Archer: Eight games in, time to take Cowboys' defense seriously

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Eight games in, time to take Cowboys' defense seriously
10:00 AM CT
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer

CLEVELAND -- For those waiting for the Dallas Cowboys defense to show something different, maybe it’s time to stop.

Eight games in and the Cowboys have not given up more than 23 points in a game. Eight games in and they are the only team in the NFL to not allow a 100-yard rusher or a 100-yard wide receiver.

Eight games in and they are a lot better than many could have imagined.

So what that it was the winless Cleveland Browns. They gave up season lows in yards (221), first downs (13), rushing yards (45) and net passing yards (177). They allowed just one third-down conversion, too.

They also tied their season high in sacks with four, led by rookie defensive tackle Maliek Collins, who had two.

And they did it with two starters out. Cornerback Morris Claiborne missed the game with a groin injury. Safety Barry Church was out with a broken forearm.

“This defense [Sunday] didn’t know they were missing anybody and they played well,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said.

The start of the game and the end of the first half were the only slip-ups. The Browns gained 60 yards on their first two plays, including a 44-yard pass to Isaiah Crowell off a trick formation. But the defense stiffened and limited the Browns to a field goal on the drive.

“That was a scheme deal they got us on,” linebacker Sean Lee said of Crowell’s catch. “I thought we did a good job afterward. It was a good play by them but once they got in the red zone we got a stop that killed their momentum.”

The Browns scored their only touchdown with a seven-play, 80-yard drive to close the first half when Cody Kessler scrambled to find Terrelle Pryor for a 12-yard score.

Collins was kicking himself for missing a sack of Kessler on the drive.

“They would’ve had just three points instead of 10,” Collins said.

That comment speaks to the raised expectations for the Cowboys' defense.

Some of the defensive success can be pinned on the Cowboys' offense, which held the ball for 39 minutes, 39 seconds, but the Browns gained just 28 yards on 14 plays in the second half on three drives.

“We did what we had to do,” Lee said.

It’s what they have done all year.
 
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