What element(s) are missing for us to have a dominating defense?

[28 Joker]

1. A SS who can tackle a basic running play. (ie. Willis Magahee/McClain)
2. A SS who can cover a TE.
3. A third rusher who doesn't cost $ 6 million +dollars and doesn't complain about dropping back in coverage and gets more than 3 sacks in 10 games
4. Let Mike Jenkins fly.
5. Let Anthony Spencer fly.
6. An offense that doesn't turn the ball over way too much

The Cowboys have the personnel on hand. Gerald Sensabaugh was brought in to accomplish 1 and 2. They did dominate and win some low scoring games last year. They should have beatten the Steelers and Ravens. How do you get 5 sacks in one half and lose, like against the Ravens? Dallas' defense was the story of the Steelers' game, but the offense and special teams blew it.

The Cowboys' defense got hung out to dry in both games.

How can you improve special teams?

You could draft safeties like David Bruton (Round 4) and Chris Clemons (Round 5). Both are FSs that could be groomed behind Ken Hamlin.

 

[btcutter]

Those guys the Ravens,Steelers and Titans get are superb athletes nontheless..it's not like they are doing it with a bunch of scrubs..They just draft supreme talent year after year.

They are. I don't disagree but we got some talent as well. It's not like we have chop livers on our D.

I bet these teams figures out how to get the most out of Roy William and Anthony Henry.

They maximize the talent they have where as we often don't. It's pretty sad but that's the truth.

If we exchange D, I bet we'll be drooling at that THEY have. It's the grass is greener on the other side syndrome. Grass is greener where you water it. We need coaching with attitude! yes, drafting better won't hurt.

 

[CF74]

A solid possesion eating offense..

If the O can eat up the clock our D won't get so winded down the stretch. We need a NT that can share the load with Rat so they don't wear us down...

 

[khiladi]

I actually felt for Davis. His recognition had improved. He was typically in the area but the leg injury just made him unable to get there. Those last two games he was out there on only pure intestinal fortitude.

I'm not saying he didn't try, but we need an actual cover safety... Keith davis will never cut it, even if he was in the area. It is also testimony to Wade that Keith was actually in the area...

 

[jobberone]

The linebacker issue goes back to the DL. We need that girth in the middle or we'll continue to see our linebackers disappear. I really do like Ratliff as much as everyone else. He's an exciting guy to watch, but he's not what we truly need at NT.

Ratliff is just what Wade is looking for at NT for his D. But no D plays one certain way all the time. We need the versatility of having both types of NT.

 

[theebs]

I dont believe with this group we will ever have a dominating defense.

To have that you have to have 11+ guys that sell out to the team concept and are mentally ready to go at all times. Our group is nowhere near that.

Ware told laufenberg this group needs more discipline, lacks focus, needs to practice hard, needs to be more aggressive, needs to be able to take criticsm because they dont right now, and a majority of the guys need to leave their ego's at the door because they didnt in 08 and it hurt the defense.

and most importantly said there are too many chiefs and not enough indians.

the only reason you dont see people talking about it is because ware said it all with a smile and complimented wade and stewart in the beginning of the interview.

He said some pretty powerful things in that interview back in january, everyone is too wrapped up in chasing buffalo bill and blaming romo and garrett for everything to see the real consistent culprit of this team. The defense.

 

[ologan]

A solid possesion eating offense..

It would certainly be interesting if you could go back to the beginning of the team,and get the average number of offensive plays per possession for each game,and each season. Then look at those numbers in the years that we were the most successful,and see where the defense finished in those years where the offense was able to chew up time and yardage consistently. Just a thought.

 

[28 Joker]

I dont believe with this group we will ever have a dominating defense.

To have that you have to have 11+ guys that sell out to the team concept and are mentally ready to go at all times. Our group is nowhere near that.

Ware told laufenberg this group needs more discipline, lacks focus, needs to practice hard, needs to be more aggressive, needs to be able to take criticsm because they dont right now, and a majority of the guys need to leave their ego's at the door because they didnt in 08 and it hurt the defense.

and most importantly said there are too many chiefs and not enough indians.

the only reason you dont see people talking about it is because ware said it all with a smile and complimented wade and stewart in the beginning of the interview.

He said some pretty powerful things in that interview back in january, everyone is too wrapped up in chasing buffalo bill and blaming romo and garrett for everything to see the real consistent culprit of this team. The defense.

The Dallas defense has been evolving since 2005. They were not the main problem last year. They held Arizona to 17 points on the road and lost, ect...

