MacMahon: Dallas defense drastically improved

Carp

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A defense widely billed as potentially the worst in NFL history is above average after two weeks.

Perhaps you heard that the Dallas Cowboys ranked dead last in the league in total defense last season, allowing an average of 415.3 yards per game. Many thought the Dallas defense would be even worse after the departures of DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher and the loss of linebacker Sean Lee to a knee injury.

Yet the early returns are remarkably encouraging, with the Cowboys shaving almost a full field’s worth of yardage per game. Dallas ranks 13th in total defense, allowing 316.5 yards per game.

"I feel like we knew coming into the season that we were going to be better than we were last year," said safety Barry Church, a defensive captain whose interception Sunday was the Cowboys' first forced turnover of the season. "We just had to keep it to ourselves and make sure we talk with our pads, not with our mouths. We’re going to keep doing that."

It’s far too early for the 1-1 Cowboys to be celebrating anything, especially on defense.

However, after two games, the Dallas defenders have at least earned the right to hold their heads high. Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli's unit has allowed only two touchdowns over the past seven quarters.

"We all know the challenges that our defense has," owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. "They can be good players and good athletes, but they still have to get in there and play together. Our coaches are doing that. Guys are into it.

"They know the challenge. I heard some of them talking before the game, 'We’re right there, guys. We’re close. We’re right there.' The team is coming together."
 

Cotton

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Beat Writers Report: Defense shines
September, 15, 2014

By Calvin Watkins | ESPNDallas.com

The Dallas Cowboys moved to 1-1 with a commanding 26-10 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon.

After every game we review it in our Beat Writers Report.

1. After training camp there were plenty of concerns about the defense from its pass rush to secondary play. Losing Sean Lee at middle linebacker was also a major blow to a defense that ranked last in 2013. Two weeks into the season, the defense is doing just fine. In the victory over the Titans, safety Barry Church had a pick, linebacker Rolando McClain also had one, Morris Claiborne almost picked one off and corners, Sterling Moore and Brandon Carr had strong performances. Moore knocked down several passes and Carr did a solid job in one-on-one coverage. The pass rush also got to Jake Locker numerous times and the Cowboys defense was on point. The unit was more physical this week and the increased snaps for defensive tackle Henry Melton helped. There was even a Kyle Wilber sighting as he obtained half a sack on a bull rush move.

2. Melton didn’t start against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1, but in Week 2 he became a starter and showed the Cowboys’ coaches why he was worth signing in free agency. Melton’s tipped pass led to a McClain interception and he picked up a half-sack when he flushed Locker out of the pocket. Melton, using the three-technique along the defensive line, was able to push the pocket and he didn’t face a lot of double-teams. That might change this week when the Cowboys take on the St. Louis Rams.

3. DeMarco Murray was fantastic on Sunday. He rushed for 167 yards on 29 carries with one touchdown. Murray broke 11 tackles and despite a fumble for the second consecutive week, was able to brush it aside and run with a fury downfield. Murray has adopted the one-cut technique from position coach Gary Brown. In years past, Brown noticed the Cowboys’ running backs were doing too much dancing when they got to the hole, so Brown told the backs to get what they can. If the hole dictated one or two yards, so be it. Murray isn’t afraid to get just one or two yards, however, the offensive line is getting a good push into the second level of the defense, allowing him to make that one-cut and get up field.

4. Last week, left tackle Tyron Smith played a solid game though he allowed one sack and was penalized twice. Right tackle Doug Free gave up two sacks in the first half and looked over matched. As the game progressed, the veteran took over and handled outside linebacker Derrick Morgan and defensive end Ropati Pitoitua one-on-one with little trouble. There were times he had tight end Jason Witten lined up with him, but Free was able to produce a strong effort overall.

5. One of the biggest plays of the game came from Witten. With Dallas leading 16-10 late in the third quarter, Tony Romo floated a pass into the flat over a leaping defensive tackle Jurrell Casey. The pass was too high for Witten to haul in and safety Bernard Pollard caught the ball. Witten had the presence of mind to strip Pollard and force an incompletion. If Pollard maintains control of the ball he probably gets a pick-six and the Titans take the lead.
 

Smitty

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I can't imagine the defense doesn't regress as the season goes on, but hopefully it won't.
 

Carp

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I can't imagine the defense doesn't regress as the season goes on, but hopefully it won't.
I think it will regress too, but my hope is that Melton becomes more and more effective and when Lawrence returns he gives us the pass rusher we sorely need. That...and having Scandrick back will only help.
 

Cowboysrock55

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I think it will regress too, but my hope is that Melton becomes more and more effective and when Lawrence returns he gives us the pass rusher we sorely need. That...and having Scandrick back will only help.
Not to mention you have a guy in McClain who is just getting back into football shape and already looks great. I think this defense will regress some as well but that's because our defenses always seem to fade as the season goes on. Even still, if this defense isn't 32nd in the league when the season ends then they will have proven most people wrong.
 

p1_

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I don't want to be a wet blanket on this theme of regression, but I tend to see progress and improvement
as this unit goes forward and solidifies. Health being the key to all. If the stay somewhat healthy, they should
get better I'm thinking.
 

Cowboysrock55

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I don't want to be a wet blanket on this theme of regression, but I tend to see progress and improvement
as this unit goes forward and solidifies. Health being the key to all. If the stay somewhat healthy, they should
get better I'm thinking.
It's going to be interesting to see if guys like Spencer, Lawrence and Brent can provide any sort of a boost down the second half stretch.
 

Simpleton

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Yea I think the defense will definitely regress but if Lawrence and Spencer can give us something, and guys like the McClains, Melton and Crawford continue to knock the rust off after not playing for long stretches, I think we will definitely be better than the worst defense in the league.
 

