Recommended Rewatched the First Half - Defensive Edition

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I came away from watching the defensive performance a bit different the second time. The team was without Carr, Claiborne, Moore, Lawrence, Gardner, Spencer, McClain, McClain, Hamilton, and Johnson. So what do they decide to do? Sit Selvie, Scandrick, Church and Melton of course.

This defense had no chance and the coaches wanted it that way. They start Crawford, Webb, Mitchell, Heath and UDFA Coleman. They put Heath in Church's hybrid SS spot right over the slot which I had never seen him play before. It's like a nickel corner. I have only seen him play the deep half or middle. When Dixon came in they put him in at FS and left Heath at this new position. Where he continued to struggle. That's when I knew they didn't really care about defensive performance. They were interested in player development.

When the starters were pulled they rotated the DL between sets of downs. Not series. One line would get a few downs and then they would send in the new one. It would go Bush, Bishop, Coleman, Wilson followed by Boatwright, Rayford Ojomo Wilson. The second line was particularly porous.

They didn't go nickel either. They couldn't because they didn't have the corners to pull it off. So the Chargers got to see the exact same defense over and over and over again. A constant barrage of flags for holding and pi converted 3rd downs for SDG and you get the trainwreck that you had.

Parcells used to talk about using the preseason to put his players in what he called 'disadvantageous' circumstances and see how the players respond. Garrett always talks about handling adversity. While i think they would have preferred to have had more players rise to the occasion I think that they got about what they expected for their defense. Garrett and Marinelli tanked the defense.

Tyrone Crawford - He was up against a good tackle in Fluker. He has a very quick first step and is explosive getting upfield. That is evident. For the most part he was content getting on Fluker's shoulder on run downs and he seemed to set a nice edge. Fluker is a big strong tackle but i didn't get the impression he was doing a good job holding onto Crawford. Crawford does use his reach. It's hard to tell how it was going as the Chargers were content to run Matthews and Woodhead at our tackles and left the edges alone.

He tried the dip and rip once. I would like to see a better inside angle upfield to shorten that corner but if he can do that a few times a game he is going to get sacks. He got within a yard. As it was, Rivers simply stepped up and delivered the ball as the pocket was clear for three yards in front of him.

The Chargers really were content to just attack our weak points over and over again. With Crawford the main thing to me is he looked athletic. His first two steps are swift.

Nick Hayden - He needs to be our 4th tackle at best and he is starting. This is a huge problem for this team and we desperately need McClain to get healthy. His best snap was one in which he got a little bit in the A gap so the guard could only get one arm on him. The problem is that he was still pushed backwards. He cannot hold off or get away from blockers. He needs to do a better job trying to use his hands to ward off the punch. I get that San Diego has a very good line but good teams will exploit him and we desperately need to get better.

Davon Coleman - I was a bit harsh here before and I think I need to revisit my take. He performed very poorly against the 1's. He played better against the 2's and he was making plays against the 3's. Hardwick is a very good center and he had it out for Coleman. He was looking for chances to decleat him and took advantage anytime Coleman managed to get away from Rinehart who is a very good player in his own right. Coleman never looked like it effected him. Imagine Bruce Carter facing this. He just got back up, lined up and tried again. He managed to hold his ground against the 2's on some snaps but he was inconsistent. He has to do a better job getting off blocks. He started to wear down some but I think that is to be expected.

Jeremy Mincey - He is quick enough to play line games with. They stunted him inside once, they had him take a short zone that Woodhead burned. He can get on the tackles shoulder and hold the edge which is essential for sound run defense so we can function with him. His bullrush did bring the tackle to the QB forcing Rivers to move. He is a power guy. He sets guys up with power and uses a nice inside counter which he showed gets penetration. It was interesting to see a Cowboy put his hand up and try to get to a pass.

Kyle Wilber - I thought he struggled mightily this game. He struggled filling holes because he also struggled getting away from the guards constantly out to block him. In the run defense, I give line backers somewhat of a pass for this game. The interior defensive line is a shambles but if he cannot do better against blocks than that then we are going to have some problems. On the rush he did force Rivers to make a quick throw. He seemed to react to routes run at and around him and pick up guys in his zone. On the Woodhead flare, Wilber would have typically jammed and ran with Woodhead. It was the perfect counter to that zone blitz and Rivers is a great QB and made the read immediately. I'd like to see our defensive coaches hit on some coverages.

Justin Durant - His mindset appears to be make quick decisions and run hard. He attacks. He struggled with the rest of them in the run game but he still managed to make a play. In the passing game I think these LBers at least will be active..

