Maveric

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Posted by rphillips at 8/13/2011 2:06 PM CDT on dallascowboys.com

ARLINGTON, Texas – Rob Ryan knows his defense was far from perfect against the Broncos on Thursday, the unit’s first live contact in his new 3-4 scheme after a two-week crash course in San Antonio.

He still has no doubt they’ll be better than last year’s 23rd NFL ranking and a franchise-record 436 points allowed.

“I think it’s been well-reported, ‘looks like the same ol’ defense,’” Ryan said. “But we did hold them to a bunch of field goals. That might have been a little different.

“That’s the way it’s gonna be. We’re not gonna give up a bunch of touchdowns.”

The starters bent but didn’t break in their lone series against Denver. The Broncos reached the 1-yard line in nine quick plays, including 40 rushing yards on six carries. But a penalty and three straight incompletions forced them to settle for a field goal.

Ryan wasn’t pleased with the high number of mental mistakes Thursday, particularly by the backups late in the game.

“Physically we weren’t making many mistakes at all,” he said. “Our guys were playing hard, they were playing physically. Mentally we just had too many breakdowns, especially with the last bunch out there. We gave up two touchdowns, which we don’t like to do. I won’t take offense if you kick a field goal, but if you score a touchdown we don’t like that.”

Ryan praised four players: defensive end Jason Hatcher, whose pressure forced the Broncos’ third-down incompletion on the opening field goal drive and later led to Alan Ball’s nullified interception; cornerback Alan Ball, who capably replaced injured starters Terence Newman and Mike Jenkins after battling a foot blister early in the week; inside linebacker Bradie James and outside linebacker Victor Butler.

Butler had five tackles, a tackle for loss and nearly a sack. He’s expected to get significant playing time in subpackages when Ryan deploys extra linebackers.

“We’ve had one-on-meetings and he’s like, ‘You can be a big part of this defense. We want you to contribute, but you’ve also got to know your stuff,’” Butler said. “(He said) ‘we want you to be accountable. When it’s 11 guys, fourth-and-1 and we want to get off the field, we want to know that we can count on you to make plays.’

“When you get that kind of confidence from a coach and that type of responsibility, you’ve got to live up to it.”
 

Maveric

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I'm not sure if this is encouraging or not. Seems to me mental errors have been more of the issue than anything physical was anyways...
 

dbair1967

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It'll happen. Ryan is a good defensive coach and I know we have some quality talent, certainly alot more talent than he had in Oakland or Cleveland.

I'm sure we'll have our ups and downs, especially the first half of the season. But once everyone really figures out the scheme we should start to gel.
 

dbair1967

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I'm not sure if this is encouraging or not. Seems to me mental errors have been more of the issue than anything physical was anyways...

They've had two weeks to work on a brand new playbook, and trotted out a ton of backups...it was to be expected.
 
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Cr122

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“I think it’s been well-reported, ‘looks like the same ol’ defense,’” Ryan said. “But we did hold them to a bunch of field goals. That might have been a little different.

“That’s the way it’s gonna be. We’re not gonna give up a bunch of touchdowns.”

I hope he's right.
 

Maveric

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They've had two weeks to work on a brand new playbook, and trotted out a ton of backups...it was to be expected.

True. I guess I can give them a little slack in that regard. I'm just hoping he talks in a couple of weeks about the reduction of mental mistakes.
 

Slatemosphere

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I absolutly despise the "bend but don't break" defense. It puts the offense into horrible field position and milks the clock for the Dallas Offense to do their work. Not to mention the D is probably gassed in crunch time because of the constant 10+ play drives.

Big Ben and Flacco made their name because of the extra possesions and field position they are given.
 

LAZARUS_LOGAN

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I'm not sure if this is encouraging or not. Seems to me mental errors have been more of the issue than anything physical was anyways...


Yeah but in this case, it's warranted. They are learning a new scheme so naturally, there will be mental errors. In truth though, I saw a more disciplined team than what was under Wade.
 

LAZARUS_LOGAN

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I absolutly despise the "bend but don't break" defense. It puts the offense into horrible field position and milks the clock for the Dallas Offense to do their work.Not to mention the D is probably gassed in crunch time because of the constant 10+ play drives.