The defense and team had some issues, but when Terence Newman came back, the defense played at a very high level and gave the Cowboys the opportunity to make the playoffs. They played their most dominating football in years.

The defense dominated the Giants, and the offense tried to give the game away by throwing the ball out of their own endzone. They gave up one legit TD drive at Pittsburgh while the other points came on turnovers. The offense and special teams gave that game away.

The defense looked ragged by the end of the Ravens game due to being on the field the whole game. The SS position was finally exposed at the end of the game. They pretty much won the Washington game by holding the Commanders to 10 points. What did S.F. do? They picked on the SS in coverage. What did Seattle do? They picked on the SS in coverage.

The Cowboys will need to replace Kevin Burnett, but if the offense and special teams will not give games away, the defense is plenty good enough to win games. They got lit up at Philadelphia, but it shouldn't have come down to that. The Cowboys offense was a turnover machine in that game.

Young players like Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick in the secondary will put a stop to some of the stuff that has gone on in the backend during the past. Phillips inherhited Bill Parcells' safety situation. S.D. had troublle at that spot, too. He upgraded the defense with Ken Hamlin. He stopped the endless bombs over the deep middle. Now, the team has invested in two young corners. That is something Bill Parcells didn't do. That is going to make the defense better. Now, Wes Welker can't pick on Nate Jones.

The defense is on the up-tick, and it showed last year. In an era of pass happy offenses, the defense has shown it can shut people down when they are healthy.

Henry/Reeves/Nate Jones are gone. Teams can't pick on them relentlessly anymore.

The sooner Greg Ellis and his $ 6 million dollar+, overrated self is gone, the quicker Anthony Spencer can realize his potential.

Give me a Lawrence Sidbury Jr. to be a third rusher and a coverage linebacker not named Barbie and we'll see.

 

[theebs]

The Dallas defense has been evolving since 2005. They were not the main problem last year. They held Arizona to 17 points on the road and lost, ect...

The defense and team had some issues, but when Terence Newman came back, the defense played at a very high level and gave the Cowboys the opportunity to make the playoffs. They played their most dominating football in years.

The defense dominated the Giants, and the offense tried to give the game away by throwing the ball out of their own endzone. They gave up one legit TD drive at Pittsburgh while the other points came on turnovers. The offense and special teams gave that game away.

The defense looked ragged by the end of the Ravens game due to being on the field the whole game. The SS position was finally exposed at the end of the game. They pretty much won the Washington game by holding the Commanders to 10 points. What did S.F. do? They picked on the SS in coverage. What did Seattle do? They picked on the SS in coverage.

The Cowboys will need to replace Kevin Burnett, but if the offense and special teams will not give games away, the defense is plenty good enough to win games. They got lit up at Philadelphia, but it shouldn't have come down to that. The Cowboys offense was a turnover machine in that game.

Young players like Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick in the secondary will put a stop to some of the stuff that has gone on in the backend during the past. Phillips inherhited Bill Parcells' safety situation. S.D. had troublle at that spot, too. He upgraded the defense with Ken Hamlin. He stopped the endless bombs over the deep middle. Now, the team has invested in two young corners. That is something Bill Parcells didn't do. That is going to make the defense better. Now, Wes Welker can't pick on Nate Jones.

The defense is on the up-tick, and it showed last year. In an era of pass happy offenses, the defense has shown it can shut people down when they are healthy.

Henry/Reeves/Nate Jones are gone. Teams can't pick on them relentlessly anymore.

The sooner Greg Ellis and his $ 6 million dollar+, overrated self is gone, the quicker Anthony Spencer can realize his potential.

Give me a Lawrence Sidbury Jr. to be a third rusher and a coverage linebacker not named Barbie and we'll see.

well I have a different opinion. I really dont feel like arguing tonight about it, but in a nutshell, ware seemed very concerned with the young players saying they didnt act like men, they lacked disicipline and they needed to practice harder. That is a concern if you ask me.

and while I agree the defense deserved a win in pittsburgh and the offense and that fluke special teams play cost them, the other games sans the giants...(the game I believe was there best all year) were basically teams that couldnt do anything offensively.

the hawks struggled all year and we got em on a short week, the niners didnt have the weapons or the qb to attack us and the skins showed that their offense was dreadful in the second half of the season, it was actually embarrassing. They lost to cincy and sf after the loss to us for some perspective.

and the ravens game while the defense was on the field alot, that had to be expected against a defense like baltimore's and it is a 60 minute game, the offense figured it out in the end and the defense was flat out inexcusably bad at the most critical moment.

