Turnovers

[mattjames2010]

We talk about turnovers and criticize the defense for it in just about every thread.

Haha, no we don't.

 

[Idgit]

Haha, no we don't.

I do. It's a huge part of why we've been losing when we're relying on backup QBs.

I know you want to try to be the guy drawing a hard line here on a new topic of complaint, but this is not a new topic.

 

[mattjames2010]

I do. It's a huge part of why we've been losing when we're relying on backup QBs.

I know you want to try to be the guy drawing a hard line here on a new topic of complaint, but this is not a new topic.

I never said it was a "new topic", I said posters are downplaying the seriousness of the lack of turnovers.

The common response on this forum is: The defense is not the problem. I'm saying it is the problem. You're in agreement? Good for you. I'm glad you agree with me.

 

[Idgit]

I never said it was a "new topic", I said posters are downplaying the seriousness of the lack of turnovers.

The common response on this forum is: The defense is not the problem. I'm saying it is the problem. You're in agreement? Good for you. I'm glad you agree with me.

The lack of takeaways is the single biggest reason we're not winning games while compromised at QB. Which is why it's a fairly common topic. So, yes Id agree with that part of your thread.

I don't consider it a failure of coaching though. I consider our defense to be well coached and I know we put a huge emphasis on takeaways.

 

[btcutter]

Which he's failing at...this year. Why you're discussing 2014 is beyond me.

Which part are you upset at? Marinelli's tackling, not catching the ball? getting sacks? Has Marinelli's defense always finished low in the TO department? If so then you may have a case but you don't. You are just calling him out because this is an anomaly for D to get this few TO. Balls bounces funny sometimes. It's got two pointed ends.

 

[perrykemp]

Offenses play very conservatively against the Cowboys because they are not worried the Cowboys offense.

Which is one of the reasons we should view the point totals allowed by the defense (13 in the past two games) with at least some scrutiny.

Teams are playing a very conservative game offensively because they know it's enough to win.

 

[IrishAnto]

Offenses play very conservatively against the Cowboys because they are not worried the Cowboys offense.

The defense during Romo’s tenure as QB (and probably before that as well) has (apart from a couple of years) been very poor at generating turnovers.

It doesn’t matter whether we play 3-4 or 4-3 whether Zimmer, Phillips or Marinelli is the DC the results by and large are the same.

Wilcox and Hardy are joint leaders with one Int each.

The first has had his playing time reduced due in part to his lack of coverage abilities and the other is a DE who was suspended for the first four games.

We have a problem which has less to do with the other teams and more to do with ourselves.

Add to that our propensity to let the other team drive down the field to score the winning points in the last 5 or so minutes (another trait of our defense) and it’s no wonder the team is losing.

As putrid as the current QB’s are they get little help.

 

[CATCH17]

Turnovers & sacks will come when our offense puts up points.

 

[IrishAnto]

Turnovers & sacks will come when our offense puts up points.

Why do we have to wait?
Were 28 points against the dirty birds not enough?

 

[CATCH17]

Why do we have to wait?
Were 28 points against the dirty birds not enough?

We didn't get it done that game for sure.

Marinelli had no answer for Julio Jones and Freeman running right at us.


Even though we did put up 28 points I still blame our offense for going 3 and out in the 2nd half, going into a complete shell, and really not giving the Falcons any reason to start forcing things.

 

[IrishAnto]

We didn't get it done that game for sure.

Marinelli had no answer for Julio Jones and Freeman running right at us.


Even though we did put up 28 points I still blame our offense for going 3 and out in the 2nd half, going into a complete shell, and really not giving the Falcons any reason to start forcing things.

The offense has the major part in the blame these past five games, but the defense has played a big part too (and of course special teams).

I don’t care what the other teams think about our offense or how many points we score, 1 turnover in five games is pathetic!

And again all those other years when Romo was putting up points, but the defense got nada in the way of turnovers.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Offenses play very conservatively against the Cowboys because they are not worried the Cowboys offense.

I think that's part of it. It would also help if we could catch the ball.

I think we need better performance out of the safety position and at MLB. And for whatever reason, the staff has a pet cat in Church that they just don't want to step aside. Wilcox isn't perfect to me by any means, but at least he has the recovery speed to make up for some mistakes and he can make plays.




