RealGM

How do you guys like the trend? Do you think the Cowboys D will be more like game 1 or more like game 2 and 3 for the rest of the season?

Both arguments can be made very well, but as a diehard fan I'm going to say that our defense is for real... especially with T-new and Ellis coming back we're going to take it to a whole new level...

That said, our two good defensive games did come against the dolphins and bears

Also, is Roy Williams any good at coverage, or at least improving? I can't believe how much I dislike the guy after these last few seasons...

First answer for me, I think our defense will be somewhere in middle of the pack until Newman really returns and either Ellis returns or we find a suitable solution to bring pressure on that side. Until those things are resolved, that means against bad offenses, we should look good. Against good offenses (ie. good QBs), we will probably look worse if not terrible.

About Roy Williams, I've been one that has always defended him because I thought it wasn't clear cut just his fault on some of the things he was accused of not doing well in the past, mainly deep coverage and tight end coverage. I thoght he was was better than most people gave him credit for but also he was a presence back there that delivered the jarring hits. And when moved up in the box, supported the run with more big hits, etc.

And the thing that has stood out to me so far is that not only has he gotten beaten down the field a couple of times already, even more disturbing to me anyway, is that he's not laying the wood on guys so far. Shockey pushed him around and flattened him on the sideline and kept going one time, that Bears' TE also kept running like he didn't even feel him on that one play, he's layed out no WR and not one crunching hit on a RB so far. Even the past couple of years when we were struggling with out Free-Safety (Watkins, Davis, etc) and Roy wasn't up closer to the line of scrimmage, he would ALWAYS find a way to run up and close on a RB and smash him at least once a game. This defense is supposed to bring more of that out of him and I haven't seen it.

Maybe Newman not being up there makes him play deeper. Still, no excuse to not make some big hits somewhere in 3 games. He played even deeper with our weak Free-saftey play the past couple of years and still managed to make you notice him. His soft hits this year makes me wonder what's going on?

The trend is nice, but to be honest, the Giants are the only team that we have faced that can score well. I'm still in the cautiously optimistic mode.

While we kept them to 10 points, the 2nd half of the Bears game worried me. It wasn't until the picks that I really felt we had the game locked up. When Rex was accurate, it seemed to me that they were able to move the ball down field.

Yards allowed per game, we are ranked 21st in league; points allowed per game - 18th.

imo, at this point, we're an average defense. It's our offense that is really winning us in the games.

vs Giants - we gave up 35 pts (we allowed 6 drives of 40+ yards)
Week 2 vs Green Bay - Giants scored 13
Week 3 vs Redskins - Giants scored 24
Giants 3 week average 24 pts

vs Fins - we gave up 20 pts (we allowed 5 drives of 40+ yards)
Week 1 vs Washington - Fins scored 13
Week 3 vs Jets - Fins scored 28
Fin 3 week average - 20.3

vs Bears - we gave up 10 pts (we allowed 2 drives of 40+ yards)
Week 1 vs San Diego - Bears scored 3
Week 2 vs Kansas - Bears scored 20
Bears 3 week average - 11

Next week we face a team that has scored 16,13 and 3 points. After that it's the anemic Bills - 14, 3 and 7 points.

It will be interesting game come Oct 14th. We'll see what we really have then.

What are going to allow next week?

6 points?
3 points (Pittsburgh did this to them in week 2)?

Dare I say it .... 0 points?

Next week should be under 14 fairly easy. The true test of our defense will come the week after that.

Defense gave up NOTHING yesterday. Though the chip shot FG was a little luck. Still, they got after it. As long as Henry comes back ok next week, I like the way Newman is getting his legs back and should be ready in a couple of weeks to really get after it. Plus Ellis in a pass rush specialist role is also perfeft for now! It's starting to look a little like what we wanted it to look like on that side of the ball.

I am impressed with the stride Jacques Reeves has made; he's basically your average CB now and no longer a full blown liability.

Last week was a fluke opponent. The Rams RB, one of the best in the league, was hurt. The QB and top receiver played hurt. They had multiple injuries to the offensive line. Dallas isn't likely to play a team that poor offensively again. So, I think they are more the defense from the first two games.

Jasen777 wrote:Dallas isn't likely to play a team that poor offensively again.

what about BUF and/or WAS?

They're bad, but not as bad as the injury plagued Rams.

there injury problems are just as bad as the rams though.

studcrackers wrote:there injury problems are just as bad as the rams though.

Yea but thats mainly on Defense. On offense i think they just have Losman missing. And really, how much of a loss is that?
Not saying Trent Edwards doesnt suck though.

Lee Evans worries me a bit, hes bound to break out of his funk at some point this year, but hopefully T-New can keep him relatively in check.

Marshawn Lynch is good but not there yet. He should have been able to do much more to that Jets defense. Plus we've looked good against the run generally.

Our defense only allowed 3 points last night.

14 of 24 on int return and another 7 points from a kick off return

Our defense is stuffing these sorry offensive teams.

But just watching them, especially since Henry got hurt last week, it seems an average QB can find average receivers in big secondary holes too easily.

And last night's game, haven't looked at the stats, but my eyes saw a rookie QB looking awfully comfortable back there. No pressure except late in the game when we finally got a couple of sacks.

Just makes me wonder how good our defense will hold up with a team like the Pats on the other side. Or even Green Bay actually. Or the Giants in the rematch in NYC. Philly always seems to keep our guys off of McNabb.

SMRattler wrote:Our defense is stuffing these sorry offensive teams.

But just watching them, especially since Henry got hurt last week, it seems an average QB can find average receivers in big secondary holes too easily.

And last night's game, haven't looked at the stats, but my eyes saw a rookie QB looking awfully comfortable back there. No pressure except late in the game when we finally got a couple of sacks.

Just makes me wonder how good our defense will hold up with a team like the Pats on the other side. Or even Green Bay actually. Or the Giants in the rematch in NYC. Philly always seems to keep our guys off of McNabb.

Agreed - our game against NE will be a litmus test, for the entire team.

SMRattler wrote:And last night's game, haven't looked at the stats, but my eyes saw a rookie QB looking awfully comfortable back there. No pressure except late in the game when we finally got a couple of sacks.

but a defense that only gave up 3 points
only 14 first downs
held their 3rd down conversion rate to 23%
total net yards were 229 (81 rushing/ 120 passing)

so looks can be deceiving...

the one thing that really bothered me is that DAL got TOP'ed; BUF had the ball for 32:31

jwa1107 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
but a defense that only gave up 3 points
only 14 first downs
held their 3rd down conversion rate to 23%
total net yards were 229 (81 rushing/ 120 passing)

See, I knew that stats would look great for the D. I mean, they scored 21 points on INT and that kickoff return, and only managed 24 points still.

I knew they shut it down overall. But that QB looked comfortable back there. A decent team with a good QB that is comfortable back there is going to pick us apart. If we can't put pressure on a rookie QB with the Bills offensive line and receivers... that rookie can't throw downfield. He can't fire at those out routes. He can't burn us on deep posts. Even the Bills loving ESPN announce team said this guy can't make all the throws.

Brady, McNabb, Favre, Elie... those guys can make all the throws. If they have all night to throw, even Elie showed he will pick us apart.

Not getting pressure on QBs is a problem. We are on pace to match last year's sack total. With Newman not back 100% (and him getting caught from behind on that INT proves he's not yet) and Henry not back yet, and Roy still, well, Roy... no pressure on the QB with an arm and experience equals disaster still.

I just hope when those guys play us we manage to dig deep and find a way to put pressure on them. Or we'll be in trouble.