Stop trying to convince realists the defense is fine

[LittleBoyBlue]

i think our defense just had a bad game against a team with extra motivation(newman and james) that was playing for there last shot at the playoffs

Agree and disagree.

Agreed that the Lions were on a mission and had lost 4 in a row so that this type of game was possible.

Disagreed on the excuses for defense. They stay on the field too long.... and its more THEIR fault than it is the opposing teams offense getting it done. Just when they are about to get off the field with a 3rd and long.... they give up a first down. We have to dial up some MAJOR pressure on those types of downs and distance... yet we still back off and give cushions.

 

[Hostile]

Psychological implications. For example, a player like Greg Ellis had a tendency to wear down the final few games of the season. This may impact his approach a little bit. But I'm sure our players are mentally strong enough to prevent that from getting to them...

I don't believe this team has to worry about that. They look loose and relaxed and even mature out there. Are they a perfect defense? No, and I didn't expect them to be. Are they a sieve that any team can run on and pass on? Definitely no on the run on them. They clamp down in the 2nd half of games and begin wearing teams down.

So we aren't blowing every team out by 21 points? So what? At the end of the day are we winning?

 

[aikemirv]

Dont get butt hurt about my opinion..


If the defense wouldnt be so insonstant or give up tons of points we wouldnt have to be talking about this right now....making a stop when i counts is the least they can do.

Stop players like Jackson, or edwerds for Buffalo and that nobody fromt he Jets is the least they can do...Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

I'm not hurt, evryone could see that it was not a good D performance, but I don't think there is any D in the league that plays well every game.

That was the first game this year that a team dictated to us in the run game - first time all year.

First time all year with very little pressure.

It just seemed more like an abberation than anything to get riled up about.

 

[Gangsta Spanksta]

I see this game as something for the Cowboys to look at themselves and adjust. At some point in December, historically great teams kick it into another gear. John Madden used to say it all the time, and you could see Teams that regular teams could beat in the regular season they didn't stand a chance with in the post season.

 

[khiladi]

That is not accurate at all.

In 2005 he was essentially benched to get spears and cany on the field.

In 2006 he was injured and didnt play in the second half.

Where do people come up with this stuff.

Because his sack totals tend to drop during the latter half of the season. He has a tendency to start fast in the sack department, and fade at the end of the year.

 

[theebs]

Because his sack totals tend to drop during the latter half of the season. He has a tendency to start fast in the sack department, and fade at the end of the year.

OK which year? He didnt play last year in the second half and in 05 he lost his job to spears and canty. He was a situational pass rusher.

Now if you are going back beyond that it doesnt matter. Playing opposite ekuban and the collection of other spares he has been forced to play with since 2000 means nothing right now. Playing in virtually meaningless games with no one on the other side has nothing to do with what is going on right now.

Plus if he starts to wear down a little, spencer will get some snaps.

 

[DALLAS D]

Dont get butt hurt about my opinion..


If the defense wouldnt be so insonstant or give up tons of points we wouldnt have to be talking about this right now....making a stop when i counts is the least they can do.

Stop players like Jackson, or edwerds for Buffalo and that nobody fromt he Jets is the least they can do...Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

For all who want to eat up the defense read Jimmy Johnson's comment on the new thread. This is a young defense, it will be inconsistent, but all we can wish is that they patch up and come to play in the playoffs. You think the old patriots defense will be able to stop us, id take my chances on ours in the long run.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Plus how do we define disastrous? Is it not winning a Superbowl this year? Not getting to the Superbowl? Not winning a playoff game? I bet a few would say disastrous is not getting a shut out in the Superbowl.

Exactly. That's the whole question here. I thought before the season that we probably needed a few different players on D: Probably an athletic ILB, a young athletic corner, and maybe a mid-tier wiley vet type DB. We knew we had some unknowns at corner, Roy wasn't great in coverage, and Watkins was an uneven rookie. And those things do show up at times. But what do people expect? Were we really supposed to be perfect in Wade's first year? Is that what people really thought would happen? If so, they need to wake up. We're 12-1 (and that IS reality, not spin) and we've exceeded every expectation so far this year. Maybe we do need a couple more pieces before we're where we'd like to be on D, but what do you do? Sit out this year?

Really, the people who insist on *****ing rather than enjoying this season need to think about why the hell they're a fan in the first place.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Some points that need to be made:

We are 12-1. Duh! OK, now that the celebratory high-fives are over, think about how the playoffs will feature better-than-average teams that will be able to carve up the short pass defense.

It only takes ONE off day for the defense to mess up an entire season.

Detroit was not an abberation. The defense has stunk it up before with lesser teams. Teams that have struggled to win four or five games this season.

This team has a serious and GOOD defenders. What's up? And how long until Wade takes the reins from Stewart or at least read Stewart the riot act?

Romo, Witten and T.O. are human. They are allowed one off day. I just pray it won't come in the playoffs when the defense is accustomed to the offense coming to their rescue.

12-1 or 15-1 won't matter after an exit from the playoffs in such a scenario.

 

[zrinkill]

So we aren't blowing every team out by 21 points? So what? At the end of the day are we winning?

