The Defense has shut the door on several games

[BHendri5]

has shut the door on several games this season. I just finished watching the Jason Garrett and the Jerry Jones shows that I record every Sunday during the season, and just realized that you have not heard many reports on how our defense has ended some games/team's comebacks with interceptions by Bruce Carter, Claiborne, Rolondo and Scandrick, it seems that Carter has two of those game ending Ints under his belt.

Our defense is improving right under our noses, in steady small increments that can go unnoticed, or with the interceptions, be big for the moment and then be overshadowed by the production of the offense.

This defense may be closer than what the pundits realize. Yes we still need some more pieces in place , but more importantly it is experience, chemistry, understanding and discipline is what may be the biggest thing that this defense needs the most.

 

[morasp]

On talkin cowboys they looked up the turnovers and we are undefeated this year when we get two or more take aways. There were three wins where they didn't get that many.

 

[xwalker]

has shut the door on several games this season. I just finished watching the Jason Garrett and the Jerry Jones shows that I record every Sunday during the season, and just realized that you have not heard many reports on how our defense has ended some games/team's comebacks with interceptions by Bruce Carter, Claiborne, Rolondo and Scandrick, it seems that Carter has two of those game ending Ints under his belt.

Our defense is improving right under our noses, in steady small increments that can go unnoticed, or with the interceptions, be big for the moment and then be overshadowed by the production of the offense.

This defense may be closer than what the pundits realize. Yes we still need some more pieces in place , but more importantly it is experience, chemistry, understanding and discipline is what may be the biggest thing that this defense needs the most.

Yes, those were good, but the core of what the defense has done isn't really in those last minute turnovers, IMO. They've managed to be good enough in all of the games. It's the offense that basically caused all of the losses.

 

[Dave_in-NC]

I'm pleasantly surprised by the defense this season. Hope it continues to stay that way.

 

[nablives]

Let's hope they can come through today. They're facing a pretty frickin' good offense, and I'm sure they're assuming Carr will give up 200 yards in the air all by himself. Hopefully T.Y. will really sit, and at least that will make things a little easier for the defense, especially if the Cowboys can't play keep away today.

 

[Eskimo]

The Eagles loss was definitely more a result of the defense. They let the Eagles walk up and down the field and allowed over 200 yards rushing. That is not to say the offense played well in that game but the defense was quite bad.

You could definitely make the case for the other 3 losses being more due to the offense but in 2 of those games we were missing Romo. I have little doubt that a healthy Romo does not win that Washington game in the end.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

Yes, those were good, but the core of what the defense has done isn't really in those last minute turnovers, IMO. They've managed to be good enough in all of the games. It's the offense that basically caused all of the losses.

True and quite ironic.

 

[burmafrd]

OH, BS. The D is the cause of most of our problems this year and anyone claiming otherwise is blind deaf and dumb. It is better than last year but still in the bottom third of the NFL.

 

[xwalker]

The Eagles loss was definitely more a result of the defense. They let the Eagles walk up and down the field and allowed over 200 yards rushing. That is not to say the offense played well in that game but the defense was quite bad.

You could definitely make the case for the other 3 losses being more due to the offense but in 2 of those games we were missing Romo. I have little doubt that a healthy Romo does not win that Washington game in the end.

The offense only scored 10 points in that game.

 

[burmafrd]

The offense only scored 10 points in that game.

and the D laid down and let the birds own them

 

[casmith07]

The Eagles loss was definitely more a result of the defense. They let the Eagles walk up and down the field and allowed over 200 yards rushing. That is not to say the offense played well in that game but the defense was quite bad.

You could definitely make the case for the other 3 losses being more due to the offense but in 2 of those games we were missing Romo. I have little doubt that a healthy Romo does not win that Washington game in the end.

Hey if they only fail to show up once, and it's in the middle of the season, that's okay with me. 12-4 until proven otherwise.

 

[jazzcat22]

Defense is playing more and more with confidence. I think they are under appreciated by many fans and media.
Yes, they have a ways to go, at times seems a long way to go, but they are better than what people think too.

 

[Idgit]

has shut the door on several games this season. I just finished watching the Jason Garrett and the Jerry Jones shows that I record every Sunday during the season, and just realized that you have not heard many reports on how our defense has ended some games/team's comebacks with interceptions by Bruce Carter, Claiborne, Rolondo and Scandrick, it seems that Carter has two of those game ending Ints under his belt.

Our defense is improving right under our noses, in steady small increments that can go unnoticed, or with the interceptions, be big for the moment and then be overshadowed by the production of the offense.

This defense may be closer than what the pundits realize. Yes we still need some more pieces in place , but more importantly it is experience, chemistry, understanding and discipline is what may be the biggest thing that this defense needs the most.

I'm in the huge minority, but the biggest difference in outcomes this season has been in the improved play of the defense, and not the impact of the running game and the OL.

We've gone from 28th in the league at 6.98 plays/defensive series and 31st at 2.31 points/series to 13th this year at 5.77 plays/series and 21st in points/series at 2.03. That's still very mediocre, but for a team that lost 5 games by a total of 8 points in 2013, it's enough incremental improvement to get us into the playoffs.

The improved OL play definitely plays a role in our defense being fresher, but it's tough to quantify how much that has helped. For reference, in terms of ToP/drive on offense we've gone from 15th in the league at 2:36/drive average in 2013 all the way to 2nd in the league at 3:03/drive this season (SEA is first at 3:05). That has to help, but how much is difficult to quantify.

 

[xwalker]

and the D laid down and let the birds own them

The defense gave them a chance to win:
http://cowboyszone.com/threads/some-observations-about-the-1st-eagles-game.309685/

 

[mahoneybill]

I'm pleasantly surprised by the defense this season. Hope it continues to stay that way.

Me too. Next draft with a few key acquisitions, and possibly a difference maker FA could make us very difficult to deal with

 

[reddyuta]

OH, BS. The D is the cause of most of our problems this year and anyone claiming otherwise is blind deaf and dumb. It is better than last year but still in the bottom third of the NFL.

Sorta agree,they are still bottom of the league but are better than last year where they were historically bad and yet we managed 8 wins.the challenge next year would be to be a middle of the pack Defense.

 

[Idgit]

OH, BS. The D is the cause of most of our problems this year and anyone claiming otherwise is blind deaf and dumb. It is better than last year but still in the bottom third of the NFL.

This is obviously true. Our offense is far and away more skilled than the defense, clearly. But given where it was, that incremental improvement has made a big difference in the outcome of a lot of games this season. Whereas the offense was also pretty effective last season, too.

 

[Idgit]

Sorta agree,they are still bottom of the league but are better than last year where they were historically bad and yet we managed 8 wins.the challenge next year would be to be a middle of the pack Defense.

Bottom third. But there's a big difference between ~20-ish and ~31st-ish. Especially when you're losing so many close games like we have the past few seasons.

 

[Eskimo]

The problem with the defense last year was that when other teams really sold out to score on us they did. They also were able to do so several drives in a row and often very quickly.

It does seem as though this new defense is much more opportunistic when other teams start to press. Instead of letting them march down the field we seem to cause TOs to finish things off. Just off the top of my head I remember this happening to the Giants, Rams, Eagles, Bears and Seahawks.

They may not have a stud set of pass rushers but because we rotate so much the guys on the field seem to have some burst even at the end of the games. That is quite a bit different than when Ware, Spencer and Rat played 95% of the defensive snaps.

 

[links18]

Need to bring back Melton and yes even Carter.