The Problem with Cowboys Defense and No Playoff Wins

[guag]

we haven't ignored those spots

Lawrence
Crawford
Gregory
#93
the bum we signed from carolina

lol "he who shall not be named"

 

[Irvin88_4life]

I looked on manning`s colts team. They surrendered 22,50 points per game, which isnt that good... but having their Offense, I would take those numbers any day.
Also, I found theyve surrendered 5.33 rushing yards-per-attempt, by far the worst since the merger, and seventh-worst in NFL history, which isnt good either BUT they had 16,2 ppg in PO, which is very good.

The Saints SB winning team had 21,3 ppg, which is again, very manageable for that Offense that they had. In PO they had 19,6 ppg, which is even better.

Overall, I would say I was right, but then again, it can be very debatable.

Surrendering 22 and 21 points per game is terrible what you taking about Willis

 

[Parche]

Surrendering 22 and 21 points per game is terrible what you taking about Willis

Those defenses were REALLY bad over those years. Then, reaching the 21/22 ppg gap, helped those teams that were heavy powered on offense, to win it all. Again, Im not saying they were doomsday defenses, they were good enough. Thats all.

Having said that, what was our ppg allowed this season? EDIT: 19,1 ppg regular season, and 34 the lone playoff game...

 

[Irvin88_4life]

Those defenses were REALLY bad over those years. Then, reaching the 21/22 ppg gap, helped those teams that were heavy powered on offense, to win it all. Again, Im not saying they were doomsday defenses, they were good enough. Thats all.

Having said that, what was our ppg allowed this season?

19.........those teams were won from the offense. Same thing with GB when they won. Giving up over 22 points a game is very bad and sorry but you aren't right

 

[Parche]

Surrendering 22 and 21 points per game is terrible what you taking about Willis

2009 Saints had 31,8 ppg on offense... so, 21 was really good enough.. cant believe those numbers.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

2009 Saints had 31,8 ppg on offense... so, 21 was really good enough.. cant believe those numbers.

It was good enough to win it all sure but that's not what you said. You said their defense helped them and that's false

 

[Parche]

It was good enough to win it all sure but that's not what you said. You said their defense helped them and that's false

I understand what youre saying, but you know that if we would have allowed the packers to score 21/22/23 points we would have won, you know? Those Saints held Arizona to 17 points and even to the Colts in the SB to those points. So yeah, having a mediocre defense is better than having a bad one, and of course, having a top 5 defense is better than having a middle of a pack one. How much or how far can it take you (that difference) is really hard to measure, but it counts.

 

[DandyDon1722]

The difference that I noticed the most is how much faster the front 7 for Atlanta is compared to ours...We are too slow on defense...

Good point and one of the reasons for that is that 7 out of the 11 starters are first or second-year players.

They are young and fast. Good combination.

 

[xwalker]

The Problem with Cowboys Defense

This is a story of the Cowboys defense and why it fails in the Play Offs. The Zone defense was meant to operate with a pass rush that gets to the QB quickly. When the QB has more than 2.5 seconds, he can see the holes in the zone and find his receivers (Cowboys and Giants playoff games against Packers). When the pass rush cannot get to the QB quickly then the best option is to press the receivers until the QB has no or little option (second half of Cowboys/Packer Div game). The Falcons had a good pass rush so that Rogers had little time to find an open receiver and you could now see that the Packers where just an average offense when Rogers was contained. So, do you stay with a defensive line that can play with average offenses during the regulator season but has NO chance during playoffs against very good offenses?

The Falcons have the best solution that they got from the SeaHawks that is an attacking defense is the best defense. If you cannot get to the QB quickly then press the receivers. Attack all the time and don’t wait for the opposing offense to attack you.

The Cowboys seem to have a problem with DL generating a good pass rush. This would could be fixed with a very good DT upgrade to put the QBs in a hurry up mode. The other is to upgrade the secondary and LBs to teach the art of pressing receivers/running backs.

If you had a choice what would you do in the Off Season?

This is not exactly accurate.

Zone vs Man is not necessarily about time to get to the QB. It's more about limiting big plays and protecting coverage players that are not good enough to play man.

The Cowboys both man and zone and very little Tampa-2. IIRC, the stats show that they played more man than zone the past 2 or 3 years.

They tend to play off-man more than press which is also designed to limit big plays. Playing press-man with a poor pass rush is a receipe for giving up big plays. Sometimes they will play press on the side where the FS is providing backup coverage and the other side will play off-man with no Safety help. There are many variations including a mix of zone and man.

A blitz generally means man coverage. You often hear announcers says the pass rush has to get home on the blitz because they can only play man for a short period of time.

The decision on what coverage to play involves everyone in the back 7. Even with elite CBs, there will be issues if the LBs can't cover.

A healthy Jaylon Smith would do a lot for the coverage abilities of the defense even if they keep the same DBs.

 

[xwalker]

They need to stop trying to be cute and do all these hybrid player types that are good at all positions, but not great and one position. They also need to get bigger DE's. Instead of these lightweight speed guys. Yes they need speed to get to the QB....but they are light, so get man handled and bumped off their path. How many times have we said....dang he almost got there....it's like that commercial where the guy is dangling a dollar in front of the lady....

Just line up and play football....get the right players to play that are very good to great at one position. Stop moving them around.
Either T. Crawford is a DE or a DT....period...
Let go of the lunch pail type guys like J. Crawford...yeah, he makes a play here and there, enough to say, look this is why we keep him, only to disappear for the next 4 games...

Bigger DEs?

