Tell me if these 3 Observations are obvious about our Cowboys

[garyv]

1. I think we all agree we miss Romo however I do feel much better about Cassell than Weeden.
There is hope in this change.

2. We need Dez back quickly with Cassell or Romo. Terrance Williams can't assume the role
of a WR #1 hes not capable. Lack of Downhill 1 on 1 ability against opposing Corners.

3. In my opinion the Defense is not generating any Turnovers to help the Offense. We have
absolutely zero playmakers in our secondary absolutely zero.

Next Draft in 2016 we need: QB#2, RB#1 (build around young RB with our young OL),
WR#2 and playmakers in the back 7 on Defense.

 

[Sydla]

Their best defensive back is a rookie that plays a hybrid position.

 

[remdak]

Yes, they are obvious.

 

[dcjules]

Lack of ball skills and awareness as compared to other teams is obvious with our secondary.....does coaching help with this??? if so, ours DB coach is terrible....which I believe is the case...

 

[tyke1doe]

Honestly, I think our problems are more psychological than physical.
I think we're pressing too much because we don't believe we can win on offense. This impacts the defense and the offense.
I think Romo brings a more "relaxed" attitude. They trust him, and they trust that if they get behind, he can rally them back. I think this makes a much looser unit on offense and defense.
It may be too late, but I think when Romo comes back, if we can win at least two games, you'll see a different defense and a more complete team.

As for the draft, I'm for either getting a stud running back or building the defense. We don't need to take a wide receiver high in the draft. There aren't any Dez's in the upcoming draft - not that I know of.

 

[robjay04]

If we were generating turnovers, we would have 1-2 more wins.

I can't really blame it on the scheme, Marinelli's defenses are known for turnovers and we got some last season. I see our players trying to strip the ball, our secondary players need to get better but to some degree, it is bad luck.

Have we even got a turnover since the Eagles game? If so, it hasn't been many. Defense has been making some stops lately and getting more pressure but not many teams are going to win without getting turnovers, much less a team that is missing their two best players on offense.

 

[remdak]

If we were generating turnovers, we would have 1-2 more wins.

I can't really blame it on the scheme, Marinelli's defenses are known for turnovers and we got some last season. I see our players trying to strip the ball, our secondary players need to get better but to some degree, it is bad luck.

Have we even got a turnover since the Eagles game? If so, it hasn't been many. Defense has been making some stops lately and getting more pressure but not many teams are going to win without getting turnovers, much less a team that is missing their two best players on offense.

It's not bad luck on the secondary's part. They have a history of not getting interceptions. Cowboys interceptions have come from linebackers the last few years.

 

[Idgit]

Cassel moves the ball better than Weeden did, obviously. It doesn't help if he turns the ball over at that rate, but I'm not sure he'll continue throwing 3 picks/game, either. If he doesn't, he's a big improvement. If he does, it's worse, in my opinion, than having a guy who can't move the ball much but who takes care of it.

The turnovers aren't just on the secondary. That problem's defense-wide. We're not stripping balls, we're not covering fumbles. It's killing us.

 

[CF74]

Hayden is a sub-jag, we have a soft middle...

 

[Alexander]

If we were generating turnovers, we would have 1-2 more wins.

I can't really blame it on the scheme, Marinelli's defenses are known for turnovers and we got some last season. I see our players trying to strip the ball, our secondary players need to get better but to some degree, it is bad luck.

Have we even got a turnover since the Eagles game? If so, it hasn't been many. Defense has been making some stops lately and getting more pressure but not many teams are going to win without getting turnovers, much less a team that is missing their two best players on offense.

Just like they tinkered with the philosophy on offense to start featuring backs in the passing game, I think they switched up the defensive philosophy going all in for the pass rush and not nearly as much on the little things that they did last year to stress takeaways. Sacks are nice, but turnovers are better. Also think less zone has an impact, much like it did after Phillips was fired and then Pasquarelli put more zone coverages in.

 

[jblaze2004]

Lack of ball skills and awareness as compared to other teams is obvious with our secondary.....does coaching help with this??? if so, ours DB coach is terrible....which I believe is the case...

i would agree. Claiborne was a playmaker in college. Lost it once he got with us. But maybe its our poor safety play. Could be the worst starting safety tandem in the nfl. Carr idk what we were thinking getting him. He plays off the wr and sucks at it. He needs to play press and mirror the wr.

 

[perrykemp]

But maybe its our poor safety play. Could be the worst starting safety tandem in the nfl.

At least in terms of pass coverage, they must be.

