Decoding Linehan - Wildcard - Lions

The answer you were looking for is "Zero" times.

Never. He has never done that.

The question to couple with that answer is the following: "How many times has Jason Garrett gone for a 4th down and 5+ in his coaching career when he did not have to do so?" That means, we shall eliminate the time he did it with :02 left in the half against Tampa in 2012 (as that was the end of the half) and the other 3 times he has tried it (New Orleans 2012, Washington 2013, and Detroit 2013) and the game was down to its final play late in the game that the Cowboys were losing and had no choice but to go for it. We call those "100% 4th down" attempts, meaning, because of the game situation, it is a 100% requirement that you go for it.

But, this one was not. This was an "elective" 4th down. In fact, with the situation as it was, Detroit 20, Dallas 17 - with 6:00 to go in the 4th Quarter - and at the Detroit 42 yard line that the percentages say to punt it and down it inside the 10. The Cowboys had all of their timeouts and maybe, just maybe, something good will happen deep in Detroit territory to set the offense up again

Garrett said in the postgame that at the Masters you do not "lay-up", you go for it. That is one of the more unlikely things for Garrett to say, because he surely is not the type of guy to roll the dice. But, for the very first time in his career, 4th and 5+, elective situation, he did it.

And was rewarded handsomely for it. It is a piece of evidence for the suggestion that this might be the Cowboys year.

Here it is:

4Q/6:00 - 4/6/Det42 - Romo to Witten for 21 yards, FD

There is a little more to this play, but just know that the reason I was suggesting that Witten would have a big day against Detroit is they stubbornly sit in 2-man all day. 2-Deep safeties, man under (from trail positions) and you will not be able to go over the top on them. They have the personnel to do this very well as teams don't score many points against them and they are able to stop or slow your run game down with 6. But, in particular, that means that while your pass plays are not going to be huge (before the catch), you will get opportunities underneath that your men will have a chance to make plays after the catch. And we saw pretty much every single target of the Cowboys make a play after the catch at some point on Sunday afternoon.

But, here is the game. You need one play. In fact, in the screenplay of this situation, I can see Garrett, Linehan, and Romo talking during the timeout of this scenario, and one of them asks Tony to pick the play. What one play are you positive can get this ball past the markers? It is a 1-man route. Everyone else is a decoy to occupy the other defensive backs. He wants 82-Witten on a 1-on-1 situation where he simply has to "get open" on one of his option routes. Play the leverage of his man and react accordingly. Both Romo and Witten would later say that the safety was jumping the outside route and they improv'd back to the inside, but it sure looks from the smoothness that Witten was going to cut that way all along. Romo just has to wait, which requires his line to stand tall for just long enough. The tackles are in an excellent spot. Leary is dealing 1-on-1 with Suh and is having a difficult time dealing with him, but Romo waits and completes the throw. It looked easy, but under the circumstances, it was imperative.

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That was not the only situation where they had real important situations where we can only wonder what happens if they don't convert. They also had vital 3rd and longs that had to be cashed in. 3rd and 12 right before half when they were down 14-0 and the blitz was beating down the Cowboys QB:

2Q/1:50 - 3/12/D24 - Romo to Williams, 76 yard Touchdown

Here, the Lions are pretty confident because their pressure has worked in the entire 1st half.  They are showing that 2-Shell at the snap, but then the safety gets right on Dez on the bottom of the screen at snap and the other is looking hard at Witten on the seam pass (a Cover 2 beater).  But, Romo talked about the idea that he had finally figured out what the Lions were doing here and if they were going to keep blitzing, he was going to be able to punish them.  Here is what that looks like.  All you need is one man cover to trip or miss a tackle and the game turned on a dime.

If they don't convert that and have to punt back to the Lions, down 14-0, and the Lions will also get the ball to start the 2nd half, is there any way the Cowboys win?  I contend to you this was a play that had to move the chains.

Then, in the 2nd half, they were down 20-7.  And they needed to do it again.

