The lack of pressure is disturbing

[khiladi]

Lawrence was onlt

As I said in another thread, think of it this way. After the season the Cowboys, Stephen was quoted as saying the pass rush was a top priority. Now think about that when you realize that they headed into camp with this as their DE depth chart.

1) Lawrence - the ONLY proven DE on the roster
2) Gregory - talent who has proven nothing in the NFL
3) Mayowa - 3 teams in roughly 3 years, proven nothing in the NFL
4) Irving - decent talent but some think a better 3 tech than an end
5) Russell - practice squad player
6) Tapper - rookie

Think about that for a second. Their solution to a big priority was to build a depth chart with only one proven NFL starter on it.

I hope to God they are right and Tapper is a stud and Mayowa is a diamond in the rough, but things don't look very good right now.

Lawrence was only 'proven' when Hardy was playing on the other side and taking the majority of defensive snaps..

 

[khiladi]

A decade?

Within a decade ago we had arguably our best passrusher in Ware. Sure, overall we couldn't find another consistent passrusher after Ratliff declined, but we had a way better passrush within the past decade. We had 59 sacks as an unit in 2008, ranking #1 in the league.

We also had Wade Phillips running the defense...

 

[Zman5]

Which means Eli will have 5 secs to throw instead of 7.....

Hopefully they'll cause him to make some mistakes.

 

[pugilist]

i don't think this FO puts much emphasis on defense (particularly the d-line) as seen through their drafting and free agency activity (or lack thereof). Either that or the talent evaluation is abysmal, and I would argue it's a bit of both.

I also think the overall strategy for this season was to DOMINATE TOP (time of possession) and keep the defense off the field, but in light of recent events I'm not sure that strategy is altered much.. at least not until we see how Dak does in game 1





tl;dr we don't care much about our defense (or we suck miserably at evaluating talent) and put all of our stock into the offense to keep the defense off the field

 

[Sydla]

Less. Their ol is actually horrible. Reminds me of ours before we started upgrading. Remember Phil Costa. Yeah. The whole right side of their line is a bunch of Phil Costas

True.

But I suspect Giants fans are breathing a sigh of relief that their cruddy OL gets to face our DL in the first week. Hahahaha. Matter of perspective.

 

[bigdnlaca]

I think that even if we upgrade in DL at this point, it still won't make a difference in passing downs.

The reason is RM isn't bringing pressure from other areas. He is set on sending only the DL on all passing downs and most qbs are going to pick you apart if they know you are only sending the DL. He needs to bring more blitzes and stop going with the bend but don't break defense.

 

[Sydla]

Lawrence was only 'proven' when Hardy was playing on the other side and taking the majority of defensive snaps..

That's a very real and valid concern............. that without consistent play opposite of Lawrence, he could see his production drop a bit as he becomes the focus of OLs.

 

[John813]

We also had Wade Phillips running the defense...

Yup, one of the best in the league for defensive gurus.

i don't think this FO puts much emphasis on defense (particularly the d-line) as seen through their drafting and free agency activity (or lack thereof). Either that or the talent evaluation is abysmal, and I would argue it's a bit of both.

I also think the overall strategy for this season was to DOMINATE TOP (time of possession) and keep the defense off the field, but in light of recent events I'm not sure that strategy is altered much.. at least not until we see how Dak does in game 1

Collins: 3rd round 2016
D-Law: 2nd Round 2014
Gregory: 2nd round 2015
Russell: 5th round 2015
Crawford: 3rd 2012

Then you have guys like Hardy, and Thornton in FA.

While they haven't spent a first on D-line, they have used 2nd rounders on ends.

Gregory may of had the talent, but lacks will power.

So, may be talent evaluation/thinking Rod is a demi-god.

 

[reddyuta]

The lack of a pass rush is not as disturbing as much as the lack of failing to address it.....

they are more likely to draft another injured guy in the 2nd Rd than to address the pass rush.

 

[CATCH17]

Pass rush was horrid against Seattle..

If I have to watch another year of soft coverage with no pass rush then I'm done with Marinelli.

