(Image courtesy of CSNPhilly.com)
Contrary to popular belief there are still HUGE holes on this Dallas defense, specifically in the secondary. Fortunately for Rob Ryan the team hasn't had to face many quarterbacks capable of exploiting those weaknesses.
The Cowboys have faced three top to second-tier quarterbacks this season and lost all three of those games.
Tom Brady (NE)
Michael Vick (Philly)
Matthew Stafford (Detroit).
The Cowboys six victories this season have come against the following quarterbacks...
- Two wins over Rex Grossman, Washington
- Ryan Fitzpatrick, Buffalo
- Tarvaris Jackson, Seattle
- A.J. Feeley, St. Louis
- Alex Smith, SF
* Mark Sanchez is an average-below average QB that got the victory over the Cowboys.
As soon as the Cowboys face a quarterback that can exploit their lack of athleticism at linebacker and playmaking ability in the secondary they'll be exposed. After all, these are pretty much the same players that were on last year's record-setting bad defense. Unless you think Abe Elam is in the same league as Ed Reed.
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good and this season the Cowboys have been very fortunate that the majority of their early schedule has been against teams with incompetent quarterbacks.
Rob Ryan is a good defensive coordinator, but he isn't a miracle worker capable of turning chicken waste into chicken salad. If he were he would already be a head coach in the league. That's not a knock on the outspoken coordinator, it's a knock on the defensive personnel that everyone watched break bad defensive records last season.
You can't make a deep run in the NFL without crossing the path of competent quarterback play. The Cowboys have already shown what happens when they face decent quarterbacks and while it isn't in the immediate future, the Cowboys will have to face good quarterbacks again later in the season.
Dallas still has to face Eli Manning twice and any playoff matchup would feature a competent opposing QB. Ryan has done a great job, but it's only a matter of time before the defensive flaws on this team are exploited.
#1 Matthew Stafford did not necessarily beat our defense.
ReplyDeleteRomo helped out quite nicely with two pick sixes. Without that loss
we would not even discuss our defensive issues.
#2 Tom Brady was contained the whole game. He did march
down the field with 2 minutes left and made us look
like children but tell me who has stopped Brady in that situation
... Ill wait. He may be the best in history in that 2 min drill.
#3 Michael Vick never beat us deep. We contained the deep ball
(which I might add was our biggest issue the past few years) Lesean
Mccoy, Andy Reid and his staff, and Phillys O Line exploited
us like Jerry Sandusky. The run game opened up everything. Giving up around 200 yards rushing will never win ball games.
I am not saying we have the best defense in the leage because we do not. We are an improved defense that still needs to make the stops when it counts.
Bpratt