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George: Run game helps, but here's why Cowboys' improvement on D is real
Better tackling, fewer big plays allowed limits opponents’ scoring
BRANDON GEORGE
Staff Writer
bgeorge@dallasnews.com
Published: 25 October 2014 09:03 PM
Updated: 25 October 2014 09:03 PM
IRVING — The Cowboys defense altered its pregame introductions a week ago before the team played the Giants at AT&T Stadium.
Instead of the starters running out one player at a time, the defense was introduced as one group.
“That’s the approach we’re taking. Collectively all guys need to feel appreciated and they’re a part of this,” Cowboys defensive end Jeremy Mincey said. “There are no stars on the defense. The defense is the star. I thought it was a great idea by the coaches.”
This Cowboys defense is mostly a no-name group that plays with maximum effort on every snap for new coordinator Rod Marinelli. The result has been dramatically different from a year ago under Monte Kiffin, whose defense was the third-worst in NFL history (allowing 415.3 yards per game).
But is this year’s defensive success mostly a mirage?
What’s striking: The Cowboys are allowing 6.1 yards per play this season, the same as last year.
And the Cowboys have 13 fewer sacks through seven games than they did last year when DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher still played in Dallas.
So, how is the 2014 defense — which features mostly the same group of players — better than last year’s woeful unit?
The easy answer is that this year’s Cowboys defense hasn’t been exposed because it hasn’t been on the field much with the way the offense has controlled time of possession with the league’s top run game.
But there’s more to it than that. Players and coaches say this year’s unit is a better situational defense, has reduced 20-plus yard plays allowed, swarms the football more, is much improved at tackling, has been boosted by the physical play of middle linebacker Rolando McClain and has played to the strengths of the cornerbacks with more man-to-man coverage.
The result: The defense has jumped from 32nd in the league last season to 14th overall in 2014, allowing 343.9 yards a game. What’s more important: The Cowboys are tied for ninth in scoring defense, allowing 21 points a game, after finishing 2013 26th overall at 27 points a game.
Cowboys safety Barry Church — a co-captain for the defense — said Marinelli “could [not] care less about yards” allowed.
“As long as they’re getting field goals for touchdowns or not points at all,” Church said, “he’s pretty happy.”
But when Marinelli isn’t happy, everyone knows it around Valley Ranch.
Marinelli gets maximum effort from his players on every snap because he demands it and holds players accountable when they fail to meet his standards.
Church said no player wants to be singled out for poor effort in front of his peers during film review.
“When we’re in our meeting room, if you’re not hustling your butt off, he’s going to get on you. He brings it to a man’s attention, like he always says,” Church said. “And he’s not just going to make it between you and him. He’s going to make it so the whole team can [see it]. Nobody wants to be that guy who gets put on the big screen like, ‘Look, this guy’s loafing! He doesn’t care!’ Nobody wants to be that guy. So everybody’s hustling.”
Calling out players in front of their teammates for poor effort has created a competitive spark. Linebacker Justin Durant — also a co-captain for the defense — said players want to be first to the football and first to make the tackle. Everyone wants to be the player who creates the key takeaway in a game.
“Why not? What else you got to do?” Marinelli said. “If he’s got something else to do, might not get there. And so, after awhile it becomes competitiveness within the group, and these guys are competitors.”
They’re competitive, fresher and healthier.
A year ago, the Cowboys were ushering in a new defensive lineman off the street about every week because of injuries. This year, the Cowboys have been healthy for the most part despite the season-ending loss of linebacker Sean Lee.
The Cowboys have rotated eight defensive linemen to get the most out of players.
But they’ve also had more juice left late in games because they haven’t been on the field nearly as much as they were last year.
The 6-1 Cowboys are on pace for only 908 defensive plays this season, which would be the fewest since the 2004 Pittsburgh team finished with 882. That Steelers team finished 15-1.
There were only two games last season in which the Cowboys defense played 61 snaps or fewer. This year, the Cowboys defense has played 61 snaps or fewer in five of the seven games. The defense is averaging only 56.7 plays per game.
That’s a winning formula when you consider this: Cowboys teams from 1992 to 1995 — three Super Bowl titles in a four-year span — averaged 60.8 defensive plays per game.
Through seven games, the Cowboys defense has been on the field for 397 plays, fewer than any other team in the league. Last year through seven games, the Cowboys defense was on the field for 506 plays.
That’s 11.7 plays fewer per game this season. That projects to 187 fewer plays on defense in 2014 — the equivalent of about three full games — and about 1,142 yards less than what the Cowboys gave up in 2013.
“It’s helping us a lot. When they [the offense] eat up the clock like that, it just makes you excited,” Mincey said, “knowing that you have some energy just to go out there and make the plays you need to make.”
The Cowboys’ improved tackling and swarming defense has slowed teams from gashing them with big plays.
Last year, the Cowboys played only six games in which they held an opponent to four or fewer 20-plus yard plays. The Cowboys haven’t allowed more than four 20-plus yard plays in any of the seven games this season.
“It’s certainly a great point of emphasis for our team,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “When you talk about defending the run, it’s gap discipline, it’s tackling. Those have improved. Similarly in the passing game somehow affecting the quarterback and whether it’s zone or man-to-man coverage, you’ve seen a lot more passes broken up this year. We’ve done a better job in our zone defenses of rallying to the football, playing with good depth, forcing them to throw the ball underneath and rallying to it and tackling.”
Durant says there is a noticeable difference with this year’s defense.
“Everybody is dialed in from meetings to walk-throughs to practices,” Durant said. “You just see a different vibe with everybody.”
The Cowboys are playing for one another with more of a group effort. And they prefer to be introduced as a whole.
“We don’t have a selfish defense,” Durant said. “Everybody wants to see everybody be successful. I’m with it.”
