Via Brandon George The Dallas Morning News - The Cowboys had six players selected for the Pro Bowl on Tuesday. None of them was from the defense. And that’s just fine with Cowboys’ defensive players. All season, they’ve embraced the fact that the unit has no big names. Their approach has been all for one. “Our defense is we-fense, and that’s what we focus on is we-fense. There is no star of the defense,” defensive end Jeremy Mincey said. “If every man is doing their job and in place, then everybody will talk about the whole defense. It’s not an individual league.” The Cowboys’ “we-fense” is peaking at just the right time. Since Thanksgiving, it has been stacking up one big play after another, putting the offense in favorable positions. The Cowboys have nine takeaways in their three December games. If that doesn’t blow you away, consider this: You have to combine the Cowboys’ previous 14 post-November games over three seasons to come up with nine takeaways by the defense. Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli and head coach Jason Garrett said this week they believe turnovers come in bunches. But both said players have to win every down to be in position to make big plays. “I prefer to just believe if you play hard every snap and do things right,” Marinelli said, “you’ve got a chance to get one.” Added Garrett: “Momentum is a real thing. It makes you feel good. But you have to earn it. You have to go strip in practice. You have to rush the quarterback.” The pass rush has also improved in December. Marinelli has said all season if the Cowboys get pressure on the quarterback, the big plays will start to pile up on the back end. The Cowboys have five interceptions in December. They also have six sacks the last two games. Four have come in the fourth quarter. Of the other two, one forced a fumble that the Cowboys recovered and the other forced a punt. Before December, the Cowboys had only eight fourth-quarter sacks in 12 games. Mincey and three-technique defensive tackle Tyrone Crawford have six of the Cowboys’ last eight sacks. Crawford said he’s not worried about the Pro Bowl shutout. He knows how far the unit has come since finishing last in the league a year ago in total defense. “I feel like some of the guys here deserved it, but obviously we didn’t get no one in, and that’s OK with us,” Crawford said. “We’re still going to play our ball and still do what we do and keep on trying to shock the world.” The Cowboys’ defense is coming off of arguably its best performance of the season Sunday in a 42-7 win over Indianapolis. The Colts have the league’s top passing offense and third-best offense overall, but the Cowboys held them to 229 total yards (and only 1 rushing yard). “After that game against the Colts, every player on that roster could have made the Pro Bowl, I’m telling you,” Mincey said. “That was amazing to hold them to 1 yard rushing. Nobody has done that against them all season. That’s telling you we’re trying to make a statement.” Marinelli said the defense has been able to get more pressure on the quarterback by winning more one-on-one battles and making a few subtle changes. He said the Cowboys have benefited from playing a little more Cover 2 in the secondary. Marinelli said he hopes the defense is still “a ways away” from peaking. In the meantime, he said his players will continue to play for each other and not worry about what could have been with Pro Bowl selections. “Team defense is really special,” Marinelli said. “When you play team defense, guys are playing their gaps and their assignment and the standard is high that everybody is hustling and hitting. No houseguests. Everybody has got to tackle, everybody has got to hustle, and it’s fun when you’re playing that way. “They’re just a bunch of unselfish guys who go to work every day.”
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 23:05:26 +0000
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