Mayowa is the smallest and they say he was about 260 this season. The other DEs are bigger than average. DLaw is big for a RDE and the other DEs are DE/DT hybrids.

 

[percyhoward]

It was good enough to win it all sure but that's not what you said. You said their defense helped them and that's false

In 2009, the Saints' D ranked 3rd in INT and 3rd in defensive passer rating. That team doesn't go to the Super Bowl without a huge interception of Favre in the conference championship.

The 2006 Colts' defense totally outplayed their offense in the playoffs. Not even close.

 

[xwalker]

Yet another LB in addition to Smith probably wouldn't be such a bad idea as well. It would, at least, provide depth. In the event that Smith progresses well between now and the draft, a mid round pick or even later might suffice.

Also, a DE (or two), a CB and possibly a safety as well wouldn't be out of the question to solidify a defense that is certainly needy. This is why I'm expecting it to possibly take more than one draft to satisfy our needs. I think there's no question but what at least three additions would be minimally essential to resolve some of our deficiencies.

I like the potential at LB more than most other positions on defense. Wilson looks like he could move to MLB if Jaylon is not an option. Physically Nacho has a high upside. He was derailed by injury this season. Hitchens is good enough.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

In 2009, the Saints' D ranked 3rd in INT and 3rd in defensive passer rating. That team doesn't go to the Super Bowl without a huge interception of Favre in the conference championship.

The 2006 Colts' defense totally outplayed their offense in the playoffs. Not even close.

That's what they depended on was turning the ball over. GB was the same way when they won. Sure they made some plays but it was turnover or bust

 

[percyhoward]

That's what they depended on was turning the ball over. GB was the same way when they won. Sure they made some plays but it was turnover or bust.

We're only talking about whether the defense helped the team win -- not whether the defensive performance was sustainable over multiple seasons. They made more plays than 90% of the other defenses in the league, which is one of the main reasons those teams were successful those seasons.

 

[cowboyblue22]

the defense is a problem and one of the reason the cowboys don't win in the playoffs and that will have to be fixed another problem they have is coaching and until that and the defense is fixed we will continue to be one and done in the playoffs

 

[Western]

The problem:
Jerry Jones picking players for a defensive coach who lacks an overall philosophy, & whose credentials as a defense coordinator should have been credited to the head coaches he worked under.

Marinelli's lack of success to innovate & adjust the defense against superior offenses endures.
His stubbornness combined with the belief that he 'turn' average players into playmakers & game-changers (like the players he had in Chicago or when he was the DL coach in Tampa -- where Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy were the true architects/player evaluators for those respective defensive units) is present in the organization.

In addition, Garrett's lack of defensive knowledge merged with his failure of holding Marinelli answerable, underscores the cultural dysfunction.

The head coach needs to be select his own coaches & hold them accountable and not have an intruding owner constantly undermine the head coach.

 

[KJJ]

The problem with our defense in the playoffs is it ends up choking. We can't stop the passing game primarily the elite QBs such as Eli, Favre and Rodgers who are 4-0 against us in the playoffs since 06. Matt Hasselbeck tossed a 37 yard TD pass to Jeremy Stevens with around 7 minutes to play with the Cowboys leading 20-15 that helped beat us in 2006 playoffs. If we could have held them to a FG, that game likely would have never come down to Romo's bobbled snap. Against the Giants in the 07 playoffs 3rd down passes by Eli kept the chains moving all day for NY. They drove the length of the field in the final 2 minutes before the half to tie the game up.

We could never get any pressure on Eli and our defense ended up costing us that game. Old man Favre torched us for 4 TD passes in a blowout loss to Minn in 09. Rodgers carved us up twice in the playoffs in 2014 and 2016. We don't have a pass rush especially in the 4th quarter when games are on the line and we have a mediocre secondary that has no playmakers. We don't force near enough turnovers and end up being diced up. It's become nauseating watching our defense being dissected in the playoffs by the elite QBs in the league. We're 0-3 vs Eli in playoff/elimination games.

 

[big dog cowboy]

If you had a choice what would you do in the Off Season?

I've been on record for a long time saying the Cowboys need all defense in this draft. Everything else is super bowl ready. Until the Cowboys fix the pass rush they will only go so far. The lack of impact players is obvious. Add a couple of FA's also. The main thing...fix the defense!

 

[Jarv]

I looked on manning`s colts team. They surrendered 22,50 points per game, which isnt that good... but having their Offense, I would take those numbers any day.
Also, I found theyve surrendered 5.33 rushing yards-per-attempt, by far the worst since the merger, and seventh-worst in NFL history, which isnt good either BUT they had 16,2 ppg in PO, which is very good.

The Saints SB winning team had 21,3 ppg, which is again, very manageable for that Offense that they had. In PO they had 19,6 ppg, which is even better.

Overall, I would say I was right, but then again, it can be very debatable.

The Colts safety Sanders came back from injury during their playoff run and helped carry the defense. I recall their D being really good during that run.

 

[LocimusPrime]

I think every reasonable fan understands that the Cowboys defense is subpar. It is equally obvious that the defensive line needs to be upgraded. Although some posters will contend that the FO addressed the Dline through draft picks and low to mid level FAs, this was/isn't enough.

We need catalytic players at a DE. Some will argue that it's not worth it to spend money on Calais Campbell, JPP ect. If we do not sign some proven FAs and just march out the same Dline minus McClain and with some mid level addition, we can expect the same results.

Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. I hope that Jaylon can be an impact player at LB, Tapper can contribute at DE, and Lawrence's back will be ok ( he's considering more off season surgery). However, if I was GM, I'd pretend that all if those players weren't contributing and build my team accordingly