Jiggyfly

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Yeah the could regress and they could also keep getting better with the players that are returning especially Scrandrick, this can be a pretty deep defense.

Also there are some young guys who can improve like Wilcox, Coleman, Claiborne and R McClain.

I think pass rush will be a continuing issue, but I can see everything else becoming very competent if not a strength.
 

L.T. Fan

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Yea I think the defense will definitely regress but if Lawrence and Spencer can give us something, and guys like the McClains, Melton and Crawford continue to knock the rust off after not playing for long stretches, I think we will definitely be better than the worst defense in the league.
They could regress but short of injury why do you think they will regress?
 

Simpleton

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They could regress but short of injury why do you think they will regress?
Over the first 2 games they are only giving up 316.5 YPG and 19 PPG (this figure should be much lower considering that 7 of those against the Niners came on the fumble return and another of their TD's came after Romo gifted them the ball on the 2 yard line) and I just don't see that continuing throughout the season.
 

ravidubey

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I think it will regress too, but my hope is that Melton becomes more and more effective and when Lawrence returns he gives us the pass rusher we sorely need. That...and having Scandrick back will only help.
As well as Spencer and finally Brent in the last month of the season. Spencer, Melton and Crawford also need to come back all the way mentally from their injuries.

None of this is any direct help at safety but a strong surge up front helps everyone.
 

1bigfan13

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Over the first 2 games they are only giving up 316.5 YPG and 19 PPG (this figure should be much lower considering that 7 of those against the Niners came on the fumble return and another of their TD's came after Romo gifted them the ball on the 2 yard line) and I just don't see that continuing throughout the season.
It probably won't.

But it is nice to see them looking like an actual NFL defense for a change. I know they've gone against two ho-hum passing offenses so far, but last year a few of those ho-hum offenses/QBs were marching up and down the field on them with ease.

Hell, even Eli Manning lit them up and he's been in one of the worst starting QBs in the league the past 2 years.
 

boozeman

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It probably won't.

But it is nice to see them looking like an actual NFL defense for a change. I know they've gone against two ho-hum passing offenses so far, but last year a few of those ho-hum offenses/QBs were marching up and down the field on them with ease.

Hell, even Eli Manning lit them up and he's been in one of the worst starting QBs in the league the past 2 years.
To the naked eye, the DL is more active. They may not be racking up the sacks, but they were able to get Locker jittery and moving around in the pocket, especially from the inside. Plus they appear to be stunting and running more twists than last year.

Might be my imagination, but it sure looks that way.

At this stage last year, we were already on our 3rd and 4th choices with DLs, so maybe having some players like Crawford and McClain available is making a difference. I also see us blitzing a little more, especially with Carter.
 

Smitty

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I don't think the DL has enough horses right now. The LB corps is going to end up being half decent all year I think, though. If Claiborne could turn in a half decent performance this year the secondary will be fine but that's a huge question mark.

I think good offenses are still going to have their way with us especially along the DL. We'll see.

I made a huge post about this defense turning in a good year based on a bunch of "ifs" and most of them revolve around the DL. If Spencer, Brent, and Lawrence all come back and make impacts, if Sam, Crawford, Terrell McClain, the rookie DTs, etc, all pan out, then that changes things, but it requires a lot of things breaking in our favor on a team that traditionally doesn't have things break in its favor.
 

Smitty

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To the naked eye, the DL is more active. They may not be racking up the sacks, but they were able to get Locker jittery and moving around in the pocket, especially from the inside. Plus they appear to be stunting and running more twists than last year.

Might be my imagination, but it sure looks that way.

At this stage last year, we were already on our 3rd and 4th choices with DLs, so maybe having some players like Crawford and McClain available is making a difference. I also see us blitzing a little more, especially with Carter.
True. Crawford and McClain are at least NFL players, last year we were already down to street ballers.
 

lostxn

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Right tackle Doug Free gave up two sacks in the first half and looked over matched. As the game progressed, the veteran took over and handled outside linebacker Derrick Morgan and defensive end Ropati Pitoitua one-on-one with little trouble. There were times he had tight end Jason Witten lined up with him, but Free was able to produce a strong effort overall.
Nope, you can't recover from a 2 sack performance. It was a crap game. The truth is he was good in the running game and god awful in pass protection.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Nope, you can't recover from a 2 sack performance. It was a crap game. The truth is he was good in the running game and god awful in pass protection.
I disagree. A guy can have a couple of shitty plays early and still settle into a good game. Free wasn't nearly as bad as people want to make him sound. He was also consistently great in the running game.
 

Texas Ace

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"Drastically improved" is really stretching it.

Yes, we're doing OK so far, but it's only 2 weeks and we've already talked about the the specifics of both the 49ers and Titants games.

Remember, through 6 or 7 games, Rob Ryan's defense looked good too in his first season, but by the end of the year, we couldn't stop shit.

Let's wait and see where we are in week 8 before we start claiming that this defense is drastically improved.
 

L.T. Fan

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"Drastically improved" is really stretching it.

Yes, we're doing OK so far, but it's only 2 weeks and we've already talked about the the specifics of both the 49ers and Titants games.

Remember, through 6 or 7 games, Rob Ryan's defense looked good too in his first season, but by the end of the year, we couldn't stop shit.

Let's wait and see where we are in week 8 before we start claiming that this defense is drastically improved.
Considering that before the season began everyone was saying the defense would be worse than last year and further considering that defense was dead last, yes I think drastic improvement is appropriate since they are in the upper half of the league rankings.
 
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