Cowboys by the Numbers: Defense, Week Three

by Rafael Vela on Oct 1, 2009 2:51 PM CDT

A week three recap:

Pass Rushers

4 -- 26 times
5 -- 4 times
6 -- 5 times
7 -- 1 time

Maybe there is something to four man pressure. Wade blitzed a lot more in the first half, sending 5 or more on 6 of the 15 first half pass plays, or 40% of the time. In the second half, only three of the 20 rushes brought more than four men. All three sacks came on four man calls. Credit to Wade for not going crazy and letting his rushers simply improve their work.

Corner Metrics

Terence Newman -- 9 attempts, 5 completions, 44% success rate, 49 yards, 5.4 YPA, one interception
Mike Jenkins -- 8 attempts, 5 completions, 38% success rate, 60 yards, 7.5 YPA,one interception
Orlando Scandrick -- 1 attempt, 1 completion, 6 yards, 6.0 YPA

A 5.4 YPA is what you expect from your top corner. Newman had safety help over the top, but I would give anybody help with Steve Smith. Newman got results. Jenkins' line is solid, but not great. Poor first half tackling hurt his line, as it did for Newman. They were a combined 3/7 for 28 yards after the half, a nice, tidy 4.0 YPA. This, and much better coverage from the linebackers on TE Donte Rosario, was a big reason the Cowboys started that half with four consecutive three-and-outs.

Run Defense

Left -- 4 attempts, 10 yards, 2.5 YPA
Middle -- 7 attempts, 32 yards, 4.6 YPA
Right -- 3 attempts, 18 yards, 6.0 YPA

Pretty solid all the way around. That right YPA was blown up by DeAngelo Williams' 16 yard draw on 3rd-and-16. HE got a couple of big draws up the middle, but Carolina never got any consistent inside running. You can see Igor Olshansky's run stopping skills in that 2.5 YPA on plays to his side.

There remains plenty of room for improvement, but this game lacked the open wounds you saw on parts of the Bucs and Giants game lines.

Note: If anybody can provide a tape (yep, old school VHS tape) of the Giants game, shoot me an e-mail. My DVR died and took my games 1 and 2 recordings with it. I'd like to get season stats up, but can't until I can break down the New York game. I'll pay the cost of mailing and the blank cassette.

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Comments

Raf,

ScottMaui has a nice post on where you could download the Giants game here

by One.Cool.Customer on Oct 1, 2009 3:07 PM CDT reply actions

overall the D improves and

thats the direction I’d like to see, and have them peeking up in the playoffs. But can somebody explain why, why on earth we cant tackle, it looks so embarrassing.

by dcfanz on Oct 1, 2009 3:18 PM CDT reply actions

because it's early in the season

as the season rolls on, we’ll get better.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Oct 1, 2009 3:42 PM CDT up reply actions

it has so far

gotten arguably better each game

i feel pretty comfortable that everyone thinks our offense is in trouble

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by fuji1232 on Oct 1, 2009 3:45 PM CDT up reply actions

we don't tackle in camp

so it’s logical that we’re a little rusty to start the season. I think by mid season, you won’t see too many missed tackles.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Oct 1, 2009 3:46 PM CDT up reply actions

what good not tackling in camp does if

we loose few games because of poor tackling by the time mid season rolls in

by dcfanz on Oct 1, 2009 3:57 PM CDT up reply actions

we didn't lose the Giants game because of poor tackling

and even if we did, the answer to your question is avoiding serious injuries in camp.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Oct 1, 2009 3:59 PM CDT up reply actions

soft camp = soft start

Yep, wade said it after the tampa game. He didn’t want to get his guys injured during camp so he was light on blitzes and the heavy hitting.

This hurt pretty badly against the Giants, but if not for the sloppy turnovers it wouldn’t have cost us the game. The defense will get better, its what wade has been able to accel at. I was really worried after tampa but the Run D has looked much better the past two weeks

by SDTrueblue on Oct 1, 2009 4:05 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions

Really?

Then how do you explain the hot starts we got off in the previous two years? I don’t buy it.

by northtexan95 on Oct 1, 2009 7:14 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah...

I also don’t know if that’s real accurate.

by The Immortal Iron Fist AKA AFB on Oct 1, 2009 10:19 PM CDT up reply actions

Under Wade

they have some incredible starting record in Septermber. Like 9-2.

Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig loves it.

by dunkman on Oct 2, 2009 7:10 AM CDT up reply actions

defense didn't have hot starts the previous two years

the offense did.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Oct 2, 2009 7:46 AM CDT up reply actions

it depends

Do you want to risk injury, and tackle better initially, or do you want to play it safe and get your tackling taken care of as the season rolls along.

I am not saying that they will absolutely get better, but I think they can.

by TONYINCC on Oct 1, 2009 4:08 PM CDT via mobile reply actions

I've been a Wade Phillips fan,

ever since he was with the Broncos. Unfortunately, he’s had a lot more success as a DC than a head coach. I hope he has a fantastic season and cements his position there in Dallas, except… you know.

If this be Hell, let us make the most of it!

by Trinidad Jack on Oct 1, 2009 5:57 PM CDT reply actions

have we broke the

Record for trolls this year. Why is it, that every team that we play has fans trolling in here. Its bad enough we have to deal with nocluethruandthru, and bye dawk :(, now everybody else, sheesh.

by TONYINCC on Oct 1, 2009 6:21 PM CDT via mobile reply actions

I for one

am glad to see posters from other teams if they can make civil conversation about football.

Keep doing what you been doing, keep getting what you been getting.

by OskieOskie on Oct 1, 2009 8:25 PM CDT up reply actions

I don't see how coming over here...

…telling you I’m a Wade Phillips fan, commenting a little bit about his record and saying I’m a Bronco fan makes me a troll.

If this be Hell, let us make the most of it!

by Trinidad Jack on Oct 1, 2009 8:35 PM CDT up reply actions

your comment was very positive

and not trolling

by Realist Larry on Oct 1, 2009 9:12 PM CDT up reply actions

Pretty sure he wasn't talking about you

I like fans of opposing teams on the blog, for the most part. Offers perspective.

I believe TONYINCC is saying there are a great deal of trolls coming on to simply annoy and pester. Real tacky stuff.

Epic Fail since 1985

by the red scare on Oct 1, 2009 9:20 PM CDT up reply actions

Agree

Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig loves it.

by dunkman on Oct 2, 2009 7:11 AM CDT up reply actions

The way I figure it is this is your home and I'm a guest.

I was brought up to believe that you should be on your best behavior when you visit somebody else’s home. I can’t say I’ve always been a perfect angel everywhere I’ve gone but I try, and when I don’t do as well as I should, I apologize.

I said somewhere else I think the folks here seem like good people. I stand by that.

Mile High Report is also a great place. It’s very large, I’m guessing perhaps the largest in SB Nation. It has a lot of a lot of energy and a lot of life. It also has a lot of scary bright contributors. I’m telling you the truth when I say some of fanposts are as good or better than a lot of the stuff the professionals in the main stream media produce.

It also has a lot of enthusiastic fans and sometimes those fans can get a little excited. I’m sure you understand. We’ve had some discussions about how that can reflect on everybody else at MHR and those discussions have had some positive effects. I’m not an official representative of the Mile High Report, but I promise you I will go back home and open another thread on that subject.

Until then, I apologize for anybody from MHR who has been offensive and once again, wish you and your Cowboys good health and good luck… except, you know… , lol.

If this be Hell, let us make the most of it!

by Trinidad Jack on Oct 2, 2009 10:30 AM CDT up reply actions

be honest

you’re drunk right now, aren’t you?

Summarizing the Dallas Cowboys in two words; inconsistently amazing.

by sublimezg on Oct 2, 2009 5:56 PM CDT up reply actions

a little rough bro....just wait till philly..

I wouldn’t call his posts tolling, just talking football…

I don't need a compass to know which way the wind shines....

by hashishkabob on Oct 1, 2009 8:41 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions

Good enough.

Good luck to the Cowboys and their fans. Both seem like good folks.

If this be Hell, let us make the most of it!

by Trinidad Jack on Oct 1, 2009 8:47 PM CDT up reply actions

RED SCARE INTERPRETED CORRECTLY

It just seems like their has been abundance of people coming to this blog to stir us up. We have a hard enough time agreeing with each other. Your comment was not bad, but after dealing with several other fans, it just irked me to constantly see other peoples fans on here.

I apologize to the civil fan(thats you) for my quick defensive nature.

by TONYINCC on Oct 1, 2009 9:40 PM CDT up reply actions

I have noticed it as well.

