So is it the defense or the offense?

[Fla Cowpoke]

This far into camp, and the defense is holding it's own at the very least and probably has been better than the offense to this point.

How do we take this development? It is customary for the defense to be ahead early...the offense needs a little more time to get their coordination together, but come on, we are talking about an offense full of veterans and a stud draft pick.

While there are a few nice surprises on the offense, particularly Andy Jones and maybe Alfred Morris, Terrance Williams and Geoff Swaim, it is the defense that has stepped up. To make things even more hard to believe, the defense has done it while suffering from many issues that should be debilitating. Ro McClain's implosion along with Randy Gregory's. Tyrone Crawford being out and McClain having some injury issues(AGAIN!). Wilber being out, Mayowa and Collins being on the PUP and Wilson having the fluke eye issue.

From the start of camp, Sean Lee and Morris Claiborne have looked exceptional. In fact, the corners in general have all looked pretty good. Sure, they have been beat at times, but it seems like in the training camp videos, whether a receiver makes a catch or the defense gets a stop, the corners are in the hip pocket of pretty much all the receivers. They are contesting every throw. That is something we haven't seen in these parts for a while. Is it the subtraction of Coach Henderson?

The defensive line has looked good, from McClain when he was there, to Russell and Irving and Tapper. Thornton is showing some good power inside, having some great stalemates with Frederick and Martin. Potentially there is help on the way as guys start working their way back onto the field.

Is there any way to take this other than it being a positive? Could this defense possibly exceed expectations? Or is there some chance that our offense has jumped the shark and isn't very good these days?

 

[Idgit]

We're still in a place where the defense is ahead of the offense, but it's also a good sign that they continue to hold their own.

In the back of my head, I'm concerned about Dez until I see him run through an NFL secondary like he used to. Not worried about Tony at all though, as long as he's healthy. And it sounds like he is.

 

[Aven8]

We're still in a place where the defense is ahead of the offense, but it's also a good sign that they continue to hold their own.

In the back of my head, I'm concerned about Dez until I see him run through an NFL secondary like he used to. Not worried about Tony at all though, as long as he's healthy. And it sounds like he is.

I'm concerned about all of it. We are so damn ho hum in the PS. I don't get it. Our LB group appears awful outside of Lee. Crawfords out, Zeke, etc. Backup broke his ankle, suspensions.....

You watch this will be the year we go 14-2! Lol

 

[Risen Star]

I take it as the camp/preseason is almost meaningless in terms of reading into anything and assuming it'll carry over into the regular season. It's important for the players to prepare but you can't really pay attention to the results right now.

If I had to guess I'd say Rod Marinelli saved this defense this year with all the suspensions when he came up with the We-fense moniker and matching t-shirts.

This is why this guy is so highly regarded around the league.

 

[TrailBlazer]

Won't know anything until real bullets start flying come game time. I think the secondary will be improved, at least.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Let's be real about this defense.....under Maranelli have they been great? No. But personnel wise you can argue he hasn't been given much to work with.

But, his unit has never underachieved. Its never not put everything out on the field. Maranelli's unit has played to par if not better than they should. And I Don't expect next year to be any different. They may lack stats. They may not lead the league in turnovers or sacks but they will be good enough to where this team should win the game if the offense does what its suppose to be. .

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Won't know anything until real bullets start flying come game time. I think the secondary will be improved, at least.

YEah and I Don't see the defensive line getting worse. I know that's hard for people to fathom with Gregory and Lawrence being out but its time for Crawford to step up. McClann and Thorton should be much needed additions from last year.

 

[jday]

This far into camp, and the defense is holding it's own at the very least and probably has been better than the offense to this point.

How do we take this development? It is customary for the defense to be ahead early...the offense needs a little more time to get their coordination together, but come on, we are talking about an offense full of veterans and a stud draft pick.

While there are a few nice surprises on the offense, particularly Andy Jones and maybe Alfred Morris, Terrance Williams and Geoff Swaim, it is the defense that has stepped up. To make things even more hard to believe, the defense has done it while suffering from many issues that should be debilitating. Ro McClain's implosion along with Randy Gregory's. Tyrone Crawford being out and McClain having some injury issues(AGAIN!). Wilber being out, Mayowa and Collins being on the PUP and Wilson having the fluke eye issue.

From the start of camp, Sean Lee and Morris Claiborne have looked exceptional. In fact, the corners in general have all looked pretty good. Sure, they have been beat at times, but it seems like in the training camp videos, whether a receiver makes a catch or the defense gets a stop, the corners are in the hip pocket of pretty much all the receivers. They are contesting every throw. That is something we haven't seen in these parts for a while. Is it the subtraction of Coach Henderson?

