This is the Dallas Cowboys biggest concern going into 2017

[stiletto]

You would be surprised. Many on here predicted a big jump in the defense due to the rookies.

I don't mind going with rookies, probably beats the guys we let walk but they gotta be on the field. Right now it is a complete disaster simply because they aren't out there. I'd rather lose with the rookies than with overpaid guys who couldn't stop a kitten batting toilet paper around. (See the Green Bay playoff game last year)...

 

[bodi]

as it has been for the last several seasons the defense and coaching is what in the end will let this team down again

I just don't like Rods version - I think we need a new DC

 

[bigbob]

Let's wait till they play at least one regular season game before we decide how good or bad they are.

 

[GORICO]

I am just hoping somehow someway the first 4 weeks we can win a couple games...please we cant go 1-3 or 0-4 because of this defense....if we can score a lot of points and get a few good bounces of the ball and maybe some erratic play of opposing QB's and win 2 maybe even 3 of first 4 we will be ok by then....but if we blow it and to into the toilet then we cant climb out before our players get in sync will be the worse case scenario...i am just worried about the first 6 games of season

 

[Sydla]

You mean Darby that got burned the other night for like two bombs???

And I will actually take Moose Johnstons opinion right now....last year he thought our secondary was going to be pretty good, and said underrated, and it was. This year he said the Dline is that. He's might where bad suits but he actually is a sharp dude.

The secondary was actually not that good last year when you look at the stats. It was arguably the most overrated aspect of our team last year.

And with Darby, the Eagles secondary is better. Their safeties are better than ours and CBs, right now, are a push at best.

 

[zekecowboy]

I am just hoping somehow someway the first 4 weeks we can win a couple games...please we cant go 1-3 or 0-4 because of this defense....if we can score a lot of points and get a few good bounces of the ball and maybe some erratic play of opposing QB's and win 2 maybe even 3 of first 4 we will be ok by then....but if we blow it and to into the toilet then we cant climb out before our players get in sync will be the worse case scenario...i am just worried about the first 6 games of season

Record is hard to predict until we know when and amount of suspensions for the various Dallas players. My thought is Zeke will not be suspended for any games until 2018.

 

[ghst187]

These things take time. Did we really think the rookies would come in and turn into Everson Walls and Michael Downs???

It takes time. The rooks will come along.

Well... we got spoiled on Dak and Zeke coming in and being Emmitt and Aikman so yes we kinda expected Taco to be aware of Haley, and the DBs to be Kevin smith and Woodson. Maybe we were spoiled?

 

[Idgit]

We've been limited on defense for years. This isn't anything new. People were taking about it when most of the board was complaining about clock management and playcalling.

That said, what we've seen in preseason tells us nothing about how we'll play when the games count. We go through this every year. You can look at individual players. You can't evaluate a unit that's subbing regularly, not game planning, and not doing anything to disguise or generate a pass rush.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

The issue has been blown assignments in coverage. We're playing a lot more zone this preseason and there are going to be some kinks to work out with the revamped secondary.

If guys were getting blown away repeatedly I would be worried. Instead its things like two guys covering the same man underneath. That can be fixed if you have intelligent hard working players.

 

[waving monkey]

With the Eagles adding Darby, we have the worst secondary in the division and it's really not even debatable at this point.

With no pass rush, it makes it even worse.

This defense is going to get lit up at times by competent QBs who have talent at WR.

This is a front office failure plain and simple. They should have spent a little money on help in the secondary and now wasted it on bums like Carroll.

Going all in on the secondary is hard for me to see as a failure.We may not like the new conservative FA policy but I'll wait till
the season is over to all it a failure.

 

[Blackspider214]

I'd like to see this defense with a new staff. Marinelli is getting stale. And the narrative of how much he gets from these guys and how great he coaches is so overblown. He's an old man who yells a lot and that's about it.