Bruce Carter - Bruce works hard during the offseason. Watching him take on guards, he was clearly the best at stacking and shedding them. This is the strongest I have ever seen him be.. Didn't really see the 1 string LB challenged much in the middle zones. He seemed active like Wilber. I am intrigued to see more of him. We cannot afford him to pout this year and some of the people around him are not as talented as he is. Lead. OCs are not going to gameplan him in the preseason and try to bait him short in the zones like so many did last year. We will have to see if they can still do it. He is active and active and running hard. Didn't see him react poorly to the poor performance. Hopefully we can get them some help for the defensive tackles spot.

BW Webb - I thought he did okay in pass coverage. He was aggressive with the jam and receivers. Rivers, et al went mostly away from him. I was very disappointed with his effort in pursuit. He routinely watched runners and receptions happen in his vicinity and did not attack at all. Don't sit there and stare down the completion. I hate soft players.

JJ Wilcox - He looks physical and fast. In the deep half he is recognizing route combinations and you can see him making decisions, committing and then going talk to his teammates afterward. This is going to be a work in progress i imagine but he does see the field and reacts quickly to routes. He is clearly the locked in starter as they pulled him quickly and replaced him with Dixon. He has the quickness and speed to play FS. Lets see if he can make good decisions.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Jeff Heath - We often use a single high look with Church down like a slot corner. They use it a lot in the nickel and apparently they have a version for regular personnel because that is what they had Heath doing. He did do some deep half as well but on the single high looks that was his role. I don't think that Heath has done that at all before tonight. He backed up Wilcox at FS and up until he was hurt in the preceding few days Hamilton backed up Church. He might have had a practice or two. I don't know.

He was god awful playing down. At first he kept desperately trying to not let the play get behind him. As a result he overran everything and failed to make plays he should have at least gotten in on. On the following series of downs he came in too sharply and got outran. The screen I have seen mentioned was an example of that. We got to see him try to adjust and he was mercifully pulled early in the second half. He was quick to make his move but his move never got him there.

What i take from this is Heath doesn't know how to attack angles on the chase. I already knew that he could diagnose what to attack quickly. What I wanted to know is whether or not he got stronger to make plays on the ball. The jury is still out.

Terrence Mitchell - Unlike Webb, this guy will attack plays around him. He ended up playing the whole game. I was annoyed at how the refs decided to martyr the kid to their cause. Some of the calls were obviously legit but I don't know how holding can be called for contact within the first 5 yards. yet there it was. It seemed obvious at least to me that the refs were going to make their point and that was that it was going to be. Much like Coleman this is invaluable experience for his career but i am not sure how much i can really take from it. He didn't give up many receptions but he must've had at least 4 PI or holding calls. I just hope this officiating doesn't carry over to the regular season. It's obvious Garrett is manufacturing a physical football team. We need any edge we can get.

Dartawn Bush - As I was watching, he really stood out to me first during the goalline stand at the end of the second quarter. He attacked the tackle and caved the end a little bit while Hitchens, Heath et al submarined the line. He has some power. He has a nice dip and burst on his rush. He clearly has some tools to work with and i do not put anything past Marinelli as to developing defensive linemen.

Kenneth Boatright - I am going to talk about him now because I have to make an effort mentally to separate these two guys. I want to do them justice. I really like how he rushes. He attacks the tackles shoulder when lined up wide on the under. Its a real sharp path into the pocket and he does a real good job delivering a blow while staying low for his dip and rip. He doesn't sit down as well but he does a really nice job getting upfield.

Ken Bishop - I like Ken Bishop. I like the way he plays. the Charger attacked the weakside off tackle or with a pass to the back to a great degree of success. And he chased all of it. Because he was backside the center need only cut him off for a second for the play to work so he was single blocked and every time he chased the play down the line and up field. He hustles down after down after down. The horsecollar tackle is an obvious feat of athleticism that has precedent in Cowboys lore. It hearkens to days of greatness.

His results for the days were mixed. His first play like most of his plays had him attacking the A gap. The first time he used a rip move and disrupted the handoff forcing a holding call. That got the interior lines attention. The interior linemen work together and quite often Ken drew a double team. he got push and penetration most plays he was single blocked. I thought he was really active for two quarters until the fourth where he seemed to wear down a bit. At one point in the third quarter, Troutman, the 6'4" 330 lbs LG tries to block down on him seemed to get off the ball great and get ontop of Bishop. But Ken managed to get upfield and around him so as to not cave in. The RB cut inside and the LB stepped in easily for a short gain. Ken got off the ball better.

