When was the last time our defense was this good

[jaybird]

2007.

2007 we had a horrendous secondary

 

[Jake]

2003 and 2007. The 2007 team man was so good. The refs robbed us in that giants game.

If Patrick Crayton doesn't give up on Romo's pass in the final minute he walks into the end zone and wins that 2007 game. That play still sticks with me.

 

[Jake]

The 2003 team won 10 games with Quincy Carter at QB because we had a top 5 defense, still running a 4-3 under Zimmer (Parcells first year).

Didn't take long for BP to blow that up, Zimmer left town, and the next thing you know Greg Ellis looks like a fish out of water trying to play linebacker in a 3-4.

 

[TheSport78]

2009 and 2003 comes to mind.

 

[bigdnlaca]

2009. I think they were number two ranked in yards and a top 5 ranking in plays not going past 20 yards.

 

[Bobhaze]

Defense has been a bright light so far. And the fact this team is so young bodes well for the future. But let’s let the season play out before declaring this defense anything beyond a work in progress. The early signs are good. But six games is a little early to declare anything IMO.

 

[Aven8]

I like the defense a lot, but let's remember Watson picked us apart just last week.

 

[75boyz]

2003 and 2007. The 2007 team man was so good. The refs robbed us in that giants game.

I've made several past posts on my opinion of that 2007 team's collection of talent. Even when I look back on it now I still count it as the most hurtful of the 3 "missed opportunity teams " to include the '14, and 16 squads.

I do like the current defensive front seven depth and on field ability. I don't like some of the health and off field and suspension issues.

 

[Hennessy_King]

2003, 2007, and 2009.

 

[Vtwin]

2007 we had a horrendous secondary

Cost us as much as anything in the playoffs.

 

[DoctorChicken]

2007

******* Crayton

 

[TheHerd]

I still think this D is ok, and is feeding off crap offenses. I understand that we're only 6 games in and the fact that one of the games has been against us which can skew the data, but the best offenses we've faced are 14th in pts and 11th in yards. That's the bad news.

The good news is that we only face 4 top 20 scoring offenses and 4 top 17 yardage offenses the rest of the way.

So statistically, our D could look pretty great by the season's end. I still think a reasonably good offense will carve this team up. Dallas aside, this is still very much a passing league. And we have poor coverage safeties and a very inconsistent pass rush. And our D coordinator tends to get overly conservative at the worst times. Hopefully Irving can help the pass rush part and Richard has some influenced on staying aggressive, but I still see the better QBs and reasonably good WRs or TEs finding no problem getting open and causing problems.

 

[Jeffkills]

2003, 2007, and 2009.

This...

 

[JohnsKey19]

While impressive, let's play this thing out a bit. Rob Ryans first year here had some good stretches before ultimately collapsing. I dont think this defense will fall apart but I still have reservations about how they can hold up vs aggressive passing offenses.

 

[plasticman]

Ironically, Tom Landry, a defensive coach, had three seasons in which his offense was #1 in both points and yards. He never had a defense that was #1 in both categories. Doomsday I didn't do it nor did Doomsday ll.

As dominant a team as the Cowboys were in the early 90's, that defense never ranked #1 in both categories. No Cowboy team thru it's 68 year history ever has. However, there was one team that ranked #1 in one category and #2 in the other. This is one of the greatest ironies of all.

That defense was on the 2003 team, Bill Parcell's first year as the Cowboys Head Coach. The irony? Parcell's favored the 3-4 defense and his plan called for that change the following season. The 2003 team was a "lameduck" 4-3 featuring players that were not compatible with Parcell's 3-4 like smallish linebackers Dat Nguyen and Dexter Coakley, Greg Ellis, who disliked his future roll as an outside LBer, and Ebenrzer Ekuban who left after the season..

That defense is statistically the best that the Cowboys ever had compared to the rest of the league. They held 6 opponents to 7 points or less. Every starter but one recorded at least one sack. They held opponents to an average 353 yards per game.

With that said, I believe you would have to look at the 90's team as the last time the Cowboys had that much potential to be elite. The current D-line rivals the depth of that great Super Bowl team which was built before salary caps and free agency.

 

[Praxit]

Be honest when was the last time our defense was this good across the board we've had great players but I mean across the board at all three levels ?

..its been a long time, thats for sure. As a whole product on D, definitely long time.

 

[Vanilla2]

07,08,09 timeframe. Been awhile.

I'd say these group of LB'ers though are the most facinating part of it imo.

2011? We’re they good that year too

 

[Batman1980]

2007.

2003. 2007 defense could be had on the back end and despite the 48 sacks, had stretches where they couldn't get to the QB.

 

[Vanilla2]

2011? We’re they good that year too

Cornfused that year with 09

 

[BoysForLife]

I'm talking about the first six games I think we're the number 2 defense in the NFL

#2 in scoring.