Top 3 defense?

[SuspectCorner]

The 'Boys may not get many TOs. But during the Raiders game CBS showed a stat claiming that, since 2007, no team has more sacks than Dallas.

Now that's a mitigating factor if ever there was one.

I think it's pretty clear that Dallas has something pretty good going on defense this season. And defense can take you a long way in this league. Especially when you are not exactly bereft of talent on offense - and Dallas is anything but.

 

[RainMan]

The 'Boys may not get many TOs. But during the Raiders game CBS showed a stat claiming that, since 2007, no team has more sacks than Dallas.

Now that's a mitigating factor if ever there was one.

I think it's pretty clear that Dallas has something pretty good going on defense this season. And defense can take you a long way in this league.

Good post, Suspect. I referenced that stat in a separate post as well.

I've never been a Wade apologist, but I must admit it seemed rather inconceivable three years ago that the Dallas Cowboys could lead the league in sacks over a stretch of time.

 

[TD-33]

I've never seen a team as futile as ours is when it comes to getting turnovers though. Its just amazing how awful we've been at it the past 27 regular season games.

In 1981, an undrafted rookie named Everson Walls had 11 (ELEVEN) picks in 16 regular season games. In the last 27 regular games we have a total of 15 as a TEAM, and are on pace to potentially have fewer than 10 for the 2nd straight season.

So? In '81 you could all but mug a receiver and now everything so heavily favors the offense (to give high-scoring games) it's a flag to touch the guy depending on the ref.

 

[DaBoys4Life]

Nothin like playing the Commanders and Raiders to drop the old season average.

 

[lcharles]

Nothin like playing the Commanders and Raiders to drop the old season average.

Finally, somebody keeping it real.



We always dominate crappy teams.



So don't crown them just yet.

 

[JohnsKey19]

I don't have a breakdown for Oakland's defense, but 43.5 percent of all carries in the NFL go for 2 yards or less. Another 11.8 percent gain 3 yards, which means that 55.3 percent go for 3 or less.

The Raiders seemed to think our wide receivers couldn't beat their cornerbacks, so they played a lot of press coverage and crowded the box against the run. They were able to stop some of our runs short that way, but they also ended up allowing a lot of big plays because of it.

This strategy is exactly why I thought we would struggle against Oakland. This is how they managed to keep Philly in check - and that was w/out Nhamdi in the lineup. Being able to gash them with those big plays really took the pressure off of our offense.

 

[Sarge]

Turnovers are great. Not giving up any points is better.

I think both are great......and you can have/do both.

 

[1st & 10]

Turnovers are great. Not giving up any points is better.

I agree, however, turnovers can give the offense a short field and can change momentum. I'm glad we don't give up a lot of points, but causing turnovers and being opportunistic on defense will help push us over the top. I think both are possible.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Some of these complaints are just weird. I can't imagine if we were scoring 30 points a game on offense and people were lamenting that, "Yeah, but our yards per carry is 0.2 too low, and we aren't converting enough third downs."

Huh?

When you boil it down, there's only one stat that matters, and that's points on the scoreboard. Right?

 

[theogt]

Good post, Suspect. I referenced that stat in a separate post as well.

I've never been a Wade apologist, but I must admit it seemed rather inconceivable three years ago that the Dallas Cowboys could lead the league in sacks over a stretch of time.

And if there's a stat for not giving up big plays, we're very likely at or close to the top of it as well, which would have also seemed inconceivable 3 years ago.

 

[AdamJT13]

This strategy is exactly why I thought we would struggle against Oakland. This is how they managed to keep Philly in check - and that was w/out Nhamdi in the lineup. Being able to gash them with those big plays really took the pressure off of our offense.

Even though it didn't lead to any points, I'm sure that Miles Austin torching Asomugha for 49 yards on our second offensive play of the game was a huge confidence-booster for our offense.

 

[percyhoward]

43.5 percent of all carries in the NFL go for 2 yards or less.

Totally unrelated to the thread, but what percentage of the Cowboys' runs go for 2 yards or less?

And, yeah we're definitely a top 3 defense. More takeaways, and we'll be the best.