3Q/5:58 - 3/10/50 - Romo short left to Bryant for 43 yards and FD

One thing I enjoy about this project is how we can see plays from earlier in the season that they use again at the right time for similar results.  The Cowboys - like everyone - have a large playbook with certain favorites they love to bring back.  In this case, if you have 2 safeties deep, the Cowboys are going back to what has worked to beat you underneath.  This is a simple Witten/Dez cross in front of Romo on 3rd and they want Witten to help pick off Bryant's guy.  And then, behind them, we have Gavin Escobar (lined up outside Witten on the same side) running a deeper slant.   This looks like S02, but it is really S12 (that is Dunbar at the top of the screen).

Here is the play from Week 7 against the Giants when they actually did go to Escobar.

It looked like Dez was open there, too.  The point is that if they are going to man up against this personnel grouping, a linebacker is going to be on the inside guys (most likely) and that is when you get them short trying to deal with Dez.  Big broken tackle and 43 yards later, the Cowboys are about to cut the lead to 20-14.

Offensive Participation:

Jermey Parnell has been fantastic.  What If I told you that the Cowboys would have to go with a backup right tackle for 6 starts this season?  How many sacks would he be responsible for would you predict?  0 is the answer.  What about his run blocking?  He might actually be better there.  I appreciate Doug Free's 2013 and 2014, but the Parnell performance as the one place on this offense that has been really affected by injury has been very impressive (even though it hardly is mentioned anywhere).  As far as I am concerned, you can consider that a place where either guy (perhaps the one with the lesser contract requirement) could be your RT in 2015 as both are free agents.

STATS FOR WILD CARD AGAINST DETROIT

The key to the game is those 3 giant conversions above as well as Romo's 3rd Down touchdown to Williams to win the game.  The Cowboys were not balanced and they had to adjust on the fly.  I have had many people ask why the Cowboys were not prepared with a game plan from the opening kickoff.  This is where we need to not by myopic about how this works.  The late Joe Avezzano used to answer questions like this with a simple answer: The other team pays their players, too.  They are game planning, too.  They are good, too.  Sometimes, you have to figure things out on the fly because they made a nice move.  The Cowboys did, but it wasn't easy.

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PASSING CHART - John Daigle has designed this passing chart each week.  Each color represents the possession number listed in the key. The numbers are separated by the half. If you were to start from the bottom and work your way up, you would be tracking that possession from beginning to end. The dotted-lines are incompletions. Large gaps between throws are mostly YAC or carries.

Wild Card Summary

DRIVE STARTERS - The first play of each drive can often reveal the intent of a coach to establish his game plan. How committed is he to the run or pass when the team comes off the sideline? We track it each week here.

* This statistic doesn't count the 1-play kneel down drives.

SHOTGUN SNAPS

Wow, percentage-wise, Sunday was the most shotgun of the season.  The Lions were a formidable challenge to say the least.

TOTALS BY PERSONNEL GROUPS (Before you study the data below, I would recommend that if the numbers for the groupings are unfamiliar, that you spend some time reading a more expanded definition of the Personnel Groupings here.)

 As you can see, it was a game that was not about "12" personnel (2 TEs).  This game was about the Cowboys going from 12 to 11 after the 4th drive.  Look at the 32 total (11 under center, 21 in shotgun) of 11 personnel.  (3 WRs).  Impressive day, especially running out of 11.  9 snaps out of S02 for -2 yards!?!  Yikes.  Looks like Detroit had an answer.

* - Knee Plays are not counted in play calls.

PLAY-ACTION PERFORMANCE

Wk 1: 1/5, 9 Yds, 3 INT, 1 FD

Wk 2: 4/5, 39 Yds, 1 Sack, 2 FD

Wk 3: 3/3, 88 Yds, 1 TD, 2 FD

Wk 4: 6/8, 76 Yds, 1 TD, 4 FD

Wk 5: 2/4, 38 Yds, 1 Sack, 2 FD

Wk 6: 1/4, 47 Yds, 1 Sack, 1 FD

Wk 7: 3/5, 55 Yds, 1 Sack, 2 TD, 1 FD

Wk 8: 5/6, 92 Yds, 1 TD, 2 FD

Wk 9: 1/1, 1 Yd

Wk 10: 2/3, 21 Yds, 1 FD

Wk 12: 4/4, 86 Yds, 4 FD

Wk 13: 2/3, 11 Yds, 1 FD

Wk 14: 5/6, 85 Yds, 4 FD, 1 Sack

Wk 15: 0/1, 1 Sack

Wk 16: 1/1, 11 Yds, 1 FD

Wk 17: 3/5, 55 Yds, 1 TD, 2 FD, 1 INT

WC: 1/1, -1 Yds, 1 Sack

2014 Total: 44/65 (67 percent), 713 Yds, 6 TD, 4 INT, 28 FD, 7 sacks - QB Rating: 109.3

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BLITZING Romo - Pass Rushers Against Dallas - 37 Passes against Detroit

And here are the full season numbers.