 

[Blackspider214]

I'm hoping the defense gets better, it gets old hearing constant complaining every single year

It gets old hearing the complaints or it gets old that they are terrible year after year? I hope it is the latter because I definitely hope people voice their displeasure about aspects they don't like. This defense has been a joke for a very long time. It is constantly the downfall. I don't see one thing they do well right now. Miscommunication all over the place. Zero pressure. Tackling is subpar. No playmaking ability. Which is why we get bounced early in the playoffs when you actually have to play good offenses.

 

[Screw The Hall]

We've been limited on defense for years. This isn't anything new. People were taking about it when most of the board was complaining about clock management and playcalling.

That said, what we've seen in preseason tells us nothing about how we'll play when the games count. We go through this every year. You can look at individual players. You can't evaluate a unit that's subbing regularly, not game planning, and not doing anything to disguise or generate a pass rush.

This board also overrates how ineffective the defense is annually though. Take last year for instance. If you look at how many on here post and had no knowledge yourself on what actually happened last season, you would be convinced that last year's defense was a failure of epic proportions. The reality is that while they didn't perform well against the pass, it was a mid-level defense in terms of pressure, which it is most often criticized for, the number 1 overall defense against the run, and most importantly number 5 overall for points given up per game. Number 5! Yet people cry as though it were a bottom tier unit. I watched last preseason when so many here predicted a horrible defense. That didn't happen. Yet those same people love to conjure up a revisionist history point of view based on complete fallacy.

 

[csirl]

There is no unit on our defense that opponents will fear. There are some individual players who are good, but not enough of them that an OC is restricted in the plays he might call against us.

 

[kevm3]

Bringing in a new dc will solve nothing with the level of talent on the d, just like how getting rid of rob ryan was supposed to solve our problems, but it didnt't. If you want an elite defense, you have to keep dumping resources into that side of the ball.

 

[bark]

We've been limited on defense for years. This isn't anything new. People were taking about it when most of the board was complaining about clock management and playcalling.

That said, what we've seen in preseason tells us nothing about how we'll play when the games count. We go through this every year. You can look at individual players. You can't evaluate a unit that's subbing regularly, not game planning, and not doing anything to disguise or generate a pass rush.

The mantra coming from the FO this offseason was we need more playmakers on defense. They backed that up with draft picks that have had a history of being ball hawks.
Personally I like the future with auwazie and X woods roaming around in the secondary. Unfortunately the injury bug has made their immediate impact less likely.
Can't really blame (though some do) the front office and coaching for that.
I see this as a case of having to hang on for dear life the first half of the season until we can get some of these players up to speed and some of these suspensions out of the way.
We survive that and by the time the playoffs roll around we could be working with something.

 

[Sydla]

This board also overrates how ineffective the defense is annually though. Take last year for instance. If you look at how many on here post and had no knowledge yourself on what actually happened last season, you would be convinced that last year's defense was a failure of epic proportions. The reality is that while they didn't perform well against the pass, it was a mid-level defense in terms of pressure, which it is most often criticized for, the number 1 overall defense against the run, and most importantly number 5 overall for points given up per game. Number 5! Yet people cry as though it were a bottom tier unit. I watched last preseason when so many here predicted a horrible defense. That didn't happen. Yet those same people love to conjure up a revisionist history point of view based on complete fallacy.

Actually people overrate the effectiveness of the D last year. They were mediocre across the board except for stopping the run.

Points per game was affected by the fact we limited drives per game given we chewed up time on offense. If you adjust points to a per drive basis, we were like 14th in the league.

Every advanced stat shows this defense was mediocre save for the run D.

 

[Diehardblues]

I'll disagree with that. The biggest concern is the same now as it was when 2016 ended - the pass rush. On paper it appears to be better. Until that translates to the field, everything other concern can be no higher than #2.

Totally agree. It all starts up front . Until we have a legit pass rush our secondary is going to be exposed regardless who's back there.

 

[casmith07]

The article is wrong. The pass rush is the problem.

 

[casmith07]

NYG spent 100 million to improve their defense last season and still got lit up in the playoffs by a red hot Aaron Rodgers.

Scoring points is the name of the game against "good QBs with good WRs". No secondary in the NFL is going to slow down elite quarterbacks with today's rules.

The Giants spent a lot of money on Vernon, most people thought that was a huge reach.