Big Ben and Flacco made their name because of the extra possesions and field position they are given.

I kind of agree with you on this, but... at this moment this is the best we should expect. But I'll take a FG by the opposing O anyday over a TD. So let them continue to bend but not break.
 

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This team has had mental errors for years. Hopefully someone will get on their ass about it now.
 

Maveric

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This team has had mental errors for years. Hopefully someone will get on their ass about it now.

That's the thing I'm most encouraged about. Wade didn't make them learn from those mistakes. Ryan's not going to be nearly as forgiving.
 
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I absolutly despise the "bend but don't break" defense. It puts the offense into horrible field position and milks the clock for the Dallas Offense to do their work. Not to mention the D is probably gassed in crunch time because of the constant 10+ play drives.

Big Ben and Flacco made their name because of the extra possesions and field position they are given.
I wouldn't confuse "bend but don't break" with not being aggressive. I don't think there's any doubt Ryan is going to be creative and aggressive with this defense.
 

Slatemosphere

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I wouldn't confuse "bend but don't break" with not being aggressive. I don't think there's any doubt Ryan is going to be creative and aggressive with this defense.

If he plays aggressive then that's different. What Wade did last year was disgraceful.
 

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The "they've only been in this defense for two weeks" excuse would hold more water if this defense didn't have a history of being a stupid unit.

They've commited stupid penalties and dumb errors consistently over the past 5 or so years. I think there's as much talent as there is stupidity throughout the defensive unit.

Rob will have his work cut out for him, that's for sure. I think the D will be a little better this year, but I don't think Rob will be in Dallas long enough to get the right players in there to get the defense where it needs to be.
 

Sheik

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That's not to say that any defense wouldn't be struggling right now with only two weeks in. I'm just saying I don't expect the mental errors to go away at any point.
 

dbair1967

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The "they've only been in this defense for two weeks" excuse would hold more water if this defense didn't have a history of being a stupid unit.

They've commited stupid penalties and dumb errors consistently over the past 5 or so years. I think there's as much talent as there is stupidity throughout the defensive unit.

Rob will have his work cut out for him, that's for sure. I think the D will be a little better this year, but I don't think Rob will be in Dallas long enough to get the right players in there to get the defense where it needs to be.

There's been alot of turnover in the last 5yrs...if it were the same group you might have a point, but it isnt
 

Plymkr

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Best get used to the "mental errors" there Ryan. This team is always full of em.

#1 excuse
 

Sheik

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There's been alot of turnover in the last 5yrs...if it were the same group you might have a point, but it isnt

I don't see a lot of turnover. The only player starting on D(if Brooking is still starting) that hasn't been here is Elam.

Sensabaugh, Olshansky and Brooking are going into their 3rd year. You have Newman, Spears, Ware, Ratliff and James that have been here all 5 years. Spencer is going into his 5th year, Jenkins is going into his 4th year.

The Safety positions have been getting the most turnover in the last 5 years.
 

dbair1967

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I don't see a lot of turnover. The only player starting on D(if Brooking is still starting) that hasn't been here is Elam.

Sensabaugh, Olshansky and Brooking are going into their 3rd year. You have Newman, Spears, Ware, Ratliff and James that have been here all 5 years. Spencer is going into his 5th year, Jenkins is going into his 4th year.

The Safety positions have been getting the most turnover in the last 5 years.

5yrs ago Bill Parcells was the HC. 5 yrs ago Igor Olshansky and Jay Ratliff werent starters on the DL. Anthony Spencer wasnt here, Keith Brooking wasnt here, Jenkins wasnt here, Elam wasnt a contributor, let alone a starter...Sensabaugh wasnt here...Scandrick wasnt here, Victor Butler wasnt here
 

Maveric

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There's been alot of turnover in the last 5yrs...if it were the same group you might have a point, but it isnt

That is exactly the whole problem. There has been turnover during that span, but yet the stupid mistakes have been a constant. Perhaps the only thing the defense needs is accountability, one thing Wade Phillips never seemed to be able to bring.
 
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