DT for the double team is supposed to bend his knee and sit down try and hold on right? Well Ken did not always see it in time. Center hooks him and the guard took him for a ride. It happened twice. Both times there were pretty big runs up behind it. He is learning the technique and there were snaps after the first one where you can see him making as if to dip the knee anticipating it. There it was sit down and anchor. I don't think he has run many line twists, he stepped off the line and had issues reorienting to his new gap. He looked kinda clueless on what to do. He has so much room to grow. OTOH on the Lawrence sack that got called back, a big reason why the blitz got home was because they immediately double teamed Ken in pass pro off the snap. He was out there competing and had the oppositions attention which helped his team mates get home. Good line play is game changing. If he can stay healthy and continue to get reps that balls to the wall style already makes sense in a rotation. I think he has a chance to be really good. I will be rooting for him.

Martez Wilson - He is listed as 260 but he doesn't play it. He shies from contact. It's almost as if he knows if he lets them get their hands on him then it is over for him. He ends up trying to go around everything and ends up going nowhere. The end that was getting crushed and had Ken chasing plays was Martez here. The tackles basically dictated where he went for the entire game. The Chargers attacked this weakness repeatedly and put on a show for the home crowd. They ran plays at him and he folded. His one play was because someone missed a cutoff assignment and he went unblocked. It was a nice TFL but if you want to play DL in the NFL you cannot just run from blocks.

Caesar Rayford. I like this guy. He is 6'7", lanky. He was more hit than miss of course but he got his share of single blocking on the nose and on the wins, when stepping through the gap his hulking long armed form looks a little bit like my father's favorite Cowboy. I thought he had a couple nice plays on the goalline stand at the half. He has no business being in there on the nose where leverage is so critical and sure enough he repeatedly got plowed by that combo block Ken struggled with. They took him ten+ yards downfield on more than one occasion. That backup Chargers line had fun. I hope for his sake they give him opportunities where he can succeed in upcoming games because on those nose its too easy for two guys to get under him and carry him. He is too tall.

Ahmad Dixon - Before I downplayed his contributions this game and that was not fair. As a pursuit seek and destroy defender, he looks elite. He needs to clean up leading with his helmet but he is quick fast and strong. He unquestionably has the athletic ability to play in this league. But as counter point to that I want to provide two examples of why Dixon has a very long way to go if he ever wants to play in a passing league.

First example is the 70 yard TD we gave up in the beginning of the second half. Yeah Lindsey whiffed horribly on his jam and looked slow trying to play catchup but it was cover 2 and he was supposed to have help deep. Well if you watch the replay, Dixon stands there in his deep half from the snap of the ball frozen until the ball is in the air and the WR is running right by him. It's alarming that he is oblivious to the route being run right at and by him.

Second example sees him playing single high on his last drive of the second quarter. The h-back is getting deep and Hitchens sees it -too late- but is desperately trying to get under the route. Dixon is sitting there frozen again. Finally the ball is in the air and he reacts. Easy 20 yard completion that the Mitchell peels off and tackles. I have seen that before when Lawrence would just sit there frozen where he lined up against the Packers. The Packers didn't punt in the second half for a reason. Now I am not saying that he cannot improve in this regard. i think Lawrence for example has gotten much better but to say that Dixon played well only tells half the story. As good as his pursuit was, his coverage was equally bad. He gave up at least that TD and another big play in coverage and was clearly targeted. He has not evolved his game to the point where he can see the field and adjust to even try to make a play. He needs to work hard on that part of his game if he wants to play in the NFL.

Anthony Hitchens - I talked to about him a bit early. He is slow to see some things but you can tell he is looking and finding them albeit sometimes late. When they talk about the process, I can see it as players develop coverage skills. Hitchens is farther along than some but he obviously has a long way to go. He located and covered the back easily but he had a tough time with receivers and TEs running patterns at, and behind him. He is better off than Lawrence but not as savvy as Holloman in their rookie years. Holloman threatened throws early. The Chargers did combo in front of the LB so it wasn't quite as bad with extra blockers in their ranks as the first team who regularly had all three of the Y, H, and G on that second level. He was hit or miss like the rest but he managed to make a few plays most notably on the goalline at the end of the half. The defense seemed to pull together a little bit and he was a big part of that. He doesn't have the speed to make up for those late reactions and mistakes but he closes well in pursuit and runs well. After Dixon he seemed the most sure tackler amongst the reserves.