And trinidad seems cool, unlike kentuckybronco, who might be a more aggressive, snottier version of Terry.

by The Immortal Iron Fist AKA AFB on Oct 1, 2009 10:17 PM CDT up reply actions

LMAO

by TONYINCC on Oct 1, 2009 10:19 PM CDT up reply actions

no offense Terry

Your just homer #1 on the site. : )

by The Immortal Iron Fist AKA AFB on Oct 1, 2009 10:27 PM CDT up reply actions

Homer or ROMOer #1?

by TONYINCC on Oct 1, 2009 10:30 PM CDT up reply actions

Did you notice

That I referenced 2 people in particular? Bye Dawk is actually not that bad, and does offer some insight in a civil from the eagles perspective. However, several of us, including myself have gotten off topic on several different occassions where it stopped being about football, and became more about personal insults.

by TONYINCC on Oct 1, 2009 9:43 PM CDT up reply actions

Raf

What is your take on your Ratliff’s play vs the run this season? Your thoughts on Bowen, Spears, and Hatcher play this year?

"No matter where you go, you are what you are playa"-Jay Z
Twitter Account

by Wmillion on Oct 1, 2009 7:00 PM CDT reply actions

Mr. Vela...

First, thanks for the breakdown. Second, perhaps you’re not aware that NFL.com offers GameRewind where you can watch all the games in HD online? You don’t get them live, but you get them as soon as that night and the archive goes back to 2008 so far. All for $50. I highly recommend it to any serious fan.

by speedmetal on Oct 1, 2009 7:38 PM CDT via mobile reply actions

Defense looked pretty good Monday

A tad bit nervous that it comes against a team that may very well be absolutely terrible offensively. It’s probably a bit of both, having improved and going up against a team that looks awful. Either way, our D is notorious for getting off to slow starts.

Wouldn’t mind seeing Butler rotated in on passing downs a little more often. Even if he only serves the purpose of keeping Ware/Spencer fresh, it should help the pass rush tremendously. Those guys looked like they’re exhausted towards the end of games.

Epic Fail since 1985

by the red scare on Oct 1, 2009 9:06 PM CDT reply actions

RAF,

Why do you think Wade is sending less men. Is he not as confident with these defensive backs as he was with last years. I guess you could make an argument the other way, saying that he had to blitz so that his guys didnt have to cover as much last year.

I for one, would love to see him dial up the blitzing and swarm the qb more. Do you have any thoughts as to why he is calling games differently?

by TONYINCC on Oct 1, 2009 9:50 PM CDT reply actions

Not Raf, but I can figure the reason...

Coaches for the most part don’t want their QBs back there for more than 3-Mississippi (which is why we’ve seen so much of the smoke route, quick outs and short slants). And the pressure just doesn’t get there in such an amount of time, even if you’re throwing the kitchen sink in there…

Wade made a correction and took all of the short routes off the Panthers playbook, which is why by the 4th Qtr Delhomme seemed to take more time in his reads and held the ball longer to look for something in mid to long range.

Viva México! Go Cowboys!

by Chandus on Oct 1, 2009 10:06 PM CDT up reply actions

Good point

I know people have talked about this before, but it does seem that teams are trying to keep their drops short and passes out quickly. If this strategy continues, hopefully we will see more pics.

by TONYINCC on Oct 1, 2009 10:18 PM CDT up reply actions

Perfect point

"We play to win the game" - Herm Edwards

by nicholas.rodriguez on Oct 2, 2009 3:35 AM CDT up reply actions

Well said Chandus

Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig loves it.

by dunkman on Oct 2, 2009 7:17 AM CDT up reply actions

Short Routes

Very good point Chandus and I think that is one of the reasons why we saw Spencer dropping back covering zone more in the Panther’s game. That is also why Ware hasn’t yet made any sacks. Opposing offenses are combating the rush by going to those short passing routes, 3 & 5 step drops, and mass protection at times.

by geth13 on Oct 2, 2009 9:37 AM CDT up reply actions

FISH

Didnt you say you were going to be having a 2 part series every week? Did you get it all in 1 article yesterday?

by TONYINCC on Oct 1, 2009 10:21 PM CDT reply actions

First, thanks for the analysis

The detail reveals so much as to what works, what doesn’t and adjustments. To take it to the next level, it would be interesting to see rush personnel vs protection packages and see what trends emerge from that.

I know, just what you need some genius telling you how to do your own analysis. Not to mention the workload. Anything I can do to help.

Note: No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced

by tdships on Oct 2, 2009 9:37 AM CDT reply actions