The defense will be better with Zeke

[Sydla]

Wow, ok, let me put my third-grade teacher hat on.

Teams that can score, and are ahead, or more pressure on opposing offenses and make them take more chances than they have to against teams with poor offenses.

Teams that run the ball well wear down defenses, which forces opposing offenses to hold serve with less room for error.

Football 101.

Great. But in today's NFL, scoring largely comes from passing, not rushing. So when people are trying to find the ingredient that was missing in 2015 compared to 2014, to cite an elite TB as the big reason is bizarrely hilarious.

 

[jnday]

It is a simple concept. One I have been telling people for years. But drafting an offensive player does not improve the defense. It simply allows you to possibly keep them off the field. Once they get on the field, they are not any better than they were before. Only by drafting a stud pass rusher or CB can you actually improve that side of the ball.

There was not a stud defensive player that didn't have concerns in the draft. Drafting Zeke may not improve the talent level at each individual defensive position, but it will improve the overall defensive play of the team. They will be fresh and keeping them off the field prevents exposing them.

 

[Sydla]

Dallas scored 29 points per game in 2014, and only 17 last year.

That's the stat that matters.

You keep changing what stat matters. First you were talking about keeping our defense on the sideline. Stats show your point is inaccurate. So I guess we have to ignore that and move onto the next lame analysis.

The biggest reason our scoring dropped from 2014 to 2015 wasn't because we lacked an elite TB. It was because we didn't have Romo. Anyone trying to argue otherwise is just a fool.

 

[jnday]

Great. But in today's NFL, scoring largely comes from passing, not rushing. So when people are trying to find the ingredient that was missing in 2015 compared to 2014, to cite an elite TB as the big reason is bizarrely hilarious.

It was not the main reason for a 4-12 record , but DMac's 3 TDs rushing did not help matters at all.

 

[KJJ]

Still spouting that lie?

Our opponents ran 1,094 plays in 2013. That's 68.4 plays per game.

Our opponents ran 978 plays in 2014. That's 68.1 plays per game.

Do the math. That's 7.3 plays per game, not 12.

And controlling the ball on offense is more about offensive pace, completion percentage and third-down conversions than it is about how much you run the ball or how well you run it. We played at the slowest pace in the NFL in 2014. We had the second-best completion percentage and the second-best third-down conversion rate. We had the second-best ball-control offense in the league that season because of THOSE things, not the running game. The running game helps a little bit, but those other things are the keys. Plenty of teams run the ball a lot, run it very well and still can't control the clock because they have a low completion percentage and can't convert on third-and-long.

Decided to come back after a few days of laying low to lick your wounds? lol The Cowboys selecting Zeke with the 4th overall pick completely shot down your argument and supported mine. The Cowboys and everyone who knows football have been saying the same things the past few days that I've been telling you for 2 weeks...CASE CLOSED!

 

[Sydla]

It was not the main reason for a 4-12 record , but DMac's 3 TDs rushing did not help matters at all.

Absolutely but I suspect if there is a healthy Romo out there and a healthy Bryant, our rushing TD totals would have been much higher.

 

[Gameover]

People overestimate the immediate impact that most rookies will have in their rookie year.

I find it funny when most of the media went up in arms about the Cowboys didn't have the luxury to lose a year with a second round selection. Truth is, most second round selections need a year to actually figure out how to play and the coaches need a year for trust.

Rookie Demarcus Ware only slightly improves this teams defense, and he was one of the best cant-miss (De) prospects I've seen. There was no one available as good as he was coming out in 2005.

Our improvement on D will come from the guys already on the roster. Gregory's production will have to match his talent level. Crawford has to show last seasons bad showing was indeed injury related. Wilcox and Church need to play like 2014 and not 2015. Same with McClain. Lee needs to stay healthy. Thornton needs to provide a presence.

Those things happening are more realistic than any rookie coming in and improving us to a great degree on defense.

 

[BrassCowboy]

Amazing, where was the "a lot of help"?

we can all sit here and swap opinions til the cow come home. You didn't like Zeke as our first pick, got it.... now lets move on

 

[Sydla]

Decided to come back after a few days of laying low to lick your wounds? lol The Cowboys selecting Zeke with the 4th overall pick completely shot down your argument and supported mine. The Cowboys and everyone who knows football have been saying the same things the past few days that I've been telling you for 2 weeks...CASE CLOSED!

Doesn't change the fact you keep citing a made up stat.

 

[NEODOG]

What if I told you that the defense was top 10 in points allowed per game in QTRs 1 through 3, but collapse in the 4th quarter?

Conversely...... Pretty it was the worst on 3rd % conversion allowed as well in 4qtr

 

[AdamJT13]

Decided to come back after a few days of laying low to lick your wounds? lol The Cowboys selecting Zeke with the 4th overall pick completely shot down your argument and supported mine. The Cowboys and everyone who knows football have been saying the same things the past few days that I've been telling you for 2 weeks...CASE CLOSED!

Nothing has shot down my argument. The truth is still the truth. It has been the truth for years, and it will continue to be the truth no matter how well Elliott plays. Whether we win or lose in 2016 will almost always depend on whether we pass the ball better than the opponent. If Elliott can pass block, catch passes and convert on third downs, then he could help us win games. But if our opponent passes the ball better than we do, it won't matter what Elliott does.

 

[KJJ]

Well of course the Cowboys are going to say it. They are trying to justify their pick.

