The entire Defense needs to be called out

[CowboysFaninHouston]

......and I don't want to hear how they only allowed 13 point to opponents the last 2 game. They have failed to make key stops when it matters most and they don't have any excuse! We all believed Hardy and McClain were the missing key pieces and once they returned, our defense would be a top defense. That hasn't happened. We all thought just maybe our health defense could pick up the slack an win us a game or two. That hasn't happened. Lee is made of glass and needs to retire. There is no excuse for McClain to be overweight and out of shape. No excuse for the coaches to allow that. No Excuse for them not being prepared for the Eagles fast paced offense. Crawford I stealing money as is Church. Marinelli has the talent but has failed to have them playing to their potential. Someone needs to rip some anus!

our 4th quarter defense is abysmal. awful. bad. our 3rd down defense sucks....specially in the 4th and despite some who want you to believe that its the offense and TOP...its not. that's a fallacy....

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

yeah because incase you didnt notice eagles run a gimmick fast pace offense

6plays 20yrds punt 2:49 TOP
3 plays 12yrds punt :48
13 plays 80 yrds 4:17
6 plays 25yrds punt 3:18
10 plays 34yrds punt 2:15

Point being Dallas was going to win top because the eagles run a very fast pace. Dallas runs a 10 play drive they take 8-9mins off the clock. Before you post stats atleast know what ur trying to argue. using the TOP argument you destroyed your own argument.

has nothing to do with eagles fast pace offense. we had TOP in giants game, NO game, patriot game and dominated 1st half against Atlanta....

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Idk but some of this is a conditioning issues. They are getting gassed in the second half. You gotta take a look at the CBA and how much these coaches are limited in that aspect. When ur only allowed to practice so many days in a week and install a game plan, you can't really condition the players. Seems like install the game plan or condition. They have one true stud on defense and that's Hardy the rest are JAG's. I could say Lee who is snake bitten is a stud when healthy and Jones is maybe one in the making but other than that it's average at best. With all this being said them being gassed is not a recipe for success.

but that goes for every team in the league. its not specific to the cowboys

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

No doubt the pick six hurt. But what about the 20 other points? When we needed a stop in overtime they started at the 15 yard line, on a 1st and 15. The defense allowed them to go 85 yards. Why because they were out of gas and unprepared. Sure the offense sucks. But we all knew that was going to happened when we lost Romo. The defense has NO excuse. Accept for the weak ones your trying to bring up that don't hold water.

When it's mattered the most in the fourth....they have failed.

we have scored 28, 27, 20, 20 in 4 of the 6 losses. with a crippled offense, time for defense to step up and make a key stop in the 4th. they have not.

 

[KJJ]

The inability to make key stops has been a problem with the defense for well over a decade. It was the key factor in knocking the Cowboys out of the playoffs vs the Giants in 07 and the Packers last season. The D can't get pressure in critical situations, they miss tackles and our corners can't cover. The defense is one of the main reasons the Cowboys haven't got past the second round of the playoffs since their last SB win in 95.

 

[ShiningStar]

i been thinking about this, so im going to throw it out there. The fans need to be called out. People, just because Dallas drafts them, doesnt mean they are going to the HoF or they are the next best thing. Simple. Another thing, 1 good play doesnt mean they are going to the HoF either. Some players suck. Get used to it.


Thats my PSA for teh day some of you get it, for the rest YOUR WELCOME!!!!!!

 

[kevm3]

So the defense is going to get the blame for several picks thrown in the NY game and Dwayne Harris returning a 100 yarder for a touchdown? They are going to get the blame for holding Seattle to 13 points AND getting a turnover in the redzone that wasn't converted for a touchdown? Let's fire another coordinator like we did with Rob Ryan, because getting rid of him was the solution to everything.

 

[Stryker44]

Marinelli needs to go. I'm tired of the flagrant misuse of corners. We have man to man press corners and how many time is this moron playing zone? This hustling mentality is great and all, but how many times are defensive players over pursuing? How many times do we get overloaded to one side and then get gashed the other way? It's happened time and time again. That's on the coach. We were having success with the 3-2-5 and went way from it. We had success early blitzing and went away from it. You know we had to get pressure up the middle against Bradford. His man crush for Hayden is disturbing. Dude is the worst DT in the league. **** Rod. Go take your bend and break defense somewhere else.

Letting Monte Kiffin go and treating him like unwanted garbage, the master of the Tampa 2 and a legend, was a mistake.