I have been saying since week 5 that the Pats have changed the way these chicken littles view a win .....

If we do not win by 20 we showed weakness.

It has become embarrassing to barely beat an NFL team.

Unbelievable.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

We can all find stats supporting our various positions on this issue. However, in my opinion, the most important defensive statistic is points allowed per game, and the Cowboys surrender more points per game than a Championship defense generally should.

Earlier in the year, Dallas' points per game stat was skewed by an abnormal number of defensive and special teams returns for TDs. But the defense is rapidly losing that crutch. They've surrendered 27 points over the past two games against average quarterbacks, and they've been gashed by both run and pass.

I'm not panicking. I'm merely conceding that improvement must be made before playoff time.

 

[Doomsday101]

I have been saying since week 5 that the Pats have changed the way these chicken littles view a win .....

If we do not win by 20 we showed weakness.

It has become embarrassing to barely beat an NFL team.

Unbelievable.

I agree. Within a season I expect more close games to take place than blowouts. No doubt Dallas did not have their A game yesterday but they did what they had to do to win this game and now sitting at 12-1.

 

[jcblanco22]

In 1992, the Cowboys lost mid- to late-season games against the 6-10 Rams (in Texas Stadium, no less) and the 9-7 Commanders.

Funny you mentioned that Rams game in '92 kmd, the way Kitna was near perfect with those receivers yesterday for most of the game reminded me of Everett that day in Texas Stadium. The guy could do no wrong and even the immortal Jeff Chadwick had an incredible game against us.

The important difference is that while Aikman came up short with an incomplete on the last play of the game that day, Romo and Witten came through yesterday.

 

[khiladi]

OK which year? He didnt play last year in the second half and in 05 he lost his job to spears and canty. He was a situational pass rusher.

Now if you are going back beyond that it doesnt matter. Playing opposite ekuban and the collection of other spares he has been forced to play with since 2000 means nothing right now. Playing in virtually meaningless games with no one on the other side has nothing to do with what is going on right now.

Plus if he starts to wear down a little, spencer will get some snaps.

You asked me where people get this stuff that his production falls off, and I gave you the sack total. Now your telling me that isn't enough, and at the same time, telling me the only relevant information is 2005, out of a career of what, 9 years? If 2005 is the only relevant year, he still garnered his 8 sacks in the first 5 games I believe, and he didn't post a sack after that. He garnered 9 the year before, and that to at the beginning of the year. He averaged around 7 sacks throughout his career, while playing with the likes of both Ekuban and Spears. From my knowledge, he tends to fade in terms of sacks over the years. But he has always been known to be stout in the running game.

I'm not criticizing Ellis. Hostile was stating that history was not necessarily relevant to this year, and I just said that isn't true. Considering our defense is comprised of many of the same players as past, there can be psychological issues. Habit is a difficult thing to break.

 

[Hostile]

We can all find stats supporting our various positions on this issue. However, in my opinion, the most important defensive statistic is points allowed per game, and the Cowboys surrender more points per game than a Championship defense generally should.

Earlier in the year, Dallas' points per game stat was skewed by an abnormal number of defensive and special teams returns for TDs. But the defense is rapidly losing that crutch. They've surrendered 27 points over the past two games against average quarterbacks, and they've been gashed by both run and pass.

I'm not panicking. I'm merely conceding that improvement must be made before playoff time.

I partially agree with you. However, you also have to take into consideration how many points we score and how this makes opposing offenses play faster and try and score more.

I'm not going to sit here and say this is the best defense in the NFL. But the idea that it is among the worst is beyond ludicruous to me given the fact in big situations they step up.

 

[zeromaster]

I hope all the people bashing the team for its lack of style were also keeping the Patriots boards busy with their views on their 3-point wins over Philly and Baltimore. After all, Indy beat Baltimore by 24 yesterday.

Fair is fair...

 

[Doomsday101]

I think this defense still has some work to do but I also think people are overlooking a couple of big stands in the redzone forcing Det into FG and of course the big stop that forced the Lions to punt with 2:20 something remaining which allowed the offense the oppertunity to come back and win.

 

[Aikbach]

Whine is is season I guess, sheesh yeah it was a disappointing showing yesterday but it happens, at least they didn't lose, in the past they would have lost so take it as a sign that something has changed for the better.

Did you critique Doomsday for making Staubach do last second heroics?

How many inferior opponents dropped Dallas a loss during the 1992-1996 seasons? The answer EVERY loss was to an inferior opponent!

It happens, that is why the Patriots potential perfect season is such hoopla.

On paper and on the field New England is the only superior talent in the NFl to Dallas and it is a minuscule advantage, meaning if Dallas plays their A game New England goes down.

 

[03EBZ06]

We can all find stats supporting our various positions on this issue. However, in my opinion, the most important defensive statistic is points allowed per game, and the Cowboys surrender more points per game than a Championship defense generally should.

Even that isn't the clear indicator of how good/bad the defense is because there are garbage times where defense plays prevent defense, the ST points, and other team's defensive scores all gets added up to points allowed stat.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Seattle has a good D, hell theyve had 9 ints in 2 games.

against AJ Feely and Kurt Warner, not Hall of Famers