He is the will and lined up behind the 3T who is supposed to cover him. Well, lets just say that Coleman and Ojomo got washed out a whole lot. At one point on his first series he runs into Holloman trying to compensate for how wide the line got wiped out.

Devonte Holloman - I see a lot of what happened with Wilber in Holloman this game. It's almost like he doesn't want to believe that there are all these blockers on the second level because he sure did a poor job even trying to fight them off. He was pulled quickly. I wonder if he knew that was coming.

 

[itsaboat]

I edited the first two defensive drives yesterday. Once again, I enjoyed your posts.

 

[burmafrd]

what worries me is that some of these guys (LBs and DL)are supposedly being counted on for rotation and they were not able to do much against the Charger backups.

 

[CCBoy]

Fuzzy, first, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the woodshed work here...thanks!

As the defensive line develops over the next two and a half months...so will the Cowboys' general directions as well.

 

[casmith07]

what worries me is that some of these guys (LBs and DL)are supposedly being counted on for rotation and they were not able to do much against the Charger backups.

In rotation you aren't going to play an entire half of football, though.

 

[waving monkey]

thoroughly enjoyed

 

[ElGatoGrande]

In rotation you aren't going to play an entire half of football, though.

Maybe not an entire half continuously, but something close to that when it's all added up,,,, and that's if the defense goes injury free for the year.

 

[Alexander]

This defense had no chance and the coaches wanted it that way.

Pretty much stopped here which was saying "we meant to do that".

 

[Alexander]

what worries me is that some of these guys (LBs and DL)are supposedly being counted on for rotation and they were not able to do much against the Charger backups.

It pretty much should. But supposedly the whole design was to not be able to do much or something.

 

[itsaboat]

Ahmad Dixon - Before I downplayed his contributions this game and that was not fair. As a pursuit seek and destroy defender, he looks elite. He needs to clean up leading with his helmet but he is quick fast and strong. He unquestionably has the athletic ability to play in this league. But as counter point to that I want to provide two examples of why Dixon has a very long way to go if he ever wants to play in a passing league.

First example is the 70 yard TD we gave up in the beginning of the second half. Yeah Lindsey whiffed horribly on his jam and looked slow trying to play catchup but it was cover 2 and he was supposed to have help deep. Well if you watch the replay, Dixon stands there in his deep half from the snap of the ball frozen until the ball is in the air and the WR is running right by him. It's alarming that he is oblivious to the route being run right at and by him.

It looks like Dallas was in Cover 3. Everyone is in zone except for Lindsey who was playing man. Lindsey gets beat and gives up the TD.

Here's the Gfycat of the play so you can slow it down and go frame by frame.

 

[honyock]

Pretty much stopped here which was saying "we meant to do that".

Then you missed a detailed and well done write-up.

 

[starfrombirth]

It looks like Dallas was in Cover 3. Everyone is in zone except for Lindsey who was playing man. Lindsey gets beat and gives up the TD.

Here's the Gfycat of the play so you can slow it down and go frame by frame.

Rewatching this clip, I have to disagree with Fuzzy a little bit on this play. Dixon is eyeing the running back coming out into the flat. That was his responsibility while he still tried to shade help to the corner. Someone who has actually practiced at corner with this team would know that they have no help over the top and play deep. I don't fault Dixon for this one at all.

 

[jbz64]

Looks like Dixon was coming up to cover the RB out of the backfield.

 

[irishline]

Pretty much stopped.

Pretty much stopped right there because it was clear you didn't read the explanation for why he said that. Brilliant assessment of the post after reading all of 10 words though. Great effort.

 

[itsaboat]

Rewatching this clip, I have to disagree with Fuzzy a little bit on this play. Dixon is eyeing the running back coming out into the flat. That was his responsibility while he still tried to shade help to the corner. Someone who has actually practiced at corner with this team would know that they have no help over the top and play deep. I don't fault Dixon for this one at all.

Did you read my post at all? I explained what happened.

 

[starfrombirth]

Did you read my post at all? I explained what happened.

And I used your gif to emphasize what I saw happening. What's the issue???

 

[itsaboat]

And I used your gif to emphasize what I saw happening. What's the issue???

My bad, I misread what you wrote.

 

[Floatyworm]

Looks like Dixon was coming up to cover the RB out of the backfield.

yup......Cover 2 disguised then shifted into man up w/ single safety over the top. Dixon had RB responsibilty

 

[burmafrd]

In rotation you aren't going to play an entire half of football, though.

how about the part where they did little against Charger backups? If they cannot do much then what good are they?