand that not every starting player can be All-Pro / Pro-Bowl level. Unfortunately for the past 4-5 years the Cowboys have had too many of these kinds of players on the defense -- players who aren't just capable of 'making something happen' on their own, creating any sort of splash play, etc.

On really good defenses, these kinds of players are the exception, not the standard.

I wouldn't lose any sleep if Hitchens ended up being replaced by someone a little more dynamic. I'm not sure if that person is currently on the roster so it's probably a non point for this season.

Hitchens is very solid, good character guy
Has looked really good in camp

 

[perrykemp]

I felt Taco was excellent. Taco reminds me of Aldon Smith, who early had people concerned with where his ceiling was, but by the middle of his rookie season was a force when the 49ers figured out how good he was at "2 man game" pass rushing.

I like the comparison (on the field) to Aldon Smith -- I can see that.

 

[lkelly]

I like the comparison (on the field) to Aldon Smith -- I can see that.

How drunk was Taco at kickoff?

 

[Silver Surfer]

Yeah. Now if we could just keep playing the Rams we're good to go.

Rather not go 0-16.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Hitchens struggled a bit last year playing the MIKE. He knows the assignments at each of the LB spots, but physically he wasn't suited for the MIKE last season and when you haven't played a lot at one position, it takes time to get more comfortable with playing there...even if you know the assignments.

Hitchens looks like he's added some muscle to play the MIKE, but what I was impressed with last night is that his play against the pass was much better. He had a much better feel for zone coverage and getting into passing lanes. That's big because it just means more quality players on defense and it allows us to slowly bring Jaylon into the fold.




YR

 

[Tabascocat]

Marinelli needs to be dropping footballs all over the field next week......stop, drop and roll! Pick em up

 

[Risen Star]

Hitchens sucks and will always suck. He has no place on the field of a quality defense.

No lipstick on any pigs for me. He's one of several that needs to go before the defense can really improve.

 

[CowboyRoy]

I was extremely impressed with the tackling and nastiness of our Defense last night.

Hitchens set the tone with that pop at the goal line.

BTW, Hitchens is a quality NFL LB'er that gets little love from this board. When he is right physically, he is a fine football player himself. If we have a better player in wait in Jaylon, we're in great shape at LB'er. Nzeocha looks like decent depth but is still getting his legs, and Wilbur isn't as terrible as everyone makes him out to be either.

Woods, Frazier, Thomas - these guys all can really bring the noise from the secondary. The Rams didn't show any kind of regard for the football, but some of this was due to the play after play physicality the Cowboys brought to the game. They were punishing everybody all night.

I felt Taco was excellent. Taco reminds me of Aldon Smith, who early had people concerned with where his ceiling was, but by the middle of his rookie season was a force when the 49ers figured out how good he was at "2 man game" pass rushing. That sack showed extreme quickness and good hand technique in a one on one situation. He was a blue blur that engulfed Mannion like saran wrap. And I felt he was good vs the run as well.

The player I think we need to see more snaps for with the 1st and 2nd units is Lenny Jones. He might have been the best player on the field last night in totality. Completely disruptive and assignment sound. Showed plus-instincts and pursuit skills. He looks like a real player to me.

Irving was very good last night as well.

Interior depth played much better than game 1. We are very stout vs the run with whichever unit is on the field. Even guys like Ivie, Ash, Carrell all showed some ability vs the competition in front of them.

I am not an ultra-knowledgeable fan on these players' college careers, but I tend to be able to identify sustainable talent. I felt the depth on defense was startlingly good and there wasn't one guy that played last night on that side of the ball that was out of his depth playing in this league somewhere. That's excellent news.

Taco had one great play and that was it. He did little if anything besides that one play.

 

[The Quest for Six]

I thought the defense overall played pretty well last night, certainly were laying some wood and forcing the ball out but just couldn't seem to get takeaways....hopefully they can continue to build on that performance next week

 

[Hawkeye19]

Hitchens sucks and will always suck. He has no place on the field of a quality defense.

No lipstick on any pigs for me. He's one of several that needs to go before the defense can really improve.

 

[danielofthesaints]

Taco had one great play and that was it. He did little if anything besides that one play.

1 sack, 3 tackles (1 tackle for loss) and a quarterback hurry on 2 drives. What game were you watching?

 

[NeonNinja]

Taco had one great play and that was it. He did little if anything besides that one play.

Did you watch the game? If so, why are you lying?

 

[Idgit]

Hitchens sucks and will always suck. He has no place on the field of a quality defense.

No lipstick on any pigs for me. He's one of several that needs to go before the defense can really improve.

In Risen's defense here, he knew that Hitchens sucked before ever seeing him play a down of NFL football and knew he'd never amount to anything way before Hitchens earned the starting MLB job, so he's not just fly-by-night wrong here. This is a dedicated, long-term refusal to judge a player accurately or fairly.

You have to admire that sort of dedication to a snap judgement.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

I was extremely impressed with the tackling and nastiness of our Defense last night.

Hitchens set the tone with that pop at the goal line.

BTW, Hitchens is a quality NFL LB'er that gets little love from this board. When he is right physically, he is a fine football player himself. If we have a better player in wait in Jaylon, we're in great shape at LB'er. Nzeocha looks like decent depth but is still getting his legs, and Wilbur isn't as terrible as everyone makes him out to be either.

Woods, Frazier, Thomas - these guys all can really bring the noise from the secondary. The Rams didn't show any kind of regard for the football, but some of this was due to the play after play physicality the Cowboys brought to the game. They were punishing everybody all night.

I felt Taco was excellent. Taco reminds me of Aldon Smith, who early had people concerned with where his ceiling was, but by the middle of his rookie season was a force when the 49ers figured out how good he was at "2 man game" pass rushing. That sack showed extreme quickness and good hand technique in a one on one situation. He was a blue blur that engulfed Mannion like saran wrap. And I felt he was good vs the run as well.

The player I think we need to see more snaps for with the 1st and 2nd units is Lenny Jones. He might have been the best player on the field last night in totality. Completely disruptive and assignment sound. Showed plus-instincts and pursuit skills. He looks like a real player to me.

Irving was very good last night as well.

Interior depth played much better than game 1. We are very stout vs the run with whichever unit is on the field. Even guys like Ivie, Ash, Carrell all showed some ability vs the competition in front of them.

I am not an ultra-knowledgeable fan on these players' college careers, but I tend to be able to identify sustainable talent. I felt the depth on defense was startlingly good and there wasn't one guy that played last night on that side of the ball that was out of his depth playing in this league somewhere. That's excellent news.

I agree with almost all you said except Hitchens hit at the goal line didn't start the hitting. They started on the very first play when Rams went 3 and out and had to punt (thanks to Lenoir we have the ball right back)