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SUMMARY AND LOOK AHEAD:

That was quite a test for this offense.  Green Bay is not as good a defense man for man, but they do swarm and pressure a ton.  They leave their corners in man coverage and challenge you to challenge them because, especially at home, they are going to bring pressure to Romo.  I am positive that they will also assume that Romo is dinged up from the hits he took against Detroit.  Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews will cause some pass protection stress.  But, the real question is how well will the Cowboys ground and pound work.  It should be quite adaptable to the weather and the Packers normally don't have teams test them on the ground because they are ahead, not because they are overly stout.

But, let's give a nod to Scott Linehan, Tony Romo, and Jason Garrett.  This was the ultimate test of coaching this past week and they passed it.  They had to adjust on the fly to some tactical tricks that they don't prefer to use.  But, they were in a situation down 14 and then 13 in late in the 3rd Quarter where they needed solutions and they needed them immediately.

They figured it out and then their QB and offense executed the plays and also protected the ball perfectly.  The combination of excellent personnel and efficient execution of this offense has been the calling card in 2014, which is why I started calling them a "Super Bowl caliber offense" over a month ago and have seen no reason to adjust my sights.

It can all go belly-up with one bad slip up, but if the defense can continue to find takeaways (keeping in mind that Green Bay has the fewest turnovers of any offense in the NFL) and the offense just maintains its level of attack, this team can continue to win games at this most invigorating time of the year.

Romo's next challenge is back in his homeland in the bitter cold of Green Bay.  But, the team that has the most-cold weather-ideal offense is the Dallas Cowboys.  Let's see if they are capable of performing to their paper in that environment.

The Morning After: Cowboys 24, Lions 20 (Wildcard Round)

That is a win to remember.

In beating the Lions in front of the playoff world, the Dallas Cowboys win for the 13th time in their unlikely 2014 season and now press to within 2 wins of returning to the Super Bowl. It was the furthest thing from easy, but the win demonstrated again a few things about this version of your Cowboys:

1) - This team possesses a mental resolve and an intestinal fortitude that has seemed to be non-existent for many years by too many rosters in Dallas.  When this group of guys are asked to dig a little deeper and fight a little harder, it often seems they are quite capable of doing just that.

2) - This is a team.  There are some pieces that are more value-weighted than others, but as a whole, we saw yesterday in Arlington that it takes a roster of players each doing their jobs at very high levels to survive the meat-grinder of the NFL Playoffs.  Either a lot of players bring top performances to the stadium on Sunday or an entire roster goes home with regrets and hopes for next year.  The Cowboys are advancing and it needed every yard and every point to do so.  The Lions are discussing ifs and buts and off-season planning has begun.

Let's start with the most amazing story of them all, DeMarcus Lawrence.  Until Sunday, he had been one of the young prospects on this roster that the team heavily invested in, yet the payoffs and promises that he will be worth it appeared to be completely postdated for 2015 and beyond.

Lawrence hurt himself to start training camp, did not appear in a game until Week 9 versus Arizona, and did not make a memorable play in the entire regular season.  But, on Sunday, he had two moments in the final minutes of the game that will be remembered in Cowboys lore for a long time to come.

First, with 2:05 to go in the game and the Cowboys guarding a 24-20 lead, Matthew Stafford is smashed by Anthony Spencer as he is trying to wait for a receiver to get open and the ball bounces free right to the feet of Lawrence who was a rather innocent bystander.  Lawrence couldn't believe his good fortune and as opposed to just falling on it to secure the game (at the Lions 23 yard line), he decides to scoop and attempt to score.  But as so many linemen have learned over the years, protecting the ball is not as easy as it looks and Garrett Reynolds was able to knock the ball free from Lawrence and back into Detroit's possession.