Better tackling, fewer big plays allowed limits opponents’ scoring
BRANDON GEORGE
Staff Writer
bgeorge@dallasnews.com
Published: 25 October 2014 09:03 PM
Updated: 25 October 2014 09:03 PM
IRVING — The Cowboys defense altered its pregame introductions a week ago before the team played the Giants at AT&T Stadium.
Instead of the starters running out one player at a time, the defense was introduced as one group.
“That’s the approach we’re taking. Collectively all guys need to feel appreciated and they’re a part of this,” Cowboys defensive end Jeremy Mincey said. “There are no stars on the defense. The defense is the star. I thought it was a great idea by the coaches.”
This Cowboys defense is mostly a no-name group that plays with maximum effort on every snap for new coordinator Rod Marinelli. The result has been dramatically different from a year ago under Monte Kiffin, whose defense was the third-worst in NFL history (allowing 415.3 yards per game).
But is this year’s defensive success mostly a mirage?
What’s striking: The Cowboys are allowing 6.1 yards per play this season, the same as last year.
And the Cowboys have 13 fewer sacks through seven games than they did last year when DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher still played in Dallas.
So, how is the 2014 defense — which features mostly the same group of players — better than last year’s woeful unit?
The easy answer is that this year’s Cowboys defense hasn’t been exposed because it hasn’t been on the field much with the way the offense has controlled time of possession with the league’s top run game.
But there’s more to it than that. Players and coaches say this year’s unit is a better situational defense, has reduced 20-plus yard plays allowed, swarms the football more, is much improved at tackling, has been boosted by the physical play of middle linebacker Rolando McClain and has played to the strengths of the cornerbacks with more man-to-man coverage.
The result: The defense has jumped from 32nd in the league last season to 14th overall in 2014, allowing 343.9 yards a game. What’s more important: The Cowboys are tied for ninth in scoring defense, allowing 21 points a game, after finishing 2013 26th overall at 27 points a game.
Cowboys safety Barry Church — a co-captain for the defense — said Marinelli “could [not] care less about yards” allowed.
“As long as they’re getting field goals for touchdowns or not points at all,” Church said, “he’s pretty happy.”
But when Marinelli isn’t happy, everyone knows it around Valley Ranch.
Marinelli gets maximum effort from his players on every snap because he demands it and holds players accountable when they fail to meet his standards.
Church said no player wants to be singled out for poor effort in front of his peers during film review.
“When we’re in our meeting room, if you’re not hustling your butt off, he’s going to get on you. He brings it to a man’s attention, like he always says,” Church said. “And he’s not just going to make it between you and him. He’s going to make it so the whole team can [see it]. Nobody wants to be that guy who gets put on the big screen like, ‘Look, this guy’s loafing! He doesn’t care!’ Nobody wants to be that guy. So everybody’s hustling.”
Calling out players in front of their teammates for poor effort has created a competitive spark. Linebacker Justin Durant — also a co-captain for the defense — said players want to be first to the football and first to make the tackle. Everyone wants to be the player who creates the key takeaway in a game.
“Why not? What else you got to do?” Marinelli said. “If he’s got something else to do, might not get there. And so, after awhile it becomes competitiveness within the group, and these guys are competitors.”
They’re competitive, fresher and healthier.
A year ago, the Cowboys were ushering in a new defensive lineman off the street about every week because of injuries. This year, the Cowboys have been healthy for the most part despite the season-ending loss of linebacker Sean Lee.
The Cowboys have rotated eight defensive linemen to get the most out of players.
But they’ve also had more juice left late in games because they haven’t been on the field nearly as much as they were last year.
The 6-1 Cowboys are on pace for only 908 defensive plays this season, which would be the fewest since the 2004 Pittsburgh team finished with 882. That Steelers team finished 15-1.
There were only two games last season in which the Cowboys defense played 61 snaps or fewer. This year, the Cowboys defense has played 61 snaps or fewer in five of the seven games. The defense is averaging only 56.7 plays per game.
That’s a winning formula when you consider this: Cowboys teams from 1992 to 1995 — three Super Bowl titles in a four-year span — averaged 60.8 defensive plays per game.
Through seven games, the Cowboys defense has been on the field for 397 plays, fewer than any other team in the league. Last year through seven games, the Cowboys defense was on the field for 506 plays.
That’s 11.7 plays fewer per game this season. That projects to 187 fewer plays on defense in 2014 — the equivalent of about three full games — and about 1,142 yards less than what the Cowboys gave up in 2013.
“It’s helping us a lot. When they [the offense] eat up the clock like that, it just makes you excited,” Mincey said, “knowing that you have some energy just to go out there and make the plays you need to make.”
The Cowboys’ improved tackling and swarming defense has slowed teams from gashing them with big plays.
Last year, the Cowboys played only six games in which they held an opponent to four or fewer 20-plus yard plays. The Cowboys haven’t allowed more than four 20-plus yard plays in any of the seven games this season.
“It’s certainly a great point of emphasis for our team,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “When you talk about defending the run, it’s gap discipline, it’s tackling. Those have improved. Similarly in the passing game somehow affecting the quarterback and whether it’s zone or man-to-man coverage, you’ve seen a lot more passes broken up this year. We’ve done a better job in our zone defenses of rallying to the football, playing with good depth, forcing them to throw the ball underneath and rallying to it and tackling.”
Durant says there is a noticeable difference with this year’s defense.
“Everybody is dialed in from meetings to walk-throughs to practices,” Durant said. “You just see a different vibe with everybody.”
The Cowboys are playing for one another with more of a group effort. And they prefer to be introduced as a whole.
“We don’t have a selfish defense,” Durant said. “Everybody wants to see everybody be successful. I’m with it.”
