Dallas Cowboys

Is the Dallas Cowboys Defense Legit or a Fraud?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

With 4 interceptions, 20 sacks, four 300+ yards allowed passing and nearly five 100 yard rushers – some feel the Dallas Cowboys defense is suspect.

As the Dallas Cowboys have put together a 10-game winning streak, many of us worry about the defensive side of the football. As we prepare to face the Minnesota Vikings, the Cowboys defense is ranked 5th in points allowed but 21st in yards allowed. Teams are averaging 19.4 points per game against us, but they are facing the NFL’s 3rd best scoring offense that produces 28.7 points per game. Obviously, he who scores the most points wins.

I am enjoying the wins and yet, I try to remain cautiously optimistic. In the NFL’s parity age, there are still teams that consistently fit into one of three categories: Top 8, Bottom 8 or the Clump of 16 possibles. Due to the incredibly inadequate performances by our backup quarterbacks in 2015, the Cowboys are playing bottom 8 opponents with a top 8 team. It’s like we’re the best athlete in a high school gym class because we were held back a grade – twice.

Now everyone is looking for chinks in the Cowboys armor and conversation is focused on the defensive side of the ball and the quality of our opponents. With the exception of the New York Giants, every team has one loss because of the Cowboys. A quality defense makes teams perform below their averages. Let’s look at the numbers to see if that has been the case with the Cowboys defense.

Team	Record	Avg PPG	Vs Cowboys	Diff
New York Giants	8 – 3	21	20	-1
Washington Redskins	6 – 4 – 1	25.5	23	-2.5
Chicago Bears	2 – 9	16.2	17	0.8
San Francisco 49’ers	1 – 10	20.7	17	-3.7
Cincinnati Bengals	3 – 7	19.4	14	-5.4
Green Bay Packers	5 – 6	24.9	16	-8.9
Philadelphia Eagles	5 – 6	23.1	23	-0.1
Cleveland Browns	0 – 12	16.4	10	-6.4
Pittsburgh Steelers	6 – 5	24.2	30	5.8
Baltimore Ravens	6 – 5	19.8	17	-2.8
Washington Redskins	6 – 4 – 1	25.5	26	0.5
Minnesota Vikings	6 – 5	19.8	???	???
	48 – 72 – 1	21.52	19.36	2.16

The Cowboys opponents have a combined record of 48 – 72 – 1, the Redskins were only counted once. Also, the Vikings average of 19.8 points per game wasn’t used. These numbers may not reveal who was injured or other details, it’s strictly focused on scoring. The numbers reveal that out of 11 opponents, only three teams: Bears, Steelers and Redskins, scored more points against the Cowboys than they normally do.

That means that with a mere 4 interceptions and 20 sacks by the defense. After allowing four teams to pass for 300 or more yards. After allowing three 100 yard rushers (and two others in the high 90’s). It seems that when it comes to stopping opponents from scoring, defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli’s group is doing something right.

Will the Vikings provide a strong challenge? Honestly, I doubt it. Despite starting their season 5 – 0, they have gone 1 – 5 in their last 6 games. In those 5 losses, they have scored an average of 13.8 points – it’s doubtful they have a scoring explosion, but that’s why they play the game.

#StayFocused

#GoCowboys

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