 

[texbumthelife]

Just like they tinkered with the philosophy on offense to start featuring backs in the passing game, I think they switched up the defensive philosophy going all in for the pass rush and not nearly as much on the little things that they did last year to stress takeaways. Sacks are nice, but turnovers are better. Also think less zone has an impact, much like it did after Phillips was fired and then Pasquarelli put more zone coverages in.

Press coverage teams generally generate far less interceptions because the defensive backs have their backs turned more of the time. I love when we play press, but our biggest issue on defense is the same as our offense--predictability. You have to change your looks and coverages. You have to disguise things. We don't run zone blitzes very much, if at all, and our coverages are generally press two or press one. You have to mix in cover three and zero. This defense will never turn the corner until they open it up (which would be against Marinelli's general concepts). We have great athletes at DL and LB. We should be taking advantage of that. Instead, it's line up and beat your man, just like the offense.

 

[CowboyStar88]

i would agree. Claiborne was a playmaker in college. Lost it once he got with us. But maybe its our poor safety play. Could be the worst starting safety tandem in the nfl. Carr idk what we were thinking getting him. He plays off the wr and sucks at it. He needs to play press and mirror the wr.

Honestly he's played very well and the Giants did not challenge much at all. They went after Carr and picked on our LB inability to fill the zones. I am happy with Mo's play and if teams start challenging him he might be able to make those plays on contested balls. But he needs to catch them like he didn't do against ATL

 

[LandryFan]

1. I think we all agree we miss Romo however I do feel much better about Cassell than Weeden.
There is hope in this change.

2. We need Dez back quickly with Cassell or Romo. Terrance Williams can't assume the role
of a WR #1 hes not capable. Lack of Downhill 1 on 1 ability against opposing Corners.

3. In my opinion the Defense is not generating any Turnovers to help the Offense. We have
absolutely zero playmakers in our secondary absolutely zero.

Next Draft in 2016 we need: QB#2, RB#1 (build around young RB with our young OL),
WR#2 and playmakers in the back 7 on Defense.

Much easier said than done. What are the odds that a solid young QB, a starting RB, and a viable #2 receiver are all going to be sitting there just waiting for us to select them. We would be VERY fortunate to come up with two of the three, IMO.

 

[EGTuna]

Another way to generate turnovers is to get a lead and press teams into passing situations that result in picks and strip-sacks due to pressure. Alas, playing with more than the most tenuous of leads has eluded this team this season. Sigh.

 

[garyv]

Sorry guys for Posting before seeing this article. I was griping because we don't create turnovers
and darn after posting seen this stating we are dead last in the NFL:

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas-cowboys/post/_/id/4746459/cowboys-last-in-nfl-in-forcing-turnovers

 

[JoeBoBBY]

Twill has been exposed in this stretch. I know weeden isnt all that good, but Twill hasnt helped out his case for being a number 2.

I would look to upgrade that position. I still think Twill can be a strong backup. But we need an upgrade there.....and I dont think it will be much of a stretch to find one....

 

[Manster68]

Hayden is a sub-jag, we have a soft middle...

When Dallas was at their 1st round pick, who did you want the Cowboys to take? I personally wanted Malcom Brown out of Texas.

Would you still rather have a Malcom Brown or a Byron Jones who is either shutting down or slowing down every tight end the Cowboys have played this season up to this point?

 

[gmoney112]

Cassel moves the ball better than Weeden did, obviously. It doesn't help if he turns the ball over at that rate, but I'm not sure he'll continue throwing 3 picks/game, either. If he doesn't, he's a big improvement. If he does, it's worse, in my opinion, than having a guy who can't move the ball much but who takes care of it.

The turnovers aren't just on the secondary. That problem's defense-wide. We're not stripping balls, we're not covering fumbles. It's killing us.

It certainly doesn't help. We need turnovers in the worst way.

But, our defense only gave up 13 points to the Giants, even after we were -3 in TO differential. That's pretty remarkable.

I think our defense played pretty outstanding yesterday outside of a few gaffes. The offense absolutely shot itself in the foot with the turnovers. No pick 6, no kick return TD, no offensive turnovers and we might win that game by 20 points.

You simply can't put up almost 500 yards of offense and only score 20 points.

The positive is, if they play that well against Seattle, Seattle may not even get in in the endzone. If we don't turn the ball over wrecklessly on offense, our defense (provided they play as well as they did against the Giants, which they should, Seattle's offense is pretty terrible), even at its current level of not forcing any TO's, should still be good enough to make it a very winnable game.

I really don't understand the lack of turnovers, it's mind boggling at this point. Luckily, we play 2 very bad offenses, and a third who's number we seem to have lately, in the next 3 games. Our defense at its current level is good enough for us to be competitive. *If* they can start forcing some turnovers, we could very well win the next 3.

It's going to be an interesting couple of weeks.