In a moment of instantaneous and instinctual bad judgement, Lawrence had a chance to be the hero and it quickly diminished into a real chance to be the goat.  Fox hurried to find Leon Lett on the sideline to hammer home the point and the irony of a position coach who is remembered for a similar moment or two was too much to pass up.  You couldn't help but fear the final 2 minutes just because this poor rookie was going to be held responsible for years if the defense could not dig in and stop Stafford and Megatron one more time.

And that is where the story turned around for the young Boise State pass rusher.  If he was saving his best down of his rookie year for when he and the Cowboys needed it most,  then we must credit him for an amazing flair for the dramatic.  On 4th and 3, with only a minute left and the Lions in Cowboys territory - and only 1 minute since his momentary lapse of reason, he burst by Lions' 1st round left tackle Riley Reiff with an explosive burst and performed the sack/strip/recovery triple play to secure the ball and end the game all in one move.  DeMarcus Lawrence saved the day in a way that a certain other pass rusher named DeMarcus had done before.  What a glorious moment of instant redemption for the talented young defender.

But, the day included many other notable moments to remember as well.  For me, knowing what I know about Jason Garrett, the one that sticks with me is the 4th and 6 decision from the head coach. There is 6 minutes to go in the game and the Cowboys are down by just a field goal.  They face a 4th and 6 from the Detroit 42 and still owned all of their timeouts.  They also just witnessed a spot where Jim Caldwell, almost in the same spot on the field, decided to punt on a 4th and 1.  All of Garrett's tendencies from his 72 games as Cowboys coach said he was never going for it in that situation.  Statistics show that there is no head coach in the sport who enjoys risks of this magnitude less than Garrett.  He almost never decides to "go for it" in situations like this. Yet, he seemed to understand the rarity of the opportunity and said after the game,  "What kept going through my mind was if you get a chance to go play at the Masters, you don't lay up.  You go after it a little bit.  (I have) a lot of confidence in the guys to execute it.  They play football better than I swing a golf club."

The Cowboys called a timeout and discussed their options and decided to push their chips in on one play.  The Lions were in 2-deep, man under and the Cowboys had 3 receivers to the right (Williams wide, Beasley middle, and Witten in tight) and Dez Bryant on his own to the left.  At the snap, Williams and Beasley both ran deeper routes, leaving Witten in a 1-on-1 coverage situation underneath with Lions' veteran safety, James Ihedigbo.  Witten, at the top of his stem faked the outside route with perfection and Ihedigbo bought it, leaving #9 and #82 with a throw and catch that looked easy as can be. The 21-yard gain saved the day for the Cowboys with the two veterans who are trying to grab this unpredicted opportunity at post-season glory with both hands.

Forgive me, but Jason Garrett has come a long way as head coach for him to believe in his guys in that situation, and then for them to deliver on that particular play was just perfect.

Six plays later, Romo stayed alive for 5.1 seconds in the pocket waiting for something to open up before he fired his hardest dart of the season into a small window to Terrance Williams for the touchdown that ended up giving the Cowboys the lead they would need to advance to next week.  The play had broken down to a point of "just get open" and therefore replays seem to show that the pass may have actually been intended for Bryant on the back level of the end zone, but Williams secured the ball and the victory (once Lawrence did his part a few moments later).

They needed that throw or they are kicking a field goal to send it into over-time.  There was nothing easy about this victory.  Nothing at all.

The Lions game plan against the Cowboys offense was actually quite perfect.  They were going to make the Cowboys do something different.  They were going to blow up first down run plays to the point where the Cowboys did not want to run on 2nd down.  Of course, it is one thing to say that, but something totally different to actually do it.  Detroit enjoyed the prospect of power vs power, and seemed more ready for the battle than the Cowboys, since Dallas tried to pass on all 8 2nd downs in the 1st half.  That is way out of character, and the Lions then sent pressure on those 2nd down passes as if they were sitting on the Cowboys game-plan.  Dallas walked right into Detroit traps and the longer it went, the less energy was left in the stadium and the more it looked like the Lions were following the recipe of Washington back in October to bring the Cowboys offense to its knees.

The difference, however, is Romo kept getting back up in this game and the adjustments the Cowboys made were just what was needed.