The defensive line has looked good, from McClain when he was there, to Russell and Irving and Tapper. Thornton is showing some good power inside, having some great stalemates with Frederick and Martin. Potentially there is help on the way as guys start working their way back onto the field.

Is there any way to take this other than it being a positive? Could this defense possibly exceed expectations? Or is there some chance that our offense has jumped the shark and isn't very good these days?

It's one thing to do it to the team you face the most (your own offense/defense), a playbook you know almost as well as your own and another going against a different team, with different plays and different guys calling them. Not saying that fully mitigates their success, considering they are still at a disadvantage, but it is still a factor.

 

[Vanilla2]

We'll start getting answers Saturday.

I think the defense will be middle of the pack

And with a healthy Romo the offense will pretty much be what it has always been with him at the helm

 

[GIFTS86]

Preseason should give us some answers. Fingers crossed no injuries.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Our LB group appears awful outside of Lee.

I don't get that at all.

 

[rpntex]

This far into camp, and the defense is holding it's own at the very least and probably has been better than the offense to this point.

How do we take this development? It is customary for the defense to be ahead early...the offense needs a little more time to get their coordination together, but come on, we are talking about an offense full of veterans and a stud draft pick.

While there are a few nice surprises on the offense, particularly Andy Jones and maybe Alfred Morris, Terrance Williams and Geoff Swaim, it is the defense that has stepped up. To make things even more hard to believe, the defense has done it while suffering from many issues that should be debilitating. Ro McClain's implosion along with Randy Gregory's. Tyrone Crawford being out and McClain having some injury issues(AGAIN!). Wilber being out, Mayowa and Collins being on the PUP and Wilson having the fluke eye issue.

From the start of camp, Sean Lee and Morris Claiborne have looked exceptional. In fact, the corners in general have all looked pretty good. Sure, they have been beat at times, but it seems like in the training camp videos, whether a receiver makes a catch or the defense gets a stop, the corners are in the hip pocket of pretty much all the receivers. They are contesting every throw. That is something we haven't seen in these parts for a while. Is it the subtraction of Coach Henderson?

The defensive line has looked good, from McClain when he was there, to Russell and Irving and Tapper. Thornton is showing some good power inside, having some great stalemates with Frederick and Martin. Potentially there is help on the way as guys start working their way back onto the field.

Is there any way to take this other than it being a positive? Could this defense possibly exceed expectations? Or is there some chance that our offense has jumped the shark and isn't very good these days?

I don't believe there's anyway to take it, aside from being a positive. I've been saying for months that this defense is going to be better than people think it's going to be. Logically, however, at this stage, defenses are all the head of their respective offenses . Offense requires so much timing, and repsfor the sake of continuity and timing. Timing doesn't really play much of a role in the defensive side of the ball, so they're naturally going to be ahead at this stage.

 

[CCBoy]

I don't get that at all.

The Cowboys are screening for physical abilities...and selecting from instincts. The linebackers are developing.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

This far into camp, and the defense is holding it's own at the very least and probably has been better than the offense to this point.

How do we take this development? It is customary for the defense to be ahead early...the offense needs a little more time to get their coordination together, but come on, we are talking about an offense full of veterans and a stud draft pick.

While there are a few nice surprises on the offense, particularly Andy Jones and maybe Alfred Morris, Terrance Williams and Geoff Swaim, it is the defense that has stepped up. To make things even more hard to believe, the defense has done it while suffering from many issues that should be debilitating. Ro McClain's implosion along with Randy Gregory's. Tyrone Crawford being out and McClain having some injury issues(AGAIN!). Wilber being out, Mayowa and Collins being on the PUP and Wilson having the fluke eye issue.

From the start of camp, Sean Lee and Morris Claiborne have looked exceptional. In fact, the corners in general have all looked pretty good. Sure, they have been beat at times, but it seems like in the training camp videos, whether a receiver makes a catch or the defense gets a stop, the corners are in the hip pocket of pretty much all the receivers. They are contesting every throw. That is something we haven't seen in these parts for a while. Is it the subtraction of Coach Henderson?

The defensive line has looked good, from McClain when he was there, to Russell and Irving and Tapper. Thornton is showing some good power inside, having some great stalemates with Frederick and Martin. Potentially there is help on the way as guys start working their way back onto the field.

Is there any way to take this other than it being a positive? Could this defense possibly exceed expectations? Or is there some chance that our offense has jumped the shark and isn't very good these days?

No Zeke, our offense of course isn't as explosive. Not to mention the snaps with Showers/Dak, isn't exactly terrifying the secondary.

 

[jazzcat22]

YEah and I Don't see the defensive line getting worse. I know that's hard for people to fathom with Gregory and Lawrence being out but its time for Crawford to step up. McClann and Thorton should be much needed additions from last year.

