The defense failed because of its construction

[VaqueroTD]

BTW, Rusty, I am proud of you. You came on the old site as a 19 year old and you have listened and studied and appear to have a complete understanding of NFL football. Major kudos.

"Rusty-San, true greatness comes from here (points to forum), not from here. (points to TV). Hai!"

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Big time respect for staying with this dysfunctional team that continues to find innovative ways to lose and set records in futility.

Choosing teams is a wild concept. It’s typically done at a very early age and something you’re stuck with forever. Imagine signing a contract to work somewhere forever when you’re seven years old.

Although I am indeed learning that it could definitely be a choice to make it mean a lot less within your life, yet it’s sad that has to be the case due to one mentally ill man’s ego and delusion.

Thank you. I have been a fan since around 2000, but, between playing in HS and these forums, it's really helped me to learn the NFL at a level that I, otherwise, wouldn't have.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

"Rusty-San, true greatness comes from here (points to forum), not from here. (points to TV). Hai!"

 

[TequilaCowboy]

The Cowboys never had the lead. The packers scored on 6 of their first 8 possessions. Our defense was just atrocious all day.

Look I’m not defending Dak’s poor play in that game. He was bad in the first half especially. But saying those INTs are the reason we lost is just incomplete. Obviously they contributed to the loss. But IMO that defense was the biggest problem this team had vs GB.

The offense and defense were not prepared to play and their game plans were atrocious. Like they didn't even scout GB or practice at all. Total meltdown team wise. And looks like everyone gets a pass. Unbelievable.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

The offense and defense were not prepared to play and their game plans were atrocious. Like they didn't even scout GB or practice at all. Total meltdown team wise. And looks like everyone gets a pass. Unbelievable.

I think everyone, especially the FO, deserves blame. Especially considering some of the weaknesses exploited were things that many of us highlighted early in the season. Namely, our issues at LB, RB, and DT. Yet, the Joneses never got that memo or ignored it entirely.

 

[Rayman70]

ksk nailed it. In a nutshell, we are small, over pursue, and get bullied. Can't get away with that against good teams when it matters most. Smoke and mirrors gets u beat. DQ did a disservice to the team also when he stubbornly did not seemingly try to do something else. It was sad and hard to watch in the GB game. Jerry HAD to see what we did you would think, but again, in his desperate attempt to show the world, he is a football guy, he runs it back yet again. We are short yellow bus folks on the staff and front office. We are playing chinese checkers, and everyone else is playing regular checkers. Jerry is still trying to reinvent the wheel if u will. When all he has to do is find good football players and keep things simple. This game isnt as hard as he makes it.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

I’d also add one major weakness of the defense was that large cushion provided by defensive backs.
That cushion didn’t match up with what the linemen were doing. If you give a quarterback a 10 yard cushion on third and six…..well…….first down!!

Imo, if you're going to give that much cushion, then the blitz better get to the QB within two seconds of the snap.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

ksk nailed it. In a nutshell, we are small, over pursue, and get bullied. Can't get away with that against good teams when it matters most. Smoke and mirrors gets u beat. DQ did a disservice to the team also when he stubbornly did not seemingly try to do something else. It was sad and hard to watch in the GB game. Jerry HAD to see what we did you would think, but again, in his desperate attempt to show the world, he is a football guy, he runs it back yet again. We are short yellow bus folks on the staff and front office. We are playing chinese checkers, and everyone else is playing regular checkers. Jerry is still trying to reinvent the wheel if u will. When all he has to do is find good football players and keep things simple. This game isnt as hard as he makes it.

Exactly, the small and speedy works in some areas, but not in constant pass rush and not in stopping the run. We need big and physical as well.

 

[diamonddelts]

Defense failed because it banked on some tough odds - No Injuries, Mazi and Overshown would be Stars in Season One.

Let's be real... if Diggs, LVE, Overshown were all healthy. And Mazi came out like a first round pick, had a season more like Tyler Smith, we'd be balling on defense, even with our undersized, speed over size, win with the lead D.

There were other letdowns like Safety (arguably because of injuries) and Clark at LB, and Micah ain't winning Defensive Leader anytime soon with his crying on his podcasts, but we would have been closer to last year's D in how we finished.

Pure pipe dream. Light in the arse LVE is never healthy for a full season. Nor is he a consistent run stopper. And Diggs is boom or bust

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Pure pipe dream. Light in the arse LVE is never healthy for a full season. Nor is he a consistent run stopper

Frankly, I get that, and we need to get a rotation for LVE so that he can be on a bit of a pitch count.