We will never know what would have happened in the game if Romo doesn't stand tall against a blitz and throw a strike to Williams on 3rd and 12 back in the 2nd Quarter with 1:45 to play.  The score was 14-0 and the opportunity was quickly getting away from the team.  The blitz was ruining everything and if they have to punt at 14-0, the Lions could score before halftime and then will receive the ball to start the 2nd half and the game might be over.

Instead, the Lions send 5 again (as their blitz rate at the time was near a stunning 40%), and fits the ball right on the money to Williams who beats Cassius Vaughn on a dig route and then the safety Ihedigbo on a bad angle and runs 76 yards for the touchdown.  They absolutely had to burn the blitz to slow it down and on a 3rd and 12, the degree of difficulty was quite high.  But, once the burn marks were on the Lions defense, they went from blitzing continuously in the 1st half to rarely in the 2nd half.  It was just what had to happen for the Cowboys to get their traction in the game.

From there, Scott Linehan opted out of the Cowboys usual "12" personnel looks with multiple tight ends and the usual balance, to go for a more finesse "11" personnel that would force the Lions to spread out defensively and into more nickel.  This adjustment was pretty clear as the Cowboys used "12" 8 times in the first 4 drives (which the Lions blitzed continuously) and then just twice the rest of the day - both on the final drive in the 4th Quarter and both out of shotgun.

It takes that effort, though, this time of year.  Coaches on their games, players stepping up at the most important moments, and the good fortune of a couple bounces of the ball and a call that goes in just the right direction.

And yes, about that suspicious call on 3rd and 1 with 8:18 to play where Anthony Hitchens seems to be clearly making contact with Brandon Pettigrew which drew a flag that was later picked up; that was handled very poorly by the officiating crew and people in Detroit and across the league sympathize with the Lions for that butchered scenario.  The play is awfully complex and Pettigrew is caught on video pulling Hitchens into him by the facemask (thus causing most of the contact), but it absolutely appears the Cowboys were on the right side of a very odd and fortuitous decision.  It might help if the officials were clear on the scene because their post-game statements only served to confuse.

Bullet dodged, to say the least.  One would have to guess if that play happens in Detroit, the Lions surely get a fresh set of downs and their win probability increases substantially.

That said, why Jim Caldwell doesn't consider 4th and 1 to extend the drive and instead punts from Dallas territory in that situation is beyond befuddling to me.  If fortune favors the bold, then Garrett won over Caldwell there as well.

It did not look very promising as Golden Tate is streaking home or as broken tackles were stacking up even though the Lions were without key offensive linemen, but to the credit of this team, the Cowboys seemed like a team that is familiar with playoff football and the idea that a game is a long afternoon where you don't have to panic down 13 in the 3rd Quarter (although you would prefer to avoid it next time).

The good news for this team is that there will be a next time.  They now take that experience and those bruises to yet another huge game on a bigger stage.  They take their undefeated road record to a Green Bay, where they boast an undefeated home record.

Something absolutely, positively has to give.

But, for now, enjoy the very impressive victory that showed the character, resolve, and ability of the NFC East Division Champions who will not go "one and done".

Bob Sturm Scouts the Lions

Enjoying just their second playoff appearance this millennium, the Detroit Lions are not disappointed in the least with their 11-5 season that puts them in Arlington in the wild-card round. They let a chance to win their first division crown since 1993 slip through their fingers last week, but now Jim Caldwell puts them in a spot to win their second playoff game since 1957 — the year of the last of Detroit’s four NFL championships.

This is the third playoff matchup between these franchises, the others a Dallas win at the Cotton Bowl in 1970 by a 5-0 margin and a forgettable January 1992 day in the Silverdome when Erik Kramer sent the young, promising Cowboys home 38-6.

The Lions feature the names Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, and Ndamukong Suh on the marquee, but have plenty of other players who impress on tape. Here are a few to consider:

DE Ezekiel Ansah

One of the most interesting players in the 2013 draft, Ansah was the fifth pick overall after not even being a starter for a full year at BYU. Born and raised in Ghana, Ziggy tried basketball and track before walking on to play football, then he had a fantastic spring that led him to the top of the draft. His 151/2 sacks in his first two pro seasons dwarf his 41/2 in college, and he attacks left tackles with a relentless work rate and sensational power and reach. Still learning the techniques of the game — and overshadowed by his more famous teammates along the defensive line — there is no doubt his best football is still ahead of him. But his present form has exceeded most expectations, and he has even developed into a force against the run.