But actual stats don't support the claim. But hey, let's just ignore actual data and just go with what our gut says!

The Cowboys said it and everyone who was covering the draft said it. The Cowboys don't need to cover themselves they have plenty of support from those who know football. Most of the ones complaining about the pick are armchair FANS who are satisfied with the backs we had. One FAN yesterday argued we should have kept Turbin who has only ONE career TD and only 1200 career rushing yards in 4 years instead of signing Morris who has over 4700 rushing yards and 29 TDs over that same period. You sound like another one who Adam has brainwashed. lol

 

[Sydla]

The Cowboys said it and everyone who was covering the draft said it. The Cowboys don't need to cover themselves they have plenty of support from those who know football. Most of the ones complaining about the pick are armchair FANS who are satisfied with the backs we had. One FAN yesterday argued we should have kept Turbin who has only ONE career TD and only 1200 career rushing yards in 4 years instead of signing Morris who has over 4700 rushing yards and 29 TDs over that same period. You sound like another one who Adam has brainwashed. lol

Well then the Cowboys are partially wrong. Sure, in theory, if the offense is on the field longer and can keep the defense off the field longer, you can somewhat cover up for their deficiencies. But that's not what's really at play here. Why?

Because STATISTICAL EVIDENCE when comparing 2014 to 2015 doesn't support the claim that the defense was only bad because they were on the field too long. They were on the field roughly the same amount as the previous year.

 

[bsheeern]

Still spouting that lie?

Our opponents ran 1,094 plays in 2013. That's 68.4 plays per game.

Our opponents ran 978 plays in 2014. That's 68.1 plays per game.

Do the math. That's 7.3 plays per game, not 12.

And controlling the ball on offense is more about offensive pace, completion percentage and third-down conversions than it is about how much you run the ball or how well you run it. We played at the slowest pace in the NFL in 2014. We had the second-best completion percentage and the second-best third-down conversion rate. We had the second-best ball-control offense in the league that season because of THOSE things, not the running game. The running game helps a little bit, but those other things are the keys. Plenty of teams run the ball a lot, run it very well and still can't control the clock because they have a low completion percentage and can't convert on third-and-long.

Now talk to me about the Red Zone. What does the impact of being an Effective Running team in the Red zone have on things like Play calling & Defensive Fronts.

To me this is the Bermuda triangle of the NFL.

 

[CowboyRoy]

There was not a stud defensive player that didn't have concerns in the draft. Drafting Zeke may not improve the talent level at each individual defensive position, but it will improve the overall defensive play of the team. They will be fresh and keeping them off the field prevents exposing them.

Right............we had our pick of every defensive player in the draft but Bosa and there was NO ONE good enough right? Dont make me laugh.

 

[CowboyRoy]

we can all sit here and swap opinions til the cow come home. You didn't like Zeke as our first pick, got it.... now lets move on

No I love Zeke. I look forward to us running over people all day long. But it wasnt a prudent pick and from the 2nd round on, we did very little to help this team. Our FO is a joke and people around the NFL are laughing at us. But what else is new?

 

[Sydla]

Now talk to me about the Red Zone. What does the impact of being an Effective Running team in the Red zone have on things like Play calling & Defensive Fronts.

To me this is the Bermuda triangle of the NFL.

Being able to run the ball in the red zone is very important.

However, if a team has no credible passing threat, and we did not with no Romo and a non-healthy Bryant, it's much tougher to then run in the red zone. Shorter field means teams don't have to play as deep with their DBs, etc. Condensed field makes running tougher.

 

[KJJ]

Nothing has shot down my argument. The truth is still the truth. It has been the truth for years, and it will continue to be the truth no matter how well Elliott plays. Whether we win or lose in 2016 will almost always depend on whether we pass the ball better than the opponent. If Elliott can pass block, catch passes and convert on third downs, then he could help us win games. But if our opponent passes the ball better than we do, it won't matter what Elliott does.

The Cowboys selecting Zeke obliterated your argument that the running game has little effect on winning and losing. That comment looks even more ridiculous with each passing day. Everyone on the panel during the draft for ESPN and NFL Network said EXACTLY what I've been posting for almost 2 weeks. You were proven dead wrong not only by me but the ones who get paid to talk football. Get over it!

 

[erod]

Great. But in today's NFL, scoring largely comes from passing, not rushing. So when people are trying to find the ingredient that was missing in 2015 compared to 2014, to cite an elite TB as the big reason is bizarrely hilarious.

Today's NFL? Scoring comes from scoring. How you do it can vary, and the league seems like it is headed back to a ground-game attack. Defenses are prepping for pass offenses, so they get these little linebackers and light defensive ends. Bring a power run game at them, and they are ill-equipped, which is why the ground game is returning to the NFL all of the sudden.

 

[Sydla]

The Cowboys selecting Zeke obliterated your argument that the running game has little effect on winning and losing. That comment looks even more ridiculous with each passing day. Everyone on the panel during the draft for ESPN and NFL Network said EXACTLY what I've been posting for almost 2 weeks. You were proven dead wrong not only by me but the ones who get paid to talk football. Get over it!

And that's not accurate. Kiper said we didn't get the real value of the 4th pick. And one of the NFLN (not Mayock), while liking Elliott, also said the same thing. Did it really make sense to take a TB at 4 with the OL we had and the needs on the defensive side of the ball?