Williams: Cowboys are giving up a ton of passing yards, which is why they rank 32nd..

Cowboys are giving up a ton of passing yards, which is why they rank 32nd defensively, but they are getting takeaways

The Cowboys came within 59 yards of allowing the third-most yards in a game in NFL history, so it should come as no surprise that they fell to 32nd in total defense. They also rank 32nd in pass defense after Matthew Stafford became the fourth quarterback to throw for at least 400 yards against them this season.

The Cowboys have allowed 2,671 passing yards, putting them on pace to allow 5,342 this season. That would be 546 more than the Green Bay Packers allowed in 2011 when they became the worst pass defense in NFL history.

What the Cowboys defense has been good at is forcing turnovers. They have 19 takeaways this season after getting only 16 all of last season, and their plus-9 turnover margin ranks second in the NFL behind only Kansas City.

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said yards aren't the No. 1 statistic with which to judge a defense.

“We’re not overly concerned about yards," Garrett said. "Certainly, you want to stop them. You don’t want them to continue to drive the ball, drive the ball, drive the ball. But if you take the ball away like we did [against the Lions], and then play good situational defense down in the red zone, you have a chance to be a good defense. We didn’t do that [Sunday]. They got down there five times, and they scored four touchdowns. We did take the ball away, which limited their opportunities.

"But some people get caught up in yards. It’s down the road, but it’s also a good indicator of how you’re functioning, whether you’re moving the ball on offense or how you’re stopping them from moving the ball when you’re playing defense.”

-- Charean Williams

Glad to hear yards don't matter. I was worried that if you are giving up a lot of yards you are probably losing the time of possession. Which means your defense is getting worn out and your offense gets less opportunities to score. Dallas seems to have gotten around that by allowing multiple 50+ plays a game. It is brilliant, really

Jason Garrett gets picky on stats
October, 30, 2013

By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com

IRVING, Texas – The Dallas Cowboys have the 32nd ranked defense in the NFL, giving up 422.5 yards per game. Jason Garrett will mention the Cowboys’ 19 takeaways and how only the Seattle Seahawks (21) and Kansas City Chiefs (20) have more.

The Cowboys have the 32nd ranked pass defense, giving up 315.4 yards per game. Garrett will mention the Cowboys are tied for second in the NFL in turnover differential at plus-9.

“Well, I think before you get caught up in certain statistics you’ve got to evaluate the whole body of work and that’s what we try to do with our team,” Garrett said. “There are a lot of different ways to measure how a defense is doing. One of the ways that we measure it is in relationship to the football.”

The only teams in the top 10 in turnover margin without a winning record so far are the Cowboys (4-4) and Tennessee Titans (3-4).

“We’re not overly concerned about yards,” Garrett said.

Measuring a defense by yardage is a little foolish. Points matter more. The Cowboys are allowing 23.3 points per game, which is 17th in the NFL.

“Typically the teams that are really high in takeaways score the most points on the other side,” Garrett said, and the Cowboys are fourth in points scored per game at 28.8. “That’s been a correlation for a long, long time in this league. It’s a correlation again this year and I think they’ve made a big impact on our football team and helped us win ballgames.”

Monte Kiffin’s defense is designed to not to give up big plays. They want to make offenses drive the field and tighten up inside the red zone. Through eight games the Cowboys have given up 33 pass plays of 20 yards or more. Through eight games last year with Rob Ryan as defensive coordinator, the Cowboys gave up 28 pass plays of 20 yards or more. They have allowed 26 rushes of 10 yards or more in eight games; last year they gave up 20 in eight games.

“We have to do a better job playing pass defense and throughout the ballgame, at critical moments in the ballgame against some of these elite pass offenses. We’ll keep working on that. It is a team thing. It starts upfront. It starts at the linebacker level and certainly on the back end. We as coaches have to continue to work hard to make sure that doesn’t happen. And slow some of these teams down and make some of those plays that make a difference in the game.”

He's right to a certain extent - the yardage is pretty irrelevant. At least until you continually win the turnover battle and lose. You can hope it's gonna even out, and we'll fall into line statistically with the 90% of the time you win if you force turnovers...but if we keep allowing any decent QB to go for 400 on us (combined with Romo not being right and an ineffective run game) we're just going to keep losing anytime we face any decent QB.

Iamtdg said:

“Well, I think before you get caught up in certain statistics you’ve got to evaluate the whole body of work and that’s what we try to do with our team,” Garrett said. “There are a lot of different ways to measure how a defense is doing. ”

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Sounds an awful lot like something that loser Wade "Stumbledoofus" Phillips would say when the media would use statistics to illustrate how bad his defense had been playing.

I never expected this D to be ready in just one year. A zone heavy scheme like the Tampa 2 is just a totally different way to look at coverage and we foolishly stuck to a non Tampa 2 DB coach.

Another prime example as to why Garrett isn't a NFL quality coach.


Your team had 4 takeaways...but you STILL LOST.

It is about yards, and it is about TOP, especially when you have a thin DL.

I will suffer the yardage bleed as long as the turnover ratio keeps its incredible trend. When is the last time we won a turnover ratio in a game but lost the game itself like against Detroit?

I understand the argument that yards don't mean anything as long your defense doesn't give up points. But when teams march up and down the field basically at will on your defense you have a serious problem.

Turnovers will counter the problem to an extent and keep the team in the game when it should be getting blown out. But you can't count on multiple takeaways saving your ass every game. At some point you have to stop the other team's offense, or at least slow them down a little or you create too much pressure on both your offense and defense. And, as we've seen so many times, these Cowboys tend to buckle under this kind of pressure rather than step up and overcome the difficulties.

UncleMilti said:

Another prime example as to why Garrett isn't a NFL quality coach.


Your team had 4 takeaways...but you STILL LOST.

It is about yards, and it is about TOP, especially when you have a thin DL.

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If we had even an average running game.... it would have been a win...but an ugly one.

E_D_Guapo said:

Sounds an awful lot like something that loser Wade "Stumbledoofus" Phillips would say when the media would use statistics to illustrate how bad his defense had been playing.

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I don't see where Garrett is any different from Wade.

Wait....he does not pull on his arm hair in press conferences...so there is that.

...another instance of this team continuing to baffle. Rarely in sync.

Offense is up, defense is down and vice versa.

boozeman said:

I don't see where Garrett is any different from Wade.

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I wonder if this is the booze talking or just irrational anger.

mschmidt64 said:

I wonder if this is the booze talking or just irrational anger.

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Humor us by how you think he's so much better. Where are all these staggering coaching differences that shows Garrett is clearly better than Phillips.

It sure isn't in the won/loss department.

NoDak said:

Humor us by how you think he's so much better. Where are all these staggering coaching differences that shows Garrett is clearly better than Phillips.

It sure isn't in the won/loss department.

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Haven't you heard?

He's better than Wade because he doesn't make excuses and stuff.

I mean, he repeats the hell out of "getting better", but he doesn't make excuses.

NoDak said:

Humor us by how you think he's so much better. Where are all these staggering coaching differences that shows Garrett is clearly better than Phillips.

It sure isn't in the won/loss department.

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Garrett isn't fat.

BOOM

Wade has a few skins on the wall. Garrett only has a guy wearing his.

pdom said:

...another instance of this team continuing to baffle. Rarely in sync.

Offense is up, defense is down and vice versa.

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The Rams game being the rare exception.

mschmidt64 said:

I wonder if this is the booze talking or just irrational anger.

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No booze or irrational anger. Just fed up with him and his mediocrity. And...right now...he's no better than Fat Wade. #process