WR Golden Tate

The free agent signing from Seattle has enjoyed both the best individual season of his career and easily the best season of any Detroit receiver opposite Calvin Johnson. He finished the year with 99 catches, 1,331 yards and a NFL-leading (among WRs) 720 yards after the catch. He plays with a physical edge as a Hines Ward-type who looks for opportunities to run at opponents as he did to Sean Lee in Seattle in 2012 with a memorable and nasty blind-side hit. The Lions needed more weapons, and it is clear that the 5-year, $31 million deal they offered to get Tate to leave the Super Bowl champions is already paying off.

LB DeAndre Levy

When it comes to diagnosing and attacking screens and passes into the flat against running backs, very few get the job done better than Levy. He reads his keys and uses his exceptional speed to cause problems when teams try to slow down the Lions’ pass rush with a common counter. Levy is a top leader of this defense and has done a top job given that his partner in the middle was lost for the season when Stephen Tollach blew out his knee in Week 3 celebrating a sack. Levy is now one of the key blitz men for the Lions on the odd occasion they rush more than four men. He covers space and makes plenty of tackles, despite being rather unknown outside of the NFC North.

Marinelli Report - Week 16 - Redskins

I worked on a study at training camp back on August 16th that addressed the defensive issues of this team as it pertained to both the scheme changes of the spring of 2013 and the coordinator changes from Rob Ryan to Monte Kiffin and on to Rod Marinelli.

The principle discussion to address was the claim in the off-season that the Cowboys defense had to be better this year based solely on the very dicey proclamations that "they couldn't get worse" than they were.  Then, I grabbed 15 different major defensive statistics where that same proclamation was made the year before.  If you recall, everyone seemed so disgusted by the 2012 defense that Rob Ryan was fired and the 3-4 scheme was trashed.  The idea was that they were so poor in that season that a complete overhaul would be in order - even if there were no plans to upgrade the talent (or even change it).

Well, the Cowboys put their 3-4 personnel into 4-3 spots in 2013 under the veteran eye of Kiffin, and as we detailed at great length back in August (and you might enjoy reviewing), they actually did get worse in pretty much every category.  The premise that "they couldn't get worse" was tested, and in fact, they could get worse.  And they did.

So, as we sit here on the brink of the 2014 post-season, we are reminded about how this defense got here.  They have allowed just 22 points per game which is a major improvement from the 27 per game they allowed in 2013 and the 25 per game of 2012.  That may not sound like a lot (5 points per game), but it is huge.  And 80 points over the course of the year (over 11 touchdowns).  In a game of inches, 11 touchdowns less is a ton.

They have taken the ball away 31 times which is 2nd best in the NFL.  Since 1995, do you know how many times the Cowboys have ranked in the top 5 in takeaways in the NFL?  Try never.  This is the very first time.  So, is it a flukey odd year or is this the new Cowboys defense under Rod Marinelli?  And, is that so impressive and such a massive improvement that he has just put himself in the mix for a more enticing job somewhere else?

They have been protected by their offense and have played less and more effectively with a higher work rate when they did play.  The rest afforded them to play with their top players a higher percentage of plays and they avoided a massive onslaught of injuries (although they were hit by significant injury blows to Justin Durant, Morris Claiborne, and of course, Sean Lee).

In other stats, they did poorly.  3rd Down defense sunk again and again until they ended up at 27th.  Red Zone scoring defense also dropped to 27th.  Sacks were consistently bad all season and the team ranked 28th with just 28 sacks.  These all are issues that they can focus on as they look at talent upgrades in the draft and offseason.  By the way, if they don't target defense over and over in the first 3-5 rounds of the draft, we should all be disappointed.  Perhaps only finding a RB to replace DeMarco Murray in round 2 or 3 should deviate them from that plan of stockpiling defensive youth.

But, now, let's check back in on those 15 categories from August.  And also remind you of the idea of "the case for average" as we talked about after Jacksonville.  Basically, if the Cowboys could get their defense to "NFL average", the offense could do the rest.

The following 15 stats were 2013 measurements where the Cowboys were in the bottom 20% of the league.  If they could get a bunch of them to league average, they could be in the playoffs.