This is what people need to understand. Our D shouldn't get worse. Stat wise the past 2 years we were about the same, except the turnovers drastically changed. Mostly because of the poor offensive production. As many of the 2014 turnovers came from having a lead. 2015, not so much.

If, which everything for all teams is a big if. The offense can get back to the 2014 form, this could change. And with better players on D than in 2014, this D could improve, should improve. Maybe not a top 10 finish. But by the end of the season come playoff push and playoffs, they should be playing like a top 10 team. But the caveat there is, we keep looking for this for them to gel to play that way. But something, injuries seem to derail this quite often.

Maybe after we get through all these TC nagging injuries, and we finally get a healthy year for the first time in 4 or 5 years.

 

[DogFace]

The lack of "sharpness" in preseason by the offense has concerned me for along time. It seems way off from the teams we play.

 

[Aven8]

I don't get that at all.

Hitch, Wilbur, Gach, often injured Durant, one eyed Wilson, a 7th rounder coming off an ACL. Yeah buddy!

 

[gimmesix]

Some drills favor the defense, particularly the line drills because the offensive player has to react to a multitude of moves the defender can make that he would not have either the time or scheme freedom to make in games. Dictating that you are going to be running short-yardage or running plays also favors the defense. Defense should be winning those drills as well as some of the other ones.

The secondary winning one-on-ones with the receivers is a different matter. The receivers have the advantage for pretty much the same reason the line has the advantage. However, it still can be misleading because the corners and safeties tend to be more handsy than they are allowed to be in games.

Also, players are often working on certain aspects of their game that can be misleading in watching drills. For instance, the offense might run a particularly play to essentially set up an isolation block by the fullback to see how it is handled.

In other words, you really can't tell much based on camp practices, but it's better that the defenders are at least holding their own in those drills than getting blown out, since they should be winning some of the drills.

 

[CowboyRoy]

This far into camp, and the defense is holding it's own at the very least and probably has been better than the offense to this point.

How do we take this development? It is customary for the defense to be ahead early...the offense needs a little more time to get their coordination together, but come on, we are talking about an offense full of veterans and a stud draft pick.

While there are a few nice surprises on the offense, particularly Andy Jones and maybe Alfred Morris, Terrance Williams and Geoff Swaim, it is the defense that has stepped up. To make things even more hard to believe, the defense has done it while suffering from many issues that should be debilitating. Ro McClain's implosion along with Randy Gregory's. Tyrone Crawford being out and McClain having some injury issues(AGAIN!). Wilber being out, Mayowa and Collins being on the PUP and Wilson having the fluke eye issue.

From the start of camp, Sean Lee and Morris Claiborne have looked exceptional. In fact, the corners in general have all looked pretty good. Sure, they have been beat at times, but it seems like in the training camp videos, whether a receiver makes a catch or the defense gets a stop, the corners are in the hip pocket of pretty much all the receivers. They are contesting every throw. That is something we haven't seen in these parts for a while. Is it the subtraction of Coach Henderson?

The defensive line has looked good, from McClain when he was there, to Russell and Irving and Tapper. Thornton is showing some good power inside, having some great stalemates with Frederick and Martin. Potentially there is help on the way as guys start working their way back onto the field.

Is there any way to take this other than it being a positive? Could this defense possibly exceed expectations? Or is there some chance that our offense has jumped the shark and isn't very good these days?

You have to read the small print when you read these articles. They will tell you all this and that about the defense holding its own, then at the very end they tell you that it was against 2nd and 3rd string offense and that when the first string offense was in there they scored every time.

The defense is going be anywhere from middling to horrid, there is no way around it. We simply don't have the talent.

 

[CowboyRoy]

This is what people need to understand. Our D shouldn't get worse. Stat wise the past 2 years we were about the same, except the turnovers drastically changed. Mostly because of the poor offensive production. As many of the 2014 turnovers came from having a lead. 2015, not so much.

If, which everything for all teams is a big if. The offense can get back to the 2014 form, this could change. And with better players on D than in 2014, this D could improve, should improve. Maybe not a top 10 finish. But by the end of the season come playoff push and playoffs, they should be playing like a top 10 team. But the caveat there is, we keep looking for this for them to gel to play that way. But something, injuries seem to derail this quite often.

Maybe after we get through all these TC nagging injuries, and we finally get a healthy year for the first time in 4 or 5 years.

3 suspensions already killed this defense. Even if the 3 guys werent suspended the defense would have struggled. Then you throw in the injuries. Crawford already gimpy. The only thing positive so far on the defensive side is Claibrone looking good and Scandric seems to be back in the mix. Its just too bad that with such a poor pass rush ti wont matter about the improved secondary.