[ad_1]
FRISCO, Texas – An 18 point home win, with a record quarterback performance, is an emphatic way to start a season.
But the defense of the Cowboys is high and they know where they want to be at the end of the year.
They are expecting a lot more from themselves this Sunday in Washington.
"We want to be an elite defense, and we feel like that," said linebacker and defensive captain Jaylon Smith. "But we have to go out and prove it every day. There have been cases in the game where we have not posted this. Our job is to correct that. "
The defense awarded 17 points last Sunday against the Giants, including 10 until the final three minutes. They allowed only 2 of the 11 conversions on the third down. They forced three escaped and recovered two.
But there were also imperfections, especially in the run against second-year star Giants Saquon Barkley. He managed a 59-yard run in the first touchdown of New York, a breach that began with poor communication before the break.
Barkley only managed 11 rushing attempts in the match, in part because of an unbalanced score in the second half. (Prescott and the offensive scored in five consecutive orders between the second and third quarters.) But Barkley still managed to accumulate 120 rushing yards, averaging 6.1 rushing yards on his runs. 10 other points.
This is not characteristic of a Cowboys defense that prides itself on controlling the ground game. They finished fifth in the race defense last season, although their two-worst performances were last month against the Colts and the playoff loss to the Rams.
Kris Richard, Cowboys defensive backcourt coach / coach, sees no correlation between last Sunday's game and the Rams game "because last year has nothing to do with this year, all of like week 1 has nothing to do with week 2. "
"Obviously, last week was not up to our expectations and it just depends on discipline and effort," Richard said. "The big part about this is that we maintain our control of the gap."
Sunday's match: Adrian Peterson, who should be injured after an injury to Derrius Guice, after an inactivity the first week.
Peterson, a seven-time Pro Bowler, racked up 99 yards in the Redskins 20-17 home win against the Cowboys last October.
"They call him D.A.," All day "for a reason.He will always come tenaciously," Smith said. "We must be up to the task and exceed their expectations."
The Cowboys could have several starters increase their workload this week. Defensive linemen DeMarcus Lawrence and Tyrone Crawford respectively played only 32 and 30 free-kicks, out of a total of 69 defensive shots against the Giants. Cornerback Byron Jones played only 28 shots. All three spent the majority of their training camp recovering from an injury.
Lawrence, Pro Bowl captain and defensive captain, said he was still developing his skills after such a long period of leave. But it was disturbing against the Giants with two tackles and a fumble recovery from a strip-tease bag that stopped a player inside the Cowboys 10-yard line.
"More pressure on the quarterback, more sacks of tape," he said. "We are proud to be one of the best units in the league and we do not feel like we showed it last week. So we have something to prove. "
[ad_2]
Source link