Given that they play Detroit on Sunday, we know it happened, but let's see how this defense graded out:

The first 5 are passing defensive stats:

Statistic	'14 Dallas-Rank	'13 Dallas-Rank	'12 Dallas-Rank
Opp QB Rate	88.5 - 13th	96.0 - 26th	94.7 - 29th
Opp QB Rate - Blitz	101.6 - 26th	117.4 - 32nd	106.5 - 29th
20 Yd Passes Allowed	45 - T7th	71 - 32nd	52 - 20th
Yards After Catch	2216 - 29th	2368 - 30th	1926 - 25th
Net Pass Yds/Game	251.9 - 26th	286.8 - 30th	203.3 - 19th

Great work on dropping the passer rating significantly.  The team still isn't good at blitzing, but they cover that issue by NOT blitzing.  They allowed 26 fewer 20-yard passes!  And, even net pass yards/game dropped by 35 yards.  I would say the passing defense impressed.

Now, running defense:

Statistic	'14 Dallas-Rank	'13 Dallas-Rank	'12 Dallas-Rank
Rushes + Completions	47.7 - 15th	52.5 - 29th	47.6 - 11th
Run Yards Per Game	103.1 - 8th	128.5 - 27th	125.2 - 22nd
10 Yd Runs Allowed	43 - 9th	65 - 31st	53 - 22nd
1st Down Run Avg	4.47 - 22nd	4.87 - 27th	4.82 - 28th
% of Runs 4+ Yds	41.8 - 15th	47.8% - 29th	42% - 7th

Look at that.  Across the board, the Cowboys run defense stepped up and stopped the bleeding.  The big runs dropped.  The cumulative run spankings dried up.  Top 10 in a few stats!?!  Who are these guys?

And now, 5 more stats that are very important defensive metrics for limiting damage when a drive is happening.  Get off the field on 3rd downs, force field goals, etc...

Statistic	'14 Dallas-Rank	'13 Dallas-Rank	'12 Dallas-Rank
Off Pts Allowed	329 - 15th	425 - 30th	359  - 22nd
Yds Per Play RZ	2.84 - 16th	3.38 - 29th	3.02 - 23rd
3rd/Short (less 4yds)	65.6% - 28th	77.1% - 32nd	55.9% - 18th
3rd/Long (more 6yds)	25.5% - 19th	33.9% - 31st	25.3% - 16th
RZ Scoring Efficiency	61.2% - 27th	64.5% - 31st	54.5% - 18th

The big one is chopping 96 points off the ledger on offensive points allowed.  6 points a game!   Still issues on 3rd and short and red zone scoring, but again, with minimal resources allocated to the defense, Marinelli and the front office made it work.

We should take a moment to point out that front office.  They found Jeremy Mincey for 2-years at $3 million total.  They found Rolando McClain.  They developed Tyrone Crawford into a monster.  They found Anthony Hitchens.  Those 4 players were all major contributors in 2014's defensive uptick without a major expenditure for any of them.  That is some great work and when they do start investing major resources into the defense, they will be that far ahead of the game.

Basically, to have the year that they have had without DeMarcus Lawrence - who they did invest largely in - making much impact at all is quite impressive.

DEFENSIVE PARTICIPATION:  The linebacker group was thrown into chaos yet again when Hitchens was hurt and Rolando McClain did not even make the trip.  That gave us a huge dose of Bruce Carter and Cam Lawrence in Washington and in the case of Carter it was his best game since September.  He played with his two best characteristics shining through, speed and the knack for making plays when they arrive on his doorstep.  It will be interesting to see what happens to Carter in his free agency.  I don't believe the Cowboys have him in their plans, but he will certainly get a chance somewhere and maybe here if the finances are low.  In the meantime, they may need him plenty this weekend.  All snap counts from ProFootballFocus.com.

WEEK 17 vs WASHINGTON - DEFENSIVE NUMBERS

 Very little remarkable about their trip to Washington until the 2nd half when they started repeatedly finding takeaways.  Two interceptions and two fumble recoveries from a very generous Redskins' offense that certainly is not high on confidence these days.