 

[Chuck 54]

2014 Season 2015 Season
49ers Kaapernick 28 L W 26 Giants Eli
Titans Locker 10 W W 10 Eagles Bradford
Rams Austin Davis 31 W L 39 Falcons Ryan
Saints Brees 17 W L 26 Saints Brees
Texams Fitzpatrick 17 W L 30 Patriots Brady
Seahawks Wilson 23 W L 27 Giants Eli
Giants Eli 21 W L 13 Seahawks Wilson
Skins McCoy 20 L L 33 Eagles Bradford

avg. 20.9 avg. 25.5
turnovers 13 turnovers 4

Look at the first 8 games last year, the QB's our defense faced, and the outcome.
Look at the first 8 games this year, the QB's our defense faced, and the outcome.

Draw your own conclusions, but in my personal opinion, our defense sucked last year vs. pathetic QB's, and our defense still sucks this year vs better QB's.

We won last year in spite of our defense with Romo leading the offense to outscore teams. This year the defense has given up lots of points in all but two games, but there's no Romo to try and outscore anyone. We live and die with Romo...no news there, but our defense is not better.

Supposedly better players on paper for Marinelli, but they still stink, and the lack of turnovers is brutal.

 

[RunDMC]

The inability to make key stops has been a problem with the defense for well over a decade. It was the key factor in knocking the Cowboys out of the playoffs vs the Giants in 07 and the Packers last season. The D can't get pressure in critical situations, they miss tackles and our corners can't cover. The defense is one of the main reasons the Cowboys haven't got past the second round of the playoffs since their last SB win in 95.

So what about the offense? We scored just 17 and 21 points respectively in those games. That's usually not good enough to win against two high powered offenses with outstanding QB play. As much as I loved Murray that fumble was a killer. That's seven points right there that were left on the board. Obviously the egregious overturn. Then they also missed a field goal late in the half. 10 points left on the board. That's not how you're gonna win in the playoffs especially on the road. As bad as the defense was 26 points was the lowest amount Green Bay scored at home all season. Also in 2007 Romo missed an open TO in single coverage and tried to force it to Terry Glenn. For some stupid reason Witten stayed into protect instead of going out on a route and giving us another option to get 11 yards.

 

[RunDMC]

We actually run man much more than we play zone. We are a predominantly press man team. That is part of the reason that our turnovers are down.

Still playing too much zone in key situations.

 

[Stryker44]

So the defense is going to get the blame for several picks thrown in the NY game and Dwayne Harris returning a 100 yarder for a touchdown? They are going to get the blame for holding Seattle to 13 points AND getting a turnover in the redzone that wasn't converted for a touchdown? Let's fire another coordinator like we did with Rob Ryan, because getting rid of him was the solution to everything.

Garrett is evil - he betrayed both Ryan and Kiffin to save his job.

 

[Cas2800]

Garrett is evil - he betrayed both Ryan and Kiffin to save his job.

You can add Callahan to the list. Thos Oline is playing nowhere near the level they were last year.

 

[RunDMC]

You can add Callahan to the list. Thos Oline is playing nowhere near the level they were last year.

Ridiculous. They've been terrific the last three weeks. What did you think would happen with Weeden at quarterback? You forget the Arizona game, they struggled then too. As would any line with the biggest bum in football under center.

 

[IrishAnto]

yeah because incase you didnt notice eagles run a gimmick fast pace offense

6plays 20yrds punt 2:49 TOP
3 plays 12yrds punt :48
13 plays 80 yrds 4:17
6 plays 25yrds punt 3:18
10 plays 34yrds punt 2:15

Point being Dallas was going to win top because the eagles run a very fast pace. Dallas runs a 10 play drive they take 8-9mins off the clock. Before you post stats atleast know what ur trying to argue. using the TOP argument you destroyed your own argument.

So the gist or you argument that because the Eagles run a “gimmick” offense our defense can’t generate a turnover and that’s the offenses fault?

Yet in the first meeting when the Romo led offense scored 7 fewer points the defense managed to generate 3 turnovers (75% of this year’s total) against the same gimmick offence who had its best OL playing something it didn’t have last w/end.

Shame on the offense.

What other non-plausible excuses do you have for the failure to generate any turnovers in five games against non-gimmick offences?

 

[KJJ]

So what about the offense? We scored just 17 and 21 points respectively in those games. That's usually not good enough to win against two high powered offenses with outstanding QB play. As much as I loved Murray that fumble was a killer. That's seven points right there that were left on the board. Obviously the egregious overturn. Then they also missed a field goal late in the half. 10 points left on the board. That's not how you're gonna win in the playoffs especially on the road. As bad as the defense was 26 points was the lowest amount Green Bay scored at home all season. Also in 2007 Romo missed an open TO in single coverage and tried to force it to Terry Glenn. For some stupid reason Witten stayed into protect instead of going out on a route and giving us another option to get 11 yards.