Which gets me to the most important thing about the defense, they are always bad at critical times and they give up too many points and they struggle to get off the field on 3rd down.

now, I think removing some of the guys they did is an upgrade. And I agree about ss, I happen to think both of our safeties stink, we are stuck with hamlin so hopefully sensabaugh and a draft pick can solidify that constant problem area.

IN tough games I am a firm believer that defense wins and ours has failed in every test for the past 4 years. I dont think they are bad, I just dont think they will ever be dominant or one of the elite groups.

Lucky for them, the city and its fans suddenly hate romo and garrett and no one will ever say a word about the defense, they get alot sacks and romo fumbles.

 

[EPL0c0]

A solid possesion eating offense..

i agree.. an offense that can keep them off the field as long as possible

 

[AKATheRake]

Ratliff was a pro bowler but he isn't eating up bodies for the LB's to be effective enough. He's darn good at pressuring the middle of the pocket though when not in running situations.

Put him at DE, get a NT like Jamal Williams with a real inside LB alongside B.J and a ball hawking safety duo, there it is. 3/11 position, maybe 4/11 starting defensive position.

Yes a ball control offense helps but you asked for dominating. Dominating creates turnovers, dictates the game and put points up on the board. That's a dominating defense.

 

[AKATheRake]

i agree.. an offense that can keep them off the field as long as possible

A converting offense helps but they don't have one of those in Blitzburgh or Baltimore. Those 2 teams defense just gets the ball back and gives it back to the offense if it doesn't score itself.

 

[EPL0c0]

A solid possesion eating offense..

i agree.. an offense that can keep them off the field as long as possible

 

[Luther]

ATTITUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pitt/Raven/Ten do not have all pros at every position. They have mental toughness to win the game with DEFENSE.

Cowboy D is mentally soft. It gets down on itself and even worse after offense turns the ball over. Great D step up and get a turnover and score. It comes from coaching. ATTITUDE baby!

Gotta agree, attitude is the key. Probably better chemistry is a step needed to achieve the confidence required for killer attitude.

Killer attitude ... we're not far from it.

 

[Arch Stanton]

I think what we really need is one more very good defensive lineman. We have one in Ratliff, but Spears is just okay and Olshansky will just be solid, too. I think we need one more guy like Ratliff that can create havoc, whether that's a big, strong NT that can push the center into the backfield, or another disruptive end similar to Rat if he stays at NT.

We also need a good 3rd down rusher IMO. Ellis is about done and I hate his attitude. So we need to find a Shaun Phillips type to join Ware and Spencer on passing downs.

I also tend to think we need a really top, Pro Bowl type ILB next to Bradie. If Jay stays at NT, he needs to be a bigger, physical guy. If we got a big NT, maybe he could be a smaller, athletic guy that runs to the ball all over the field and makes a ton of tackles. This might not be as necessary as the other two, though. Or maybe it would be harder to find this than the 3rd down rusher -- I go back and forth on that.

The safety can be just a good player. Safeties don't make or break defenses IMO.

Amen!

 

[AdamJT13]

agree with the play making FS/S and i disagree with the thought that Ware and Rat need to be rotated out. they are two of 5 players i see we need to have on the field at all time. I'm sure Adam can provide their % of played downs from last year and im sure Ware and Rat are around 90/95%

Ware played 97 percent of the snaps, but Ratliff played only 65 percent.

 

[Woods]

Ware played 97 percent of the snaps, but Ratliff played only 65 percent.

Thanks, Adam.

I guess Tank really didn't show much given that he had ample opportunity.

 

[jobberone]

The Dallas defense has been evolving since 2005. They were not the main problem last year. They held Arizona to 17 points on the road and lost, ect...

The defense and team had some issues, but when Terence Newman came back, the defense played at a very high level and gave the Cowboys the opportunity to make the playoffs. They played their most dominating football in years.

The defense dominated the Giants, and the offense tried to give the game away by throwing the ball out of their own endzone. They gave up one legit TD drive at Pittsburgh while the other points came on turnovers. The offense and special teams gave that game away.

The defense looked ragged by the end of the Ravens game due to being on the field the whole game. The SS position was finally exposed at the end of the game. They pretty much won the Washington game by holding the Commanders to 10 points. What did S.F. do? They picked on the SS in coverage. What did Seattle do? They picked on the SS in coverage.

The Cowboys will need to replace Kevin Burnett, but if the offense and special teams will not give games away, the defense is plenty good enough to win games. They got lit up at Philadelphia, but it shouldn't have come down to that. The Cowboys offense was a turnover machine in that game.