YR

 

[xwalker]

I think that's part of it. It would also help if we could catch the ball.

I think we need better performance out of the safety position and at MLB. And for whatever reason, the staff has a pet cat in Church that they just don't want to step aside. Wilcox isn't perfect to me by any means, but at least he has the recovery speed to make up for some mistakes and he can make plays.




YR

I'm not sure what they're doing in the secondary.

They had Church as the deep Safety several times which is odd considering his lack of speed and his bad ankle.

Heath played more snaps than Wilcox (28, 24).

Jones played all of the snaps as the slot CB plus some snaps at Safety. I thought White was injured, but he played 9 snaps on ST.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I'm not sure what they're doing in the secondary.

They had Church as the deep Safety several times which is odd considering his lack of speed and his bad ankle.

Heath played more snaps than Wilcox (28, 24).

Jones played all of the snaps as the slot CB plus some snaps at Safety. I thought White was injured, but he played 9 snaps on ST.

This is one of the things that worried me when Kiffin took over (and Marinelli as well).

If you look at the past with their defenses they favored going cheap on the safeties. And when one of the safeties started to have success and was looking for a new contract (i.e. Damien Robinson and Dexter Jackson), they allowed them to walk. I think the passing game is different now then it was even 5 years ago. Watching guys like Jenkins and Thurmond for the Eagles, they are really superb cover guys that can make plays and I don't see that coming from Church and Heath.







YR

 

[ScipioCowboy]

Which is one of the reasons we should view the point totals allowed by the defense (13 in the past two games) with at least some scrutiny.

Teams are playing a very conservative game offensively because they know it's enough to win.

That might be true when the opponent has a two score lead early in the game, but that wasn't the case in either of the last two contests. In Fact, we were moving the ball pretty well against new York and had it tied up late.

 

[khiladi]

Defensive Coordinators play aggressive or passive based on the tempo of the game... They may not take risks, because they know the offense is sputtering and won't be able compensate of the aggressiveness leads to an opponent scoring.

TOs also come when the opposing offenses think they have to keep pace with scoring, so they also press and take risks.

Further, Hardy got a TO in the red-zone and we still did nothing with it. And Hardy has only played 3 games, not a whole season so to talk about the whole season defensively as a continuous trend is not interpreting things properly.

 

[CowboysLegend365]

Our defense drops at least 2 picks per game, namely the secondary.

Church had a chance to seal it up last week when Wilson lofted one up there, would have been a tough catch but he got his hands on it...should have caught it. Knew it would bite us.

 

[mattjames2010]

Which part are you upset at? Marinelli's tackling, not catching the ball? getting sacks? Has Marinelli's defense always finished low in the TO department? If so then you may have a case but you don't. You are just calling him out because this is an anomaly for D to get this few TO. Balls bounces funny sometimes. It's got two pointed ends.

You're attempting to point to the past like it validates the present. It doesn't.

Right now our defense isn't playing aggressive, they aren't stripping the ball, they aren't even tackling well. This is on the DC.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

The lack of turnovers are killing us right now. You would think this would be obvious, but with many posts here, it seems this is being downplayed. So, let's take a deeper look into this.

Through 7 games this year, we have one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. The only other team in the league with only one forced fumble this year is Chicago Bears, with Baltimore Ravens and 49ers with 2. That's not good company. Every other team in the league has 4 or more forced fumbles. You then add in the fact we only have 3 INTs on the season, which ties us with the Jaguars, Seahawks, Ravens, and Commanders. The season as a whole, we have 4 turnovers which ties us with Baltimore Ravens who has one win on the season.

This is absolutely pathetic. You then factor in that we are in the lower half of the league when it comes to sacks and pass deflections and it gives you a better picture of how underwhelming this team is playing in nearly every single category.

This directly falls on Marinelli. We brought him in because he puts a supposed emphasis on turnovers and tackling, he is failing. Even when Romo gets back and our turnover statistics stay the same, this team will struggle.

I think it is just bad luck and not for lack of effort. They will come there is plenty of season left.

 

[percyhoward]

I think it is just bad luck and not for lack of effort. They will come there is plenty of season left.

A lot of it really is luck. We had many, many more takeaways in 2010 with Kitna at QB then we had in the 10 or so games with Romo before or since.

But of course, the takeaways are just a part of the problem, and depending on them would never be confused for a winning strategy.