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IRVING – The Cowboys rank last in total defense and are coming off a 49-17 loss to New Orleans in which they yielded a club-record 625 points and an NFL-record 40 first downs.
Despite all that, coach Jason Garrett said he has a “tremendous amount of confidence” in defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin and his assistants. A big reason why: The Cowboys have already surpassed last season’s takeaway total.
“He has done a lot of positive things,” Garrett said. “I keep going back to the takeaways but that is an important part of the game. That is a stat that can’t go unnoticed because it impacts the game. It impacts our scoring on offense and that’s a good thing for a our football team. We have to get better in some other areas. Health has been a huge factor on defense. It’s not an excuse, but its been a huge factor. We are playing a lot of different guys.”
Garrett also said he didn’t think any drastic schematic changes are needed.
“I think you go back and say, ‘What have we done well? What haven’t we done well?’ ” he said. “You build on the stuff you’ve done well and you maybe minimize some of the stuff that you haven’t been as good at. “
Asked what the defense has “done well” besides generate turnovers, Garrett said, “I don’t want to get into too many specifics of that from a scheme standpoint, but we have done some good things. I think the numbers are pretty revealing in that regard when you look at the first 10 weeks of the season. Again, you try to play to the strengths of your players and make sure you give them a chance to be successful.”
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Despite all that, coach Jason Garrett said he has a “tremendous amount of confidence” in defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin and his assistants. A big reason why: The Cowboys have already surpassed last season’s takeaway total.
“He has done a lot of positive things,” Garrett said. “I keep going back to the takeaways but that is an important part of the game. That is a stat that can’t go unnoticed because it impacts the game. It impacts our scoring on offense and that’s a good thing for a our football team. We have to get better in some other areas. Health has been a huge factor on defense. It’s not an excuse, but its been a huge factor. We are playing a lot of different guys.”
Garrett also said he didn’t think any drastic schematic changes are needed.
“I think you go back and say, ‘What have we done well? What haven’t we done well?’ ” he said. “You build on the stuff you’ve done well and you maybe minimize some of the stuff that you haven’t been as good at. “
Asked what the defense has “done well” besides generate turnovers, Garrett said, “I don’t want to get into too many specifics of that from a scheme standpoint, but we have done some good things. I think the numbers are pretty revealing in that regard when you look at the first 10 weeks of the season. Again, you try to play to the strengths of your players and make sure you give them a chance to be successful.”
Continue reading...