Young players like Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick in the secondary will put a stop to some of the stuff that has gone on in the backend during the past. Phillips inherhited Bill Parcells' safety situation. S.D. had troublle at that spot, too. He upgraded the defense with Ken Hamlin. He stopped the endless bombs over the deep middle. Now, the team has invested in two young corners. That is something Bill Parcells didn't do. That is going to make the defense better. Now, Wes Welker can't pick on Nate Jones.

The defense is on the up-tick, and it showed last year. In an era of pass happy offenses, the defense has shown it can shut people down when they are healthy.

Henry/Reeves/Nate Jones are gone. Teams can't pick on them relentlessly anymore.

The sooner Greg Ellis and his $ 6 million dollar+, overrated self is gone, the quicker Anthony Spencer can realize his potential.

Give me a Lawrence Sidbury Jr. to be a third rusher and a coverage linebacker not named Barbie and we'll see.

well I have a different opinion. I really dont feel like arguing tonight about it, but in a nutshell, ware seemed very concerned with the young players saying they didnt act like men, they lacked disicipline and they needed to practice harder. That is a concern if you ask me.

and while I agree the defense deserved a win in pittsburgh and the offense and that fluke special teams play cost them, the other games sans the giants...(the game I believe was there best all year) were basically teams that couldnt do anything offensively.

the hawks struggled all year and we got em on a short week, the niners didnt have the weapons or the qb to attack us and the skins showed that their offense was dreadful in the second half of the season, it was actually embarrassing. They lost to cincy and sf after the loss to us for some perspective.

and the ravens game while the defense was on the field alot, that had to be expected against a defense like baltimore's and it is a 60 minute game, the offense figured it out in the end and the defense was flat out inexcusably bad at the most critical moment.

Which gets me to the most important thing about the defense, they are always bad at critical times and they give up too many points and they struggle to get off the field on 3rd down.

now, I think removing some of the guys they did is an upgrade. And I agree about ss, I happen to think both of our safeties stink, we are stuck with hamlin so hopefully sensabaugh and a draft pick can solidify that constant problem area.

IN tough games I am a firm believer that defense wins and ours has failed in every test for the past 4 years. I dont think they are bad, I just dont think they will ever be dominant or one of the elite groups.

Lucky for them, the city and its fans suddenly hate romo and garrett and no one will ever say a word about the defense, they get alot sacks and romo fumbles.

You both make good points. The offense is what has failed this team. They've failed it since 1995 maybe 1996. Not saying the defense has always been good. But when they've been good or good enough the offense has failed.

OTOH, there are two things missing on this defense maybe a third. One is the lack of turnovers. Another is the lack of the big play. What I mean is coming up with that sack, TO, critical stop when needed. It's great to hold teams to less than 17 a game or just enough to win. It's another thing to come up with a play when needed whatever the score. Like the Giants game 2007. We controlled the second qtr with a drive of over 20 plays to score. Back from a quick NY TD in the first then making two scores to lead with less than a minute going into the half of a playoff game. We let NY score a TD. It killed us. Granted a lot of it was on STs but the 'face mask' penalty killed us as well. They should have given up 3 at most there.

The third thing is confidence. Arrogance even. Or maybe it's just identity.

I do have confidence in them. I probably get a lot of chuckles and more rolled eyes for this but if they can fill that NT need I think this defense has a chance to be dominating.

 

[irvin4evs]

We need two good safeties. Ken Hamlin is just awful. Awful, awful, awful.

Tra Battle played better in his limited time than Hamlin, and Keith Davis certainly wasn't any worse.

Our safeties don't make plays, don't tackle, and still give up embarrassing deep plays. Hamlin doesn't even make big hits. He has made more awkward whiffs than any other safety I've ever seen. He's a ******* clown.

Still, we need more quickness at ILB, I think. Bradie was superb last year against the run and passrushing, but he's a comically weak cover guy.

 

[Apollo Creed]

We need a 2nd playmaker opposite Ware. Doesn't matter if he's a corner, ILB, FS, SS, DT, etc. Just somewhere on the field we need a have a guy that other teams have to account for and identify.

And we don't cause any turnovers. That goes back to playmakers. We only have one.

We all love a healthy Newman, but even then he's not making plays when given the opportunity.

Remember Roy Williams' impact? One great defender can hide warts and give you the freedom to do things and take risks. Wade is a great defensive coach but he needs to get these guys wanting to get the ball, not just sacks.