Anyone else think defense could be the strength of the team?

[Midswat]

Scandrick injury notwithstanding, anyone think it could be our defense that suddenly because our strongest unit? Second year in Marinellis scheme. Solid depth at DL, and CB. Fast, rangy linebackers. Rush men who can get to the QB.

Could you imagine an opponent on third and long looking at Gregory, Hardy, Crawford, and Lawrence?

Safety is a concern, but outside of Lynch, who played safety in a way no longer suited for today's NFL, the Tampa 2 doesn't call for or feature stud safety play.

Offense will always be strong provided Linehan is calling the plays and Romo is QB, but we won't be as good as last year with a diminished run game, and I think the D will be considerably improved.

 

[LAZARUS_LOGAN]

Scandrick injury notwithstanding, anyone think it could be our defense that suddenly because our strongest unit? Second year in Marinellis scheme. Solid depth at DL, and CB. Fast, rangy linebackers. Rush men who can get to the QB.

Could you imagine an opponent on third and long looking at Gregory, Hardy, Crawford, and Lawrence?

Safety is a concern, but outside of Lynch, who played safety in a way no longer suited for today's NFL, the Tampa 2 doesn't call for or feature stud safety play.

Offense will always be strong provided Linehan is calling the plays and Romo is QB, but we won't be as good as last year with a diminished run game, and I think the D will be considerably improved.

Even if we had kept Murray, the run game would have been diminished anyway. You don't sign a guy with a history of injury, to a large contract and give him an additional near 400 carries. I think we will pass more obviously, but not as much as with Garrett calling the plays. We should be more of a balanced offensive )not-so heavy on the run and not-so heavy on the pass ala Garrett).

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

I don't think it'll be the strength of the team, but yeah, the two sides could and should be a lot closer than they have been.

BTW... I think the defense will be better this year, too. But I'm a little reluctant to crown them yet. I personally am not sure Lawrence is that great. Or that Hitchens won't be a little exposed with more film on him. McClain was a big help the first half of the year and who knows if he'll even be back. I still think our secondary is very average at best.

A lot of the metrics on defense were still below average last year, but the O running so well limited their exposure. Maybe we run the ball better than we think or our short passing game acts like a running game, but if we don't control the ball their flaws could show more often.

On the plus side, I think people including myself almost forgot how good Sean Lee is. Having him back will really be huge.

 

[Iamtdg]

or our short passing game acts like a running game

This is what I'm hoping they are thinking. You can make average RBs good by getting them the ball in space.

 

[LAZARUS_LOGAN]

This is what I'm hoping they are thinking. You can make average RBs good by getting them the ball in space.

Dunbar. Jones mentioned that he is hoping to see Dunbar more utilized, which means that he will be.

 

[Doomsday]

On paper anyway and from what we've seen so far in preseason, at least we're looking at something new in dallas - a pass rush. A good pass rush is a great deodorant for your suspect secondary.

 

[Everlastingxxx]

If the Cowboys defense was the strength, holy shit this team would be unstoppable.

 

[Omegasupreme]

Defense has a good shot at pass pressure. Have a feeling that third and long will bring out the beasts. But why would teams be intentionally pass when they don't have to? The only coach in the NFL that does that is the Cowboy's HC, so the defense as good as it is will probably take a beating from the running game. Being quick and light has advantages in pass rush but not so much defending a power running game. Not pursuing an upgrade to Hayden is going to be a mistake.