Excuses can be made for the offense being impotent due to several key player losses including Romo but there's no excuse for the defense that had Lee back and added Hardy after week 4. Although Hardy has played well his presence has made little difference. We've added a first round pick in Jones to the secondary and a second round pick in Gregory up front and we're still seeing the same problems that have plagued the defense for years. We've lost two OT games with our defense never giving our offense an opportunity with the ball. I'm thoroughly disgusted with the defense that we have hopes for every year and that side of the ball always lets us down. Our defense has only forced 4 turnovers in 8 games which is the lowest in the entire league...EMBARRASSING! As for the playoff game with Green Bay last season the offense did enough to win that game. Despite Murray's fumble he had 123 yards averaging 4.9 a carry.

Romo was efficient but the defense got eaten up by a one legged Aaron Rodgers in the second half. We weren't able to get pressure on him and despite him being limited he was able to shred the defense. We saw a number of missed tackles and poor angles by our secondary. With only 29 seconds left in the half the defense allowed Rodgers to move the Packers from their own 40 to within FG for a cheap 3 points right before the half which shifted the momentum in their favor. Our defense had over 4 minutes to stop the Packers to give our offense one more chance with the ball in the 4th quarter and they couldn't stop them. It was an awful defensive performance and Jerry said what happened in that game was the reason our top 2 picks were on defense. Jerry pointed to the lack of pressure, poor coverage and missed tackles vs the Packers. Despite several player acquisitions we're still seeing the same problems. We saw them in OT against NO and Philly.

The defense made Bradford who's been a disappointment for Philly look like a viable NFL QB. For the first time all season he looked like what Kelly thought he was getting when he traded for him. As for the 07 playoff loss to the Giants Romo wasn't sharp that day and was part of the blame for the loss but the defense gave up a cheap TD to Toomer on the Giants first possession when they had him hemmed in. Right before the half with the Cowboys just scoring a TD to take the lead the defense allowed the Giants to drive the field to tie the game. The Cowboys had trouble all day pressuring Eli who was kept comfortable in the pocket and consistently picked up key 3rd downs. The D didn't give up a lot of yards but they could never get the Giants off the field on 3rd down. All Eli had to do was the manage the game with short passes.

 

[visionary]

Idk but some of this is a conditioning issues. They are getting gassed in the second half. You gotta take a look at the CBA and how much these coaches are limited in that aspect. When ur only allowed to practice so many days in a week and install a game plan, you can't really condition the players. Seems like install the game plan or condition. They have one true stud on defense and that's Hardy the rest are JAG's. I could say Lee who is snake bitten is a stud when healthy and Jones is maybe one in the making but other than that it's average at best. With all this being said them being gassed is not a recipe for success.

Are the other teams playing under a different CBA?

This is s Garrett issue pure and simple
The HC sets the tone

 

[plasticman]

Meanwhile the Cowboy offense, ranked #5 for the past two seasons in scoring, is now ranked 26th. They have not been ranked that low since Dave Campo was the Head Coach and Chad Hutchinson was the quarterback.

Last season the Cowboys scored an average of 29.3 points a game. This year it is 20.
Last season the Cowboy defense held opponents to 22.9 points per game. This season they have held them to 16.5 points a game. Of course, the offense has given opponents an average of 1.8 additional points through scored turnovers.

The defense has held opponents to less yardage per play this year as well. Turnovers happen more frequently when the opponent has to take risks but they are rarely behind to the point where they have had to this season.

The offense is stalling, They have their opportunities but fail to convert.

The defense can't get on the field and score for them. The offense has to produce the points and they haven't.

 

[NextGenBoys]

Could be. In man coverage, you are going to have fewer opportunities because you are not facing the line of scrimmage as much.

In Marinelli's big turnover seasons in Chicago, they were predominantly zone.

Could be a case of a leopard trying to change their spots because of the emphasis and commitment to improving the rush that they believe let them down against Green Bay.

This year it looks like they have depended on the pass rush to get home and at least force errant throws.

“If you're not rushing, you're stealing.”

Got some thievery going on.

Yup. We play press main trail, but our safeties are such a liability that they can't make a play on the ball.

 

[NextGenBoys]

Meanwhile the Cowboy offense, ranked #5 for the past two seasons in scoring, is now ranked 26th. They have not been ranked that low since Dave Campo was the Head Coach and Chad Hutchinson was the quarterback.

Last season the Cowboys scored an average of 29.3 points a game. This year it is 20.
Last season the Cowboy defense held opponents to 22.9 points per game. This season they have held them to 16.5 points a game. Of course, the offense has given opponents an average of 1.8 additional points through scored turnovers.

The defense has held opponents to less yardage per play this year as well. Turnovers happen more frequently when the opponent has to take risks but they are rarely behind to the point where they have had to this season.

The offense is stalling, They have their opportunities but fail to convert.

The defense can't get on the field and score for them. The offense has to produce the points and they haven't.

They are both failing. Don't absolve the defense entirely.