SPLASH PLAYS

A reminder of what a splash play is by clicking on the link:

SPLASHES VS WASHINGTON - Week 17

2014 SEASON TOTALS 

Congratulations to Rolando McClain who won the splash title while only playing the 7th most snaps.  McClain missed 3 full games this season (St Louis, Jacksonville, and Washington) which seems to at least raise an eyebrow when discussing the durability of Sean Lee and the future of the linebacker group in general.  I would love to see the two play together and to understand that with 3 spots, you likely need 5 suitable players because that spot is always getting injured.

Incidentally, Tyrone Crawford finished half of a splash behind (and lost a sack on a penalty in the secondary on Sunday) and actually played even fewer snaps than McClain.

 Career Totals   2013 Totals   2012 Totals    2011 Totals

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PRESSURE REPORT

This segment of the defensive study is simply to find out how well the Cowboys are doing at getting pressure on the opposing QB.

EXPLOSIVE PLAYS ALLOWED (+20 Yards)

SACKS AND INTERCEPTIONS

The blitz got home a few times on Sunday with solid pressure in the pocket yet again.

PERFORMANCE AGAINST THE BLITZ

Each week we calculate how opposing quarterbacks fare against the Dallas blitz. Consider this the raw data behind the passing chart.

Wk 1 - Colin Kaepernick: 4/8, 74 Yds, 1 TD, 1 SACK

Wk 2 - Jake Locker: 3/6, 22 Yds

Wk 3 - Austin Davis: 4/7, 42 Yds, 1 INT

Wk 4 - Drew Brees: 6/8, 68 Yds, 1 TD

Wk 5 - Ryan Fitzpatrick: 6/11, 41 Yds, 2 FD

Wk 6 - Russell Wilson: 2/6, 25 Yds, 1 FD

Wk 7 - Eli Manning: 7/8, 75 Yds, 4 FD

Wk 8 - Colt McCoy: 5/7, 66 Yds, 2 FD

Wk 9 - Carson Palmer: 5/7, 42 Yds, 2 FD

Wk 10 - Blake Bortles: 4/6, 47 Yds, 2 FD, 3 Sack

Wk 12 - Eli Manning: 6/6, 75 Yds, 5 FD

Wk 13 - Mark Sanchez: 2/2, 16 Yds

Wk 14 - Jay Cutler: 6/9, 98 Yds, 3 FD, 1 TD

Wk 15 - Mark Sanchez: 4/5, 24 Yds, 1 FD, 1 Sack

Wk 16 - Andrew Luck/Matt Hasselbeck: 2/3, 11 Yds, 2 Sacks, 1 Forced Fumble, 1 Fumble Recovery

Wk 17 - Robert Griffin III: 3/4, 33 Yds, 2 Sacks, 2 FD

2014 Total: 69/103, 66 Cmp%, 759 Yds, 3 TD, 1 INT, 24 FD, 8 Sack - 94.2 QB Rating

BLITZ REPORT

Each week we monitor how often the Cowboys send pressure on passing plays.

And, here are the full season numbers to date:

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SUMMARY AND LOOK AHEAD:

The best performance Matthew Stafford has ever had in a Lions' win was when he threw for 488 yards (And 10.2 yards per attempt!!!) against the Cowboys last October in their improbable win where he stuck the ball in the end zone on a sneak.

However, you may have heard the stat that has been repeated about a thousand times this week that Stafford has never won a game on the road against a team that finished the year with a winning record (0-17).  We do recognize that win-loss record is not a QB stat, but we will also say that 0-17 is rather suspicious.

Meanwhile, Calvin Johnson needs no introduction.  His career high was that same day against that same shambolic Cowboys defense that allowed 329 receiving yards which were the 2nd most yards allowed on one day to one receiver as any player in the history of the sport.  Only Flipper Anderson's big day in 1989 exceeded that.

The Cowboys have the moment they dreamed of, a home playoff game against a team they have every right to feel they should beat.  But, do not assume that this can't go wrong, because this defense is up against some substantial challenges.  The Lions can run the ball as well, and the status of Larry Warford - the big guard from Kentucky - should be followed closely between now and Sunday.

But, Dallas has made a living this year by getting takeaways and limiting huge plays against them.  That will be put to the test on Sunday, but the improvements under Rod Marinelli tell us that they should be capable for this. And, while this defense may not be capable of 4 consecutive wins against playoff competition, getting this one should be well within reach.