Three weeks into the season, Dallas’ defense is one of the worst in history.
THE The cowboysThe Browns defense looked good in their Week 1 win over the Cleveland Browns. They held Cleveland to just 3.3 yards per play, allowing just two conversions on 15 third-down attempts. That seemed impressive at the time, but the Browns have been terrible since. 18 points scored is their season high, and injuries to their offensive line and running back Nick Chubb have hampered their play considerably.
The New Orleans Saints’ offense, at full strength, proved to be a formidable challenge for the Dallas defense. The Saints ran 56 plays on offense, 43 percent of which resulted in gains of at least seven yards. Alvin Kamara’s four carries of 10-plus yards, all on outside runs to the left, demonstrated the ease with which the Saints were able to run. His 115 rushing yards and three touchdowns, all without a single carry of 15 yards or more, further underscored the Saints’ offense’s dominance over the Cowboys’ defense.
The Baltimore Ravens ran the ball on 45 of 60 offensive plays for 274 yards. Derrick Henry ran for 151 yards, breaking 12 tackles and scoring twice. Lamar Jackson added 87 rushing yards and a touchdown, which would be nice if the Cowboys shut down the passing attack. Jackson completed 12 of 15 passes without needing a single pass in a tight window, an impressive performance. No player on Dallas’ defense played well against the Ravens.
Through the first three weeks of the season, they have allowed 557 rushing yards, the most since 1963, 5.4 yards per attempt, the most since 1979, and eight rushing touchdowns, the most in Cowboys franchise history. It’s possible that these issues are talent, scheme and will, and that they can’t all be solved in one offseason.
Hopefully the trip to New York will provide some relief. The Ravens (second) and Saints (fourth) both rank in the top five in Offensive DVOA so far this year. Defense-adjusted value over average essentially looks at performance through the lens of opponent strength and game situation.
Cleveland is 31st. The Giants are 19th.
You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or YouTube on the Podcast Through the Cowboys
This article was originally published on Cowboys Wire: Things are looking bad for this glaring problem plaguing the Cowboys