Confuse and pressure the quarterback! Stop making things easy!

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Hit the "Panic Button" and do what exactly?

 

[phildadon86]

True.

But I suspect Giants fans are breathing a sigh of relief that their cruddy OL gets to face our DL in the first week. Hahahaha. Matter of perspective.

Fair enough. I also bet that Crawford is licking his chops going up against whoever they put in at RG game one. HAHA

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Pass rush was horrid against Seattle..

If I have to watch another year of soft coverage with no pass rush then I'm done with Marinelli.

Confuse and pressure the quarterback! Stop making things easy!

Rob Ryan attempted to do that... And where did that get the Cowboys other than a lot of confused looks, finger-pointing and busted coverages on defense.

Buffalo went through the same thing last season with his brother-- yeah you create "confusion" for the other team's QB, but in the process your own players get confused.

For the last several years several high picks have been spent on the OL, RB and WR... Namely the offense... And the defensive line has been a
"patch job".

Finally the DT position looks to be in better shape than it has in several seasons.

It will take at least another offseason to fix the DE spot.

 

[xwalker]

They ran a lot of corner blitzes in the game, as well as just rushing 4. Even with Demarcus Lawrence and Mayowa out there, the pass rush was non-existent. I think it's finally time to hit the panic button here. Shaniel Jenkins came off the street and was an instant upgrade, and he is gone. I don't have any faith in Mawoya, Russell, Irving, or any of these other scrubs to generate any pressure.

They got pressure but can't finish (get sacks).

If Spencer was almost Anthony then Russell is Almost-Almost Ryan.

It's impossible to know from preseason games. The 1-tech DT position is drastically better and the 3-tech should be better than last season with a 1 armed T. Crawford.

 

[Idgit]

Hey, at least we're talking about the defensive limitations. That's progress.

 

[Sydla]

Rob Ryan attempted to do that... And where did that get the Cowboys other than a lot of confused looks, finger-pointing and busted coverages on defense.

Buffalo went through the same thing last season with his brother-- yeah you create "confusion" for the other team's QB, but in the process your own players get confused.

For the last several years several high picks have been spent on the OL, RB and WR... Namely the offense... And the defensive line has been a
"patch job".

Finally the DT position looks to be in better shape than it has in several seasons.

It will take at least another offseason to fix the DE spot.

Maybe it's just me but I suspect there is a happy medium between a Ryan defense confusing yourself and Marinelli just sitting back conservatively and letting teams pick them apart.

 

[stilltheguru88]

we need to watch the Commander footage from the first game last year as a defensive blueprint. Even though guarding Desean 1 on 1 is playing with fire

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

JG's defensive draft since he became the HC. It's pretty bad considering we really haven't hit any very good players picked in the 3rd and 4th round. We need to get a good to very good starters in 2nd to 4th round.

There aren't any Jason Witten (3rd round), Olando Scandrick (5th round), or even Doug Free (4th round) like players on that list.

Player Round​

• Bruce Carter 2
• Josh Thomas 5
• Morris Claiborne 1
• Tyrone Crawford 3
• Kyle Wilber 4
• Matt Johnson 4
• Caleb McSurdy 7
• J.J. Wilcox 3
• B. W. Webb 4
• DeVonte Holloman 6
• Demarcus Lawrence 2
• Anthony Hitchens 4
• Ben Gardner 7
• Will Smith 7
• Ahmad Dixon 7
• Ken Bishop 7
• Terrance Mitchell 7
• Byron Jones 1
• Randy Gregory 2
• Damien Wilson 4
• Ryan Russell 5
• Mark Nzeocha 7
• Jaylon Smith 2
• Maliek Collins 3
• Charles Tapper 4
• Anthony Brown 6
• Kavon Frazier 6

Ah, Ben Gardner....the Justin Beriault of defensive linemen.

 

[Satchel89]

It's just like 2014. The Offense is going to have to score a lot and I think it will. The defense is what it is. I don't know who they can get from other teams roster cuts that will make a difference at this point

 

[RS12]

The lack of pressure is disturbing

Welp, I guess we have been disturbed for years.