How good is the defense?

[p1_]

 

[Smitty]

Without watching the video? Good not great.

Probably capable of turning in a statistical top 5 year, more likely will be top 10, but not capable of carrying the team to the playoffs. The kind of defense that if Tony Romo had more consistently, he probably would have at least had a couple NFC Championship appearances (ie, 2007, 2014, 2016), if not NFC Championships.

 

[Smitty]

Interesting that statistically, we are like 6th/7th in yards per game, and 3rd in points allowed per game, but that PFF has us rated as the what, 12th or 14th overall defense, in terms of grade?

Kinda matches my eyes a bit. We aren't as good on the field as we are statistically right now. Odd that we could be such a moderately rated defense by PFF but still be getting all this praise as the best defense in the division.

 

[Smitty]

I liked the interception by LVE. Would like to see he and Jaylon Smith make more plays.

 

[bbgun]

Taco and Gregory have been duds as pass rushers. If Lawrence doesn't get there, seemingly no one does.

 

[Smitty]

I still have hope for Taco; but it's BEGINNING to be a little concerning that he can't get on the field and make more of an impact. He's probably not ever gonna be even an 8-10 sack guy, at least not consistently, but a guy with his size and measurables should be able to make a way bigger difference in point of attack and drawing blockers to the extent that he's considered a quality starter.

Reminder, though, we went through this with Lawrence, too. The period of time where it was like, uh, this guy just isn't doing anything. He did nothing his first year (Taco did more as a rookie, actually). He did have 8 sacks his second year, but his third year he had only 1 sack in 9 games. He didn't really put it all together till his fourth year; and Taco and he were similarly players in terms of the amount of talent they had (though different TYPES of talent -- pass rusher vs more well rounded DE), as Taco was a late first who maybe should have gone a little later, Lawrence was an early second who probably should have gone a bit earlier.

I hesitate to say Gregory is an outright disappointment. For a guy who has only played 21 games in 4 years, including missing an entire full season, I mean, he's like on pace for 4 sacks as a rotational guy. I mean, it's ok. The disappointment for him came from him throwing away his potential on marijuana; it's possible he's already ruined as a prospect with all the development he's missed, and this is what he is. Would still be a nice success story if he's a 4-5 sack rotational player for a couple years in the league.

 

[Simpleton]

I liked the interception by LVE. Would like to see he and Jaylon Smith make more plays.

LVE is already playing at an elite level for a rookie, if he was making any more plays he'd be an elite LB period, as a rookie. That is very rare.

 

[bbgun]

Maurice Hurst kept falling and falling and we didn't pull the trigger despite DT being a position of need. Our stupidity was Oakland's gain.

 

[Cotton]

Maurice Hurst kept falling and falling and we didn't pull the trigger despite DT being a position of need. Our stupidity was Oakland's gain.

 

[bbgun]

The docs cleared him and he fell to the 5th round, so the risk was minimal. The guy drafted three spots ahead of him? Dalton Schultz.

 

[Smitty]

Yeah, we panicked and took Dalton Schultz instead of Hurst, though technically I don't know if Hurst was even on our board, with his condition and all, but grabbing him with that Schultz pick would have been epic. You might have even been able to get Schultz in the 5th with the Mike White pick, and Mike White in the 6th with the Chris Covington pick.

 

[p1_]

Taco and Gregory have been duds as pass rushers. If Lawrence doesn't get there, seemingly no one does.

Gregory was out so long, I didn't expect him to contribute pressure right away. He seems to be coming along slowly. Taco has been MIA.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Gregory was out so long, I didn't expect him to contribute pressure right away. He seems to be coming along slowly. Taco has been MIA.

Yeah Gregory has started to show up. He played really well against Philly. His snaps still seem limited but the injuries to DT forced Crawford back to the 3 technique spot where he is best and Gregory really showed some ability to get after the QB. Gregory is still the best pure RE on this roster and he obviously has elite level potential.

 

[Genghis Khan]

Without watching the video? Good not great.

Probably capable of turning in a statistical top 5 year, more likely will be top 10, but not capable of carrying the team to the playoffs. The kind of defense that if Tony Romo had more consistently, he probably would have at least had a couple NFC Championship appearances (ie, 2007, 2014, 2016), if not NFC Championships.

Basically how I feel.

Good, but overrated by our fan base.

 

[BipolarFuk]

Good enough to be Hot Boyz, not Doomsday.

 

[ravidubey]

Until we have elite DTs we won’t have an elite defense. That’s all there is to it.

We can pretend a. Few choice stats gained against the leagues’ average teams will mean jack shit vs the Saints, Chiefs, Rams, and Patriots of the world, but we’d be homering fools if we did.

Our fate rests mainly in Dak, Tyron, and Zekes’ hands. Predictable, “efficient”, Dak.

 

[UncleMilti]

Until we have elite DTs we won’t have an elite defense. That’s all there is to it.

We can pretend a. Few choice stats gained against the leagues’ average teams will mean jack shit vs the Saints, Chiefs, Rams, and Patriots of the world, but we’d be homering fools if we did.

Our fate rests mainly in Dak, Tyron, and Zekes’ hands. Predictable, “efficient”, Dak.

Yep, and you'd think the morons that run this team would have figured out that upper level DT's could have elevated this D even 3-4 years ago. Now? Shit this D would be killer.

It just doesn't seem to be a big deal to our great GM braintrust.

 

[Couchcoach]

The docs cleared him and he fell to the 5th round, so the risk was minimal. The guy drafted three spots ahead of him? Dalton Schultz.

We could have had BJ Hill as well. From what I hear he's been pretty solid. Hopefully now that Marinelli I being phased out, Richard will find a difference maker at DT.

 

[Genghis Khan]

Until we have elite DTs we won’t have an elite defense. That’s all there is to it.

We can pretend a. Few choice stats gained against the leagues’ average teams will mean jack shit vs the Saints, Chiefs, Rams, and Patriots of the world, but we’d be homering fools if we did.

Our fate rests mainly in Dak, Tyron, and Zekes’ hands. Predictable, “efficient”, Dak.

I think we need another serious pass rusher honestly. A ball hawking safety would be nice too.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

I think we need another serious pass rusher honestly. A ball hawking safety would be nice too.

I think a real dominant 3 technique would go a long way for this defense. That was David Irving last year but clearly that guy can't be relied upon. If we had that I think this defense could cause a lot of havoc. Well that and them stop putting Crawford in at RE. He plays well at DT but he is a total slug out of position at RE. The number of time he bites inside and they go outside is insane. He is just to slow to take any wrong steps like that.