 

[Bobhaze]

I think everyone, especially the FO, deserves blame. Especially considering some of the weaknesses exploited were things that many of us highlighted early in the season. Namely, our issues at LB, RB, and DT. Yet, the Joneses never got that memo or ignored it entirely.

Yes football remains at its fundamental core, a game of fundamentals. The teams that are the best at blocking, tackling and just being more physical are the ones who win MULTIPLE play-off games.

It pains me to say, but honestly I can’t remember the last Cowboys team that was fundamentally sound on both sides of the ball or physical enough to impose its will. Until the architects of this team understand that WRs, CBs and undersized LBs are incapable of imposing their will on anybody, the sooner we can get better.

Dont get me wrong, skill position people are very important. I’m glad we have Cedee. But they can’t be as great if there is no one on either side of the ball who can physically dominate the opponent. If we had the Triplets right now on this team we would still be in trouble. Because that’s not enough on its own.

 

[CWR]

Ever notice how other supposed good teams cam actually at least put up a fight with the big dogs?

The Texans hung for 3 quarters with the Ravens and the Pac almost beat the niners.

We get demolished by any team who plays with size and strength.

This Cowboys team is as finesse as it gets. We have for years needed physicality and toughness. Until that is recognized they are an embarrassment.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Exactly, the small and speedy works in some areas, but not in constant pass rush and not in stopping the run. We need big and physical as well.

We got big in Hankins and Mazie. Not so physical or good.
At LB, had some bad luck with LVE and Overshown.
Had some bad planning in not using Parsons at MLB as a staple whenever we needed to run defend.

 

[Rayman70]

Exactly, the small and speedy works in some areas, but not in constant pass rush and not in stopping the run. We need big and physical as well.

exactly

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Yes football remains at its fundamental core, a game of fundamentals. The teams that are the best at blocking, tackling and just being more physical are the ones who win MULTIPLE play-off games.

It pains me to say, but honestly I can’t remember the last Cowboys team that was fundamentally sound on both sides of the ball or physical enough to impose its will. Until the architects of this team understand that WRs, CBs and undersized LBs are incapable of imposing their will on anybody, the sooner we can get better.

Dont get me wrong, skill position people are very important. I’m glad we have Cedee. But they can’t be as great if there is no one on either side of the ball who can physically dominate the opponent. If we had the Triplets right now on this team we would still be in trouble. Because that’s not enough on its own.

Exactly, and the thing is, the Joneses never really seem to prioritise fundamentals. If they did, they'd see how impractical the way they build the team is.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Cowboys defense:

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

We got big in Hankins and Mazie. Not so physical or good.
At LB, had some bad luck with LVE and Overshown.
Had some bad planning in not using Parsons at MLB as a staple whenever we needed to run defend.

And that's why I'm saying shifting more to a 3-4 might be the best way to protect those LBers. It would allow them to play at their best. I think Mazi, like most rookie DTs, was always going to need some developing. I think he, like Tolbert has been this year, will be good. The trouble we have is that we don't really have enough physical DTs/3-4 DEs. We need more of that.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Cowboys defense:

That's a bit of an insult to marshmallows haha. Marshmallows at least have some texture to them haha.

 

[Bobhaze]

We got big in Hankins and Mazie. Not so physical or good.
At LB, had some bad luck with LVE and Overshown.
Had some bad planning in not using Parsons at MLB as a staple whenever we needed to run defend.

I generally agree with you here. But until we get some monsters on the DL and some LBs that weigh more than 210, we are going to struggle against teams that can run the ball.

Overshown is fast but he’s not that big. Saw him play several games in college for UT and he was super fast, just not a physical LB and not particularly great at run stuffing. Not saying he’s bad but IMO he’s not going to be an answer to this problem of stopping the run. And LVE…he’s just finished unfortunately. His neck issues should probably end his career. Hate to say it but he’s rolling the dice to continue playing.

Bottom line we need some physical beasts here we don’t currently have. Parsons is great but he’s not going to be a clogging LB when his best gift is getting after the QB.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Ever notice how other supposed good teams cam actually at least put up a fight with the big dogs?

The Texans hung for 3 quarters with the Ravens and the Pac almost beat the niners.

We get demolished by any team who plays with size and strength.

This Cowboys team is as finesse as it gets. We have for years needed physicality and toughness. Until that is recognized they are an embarrassment.

And that's the problem with the construction of the team. The last time I remember us having a truly physical team was with Parcells and maybe Wade when they ran a 3-4. Ever since we have gone back to the 4-3, the fundamentals needed have gone by the wayside on that side of the ball.