Cowboys changing their defense because of us? What teams have we played in the 4-3 and in the 3-4?

[redskins4ever28]

Cowboys fired Ryan, hired Kiffin. ryan ran a 3-4, and Kiffin runs a 4-3/Tampa 2. Reading over Cowboyzone forums, theres a few posts over there that think the change is because the 2 games we had against them we exposed them through the air and the ground and they are saying that the read/option and pistol formations are not as effective against 4-3 defenses. So I ask you, what teams have we played this year in the 4-3 and what teams in the 3-4?

I will say this, Ware wont be nearly as effective in a 4-3 as he was in a 3-4.

[HeluCopter29]

I've got us at 6-6 v. 4-3 D's and 3-1 v. 3-4 D's.

IDK if I'd call that a good enough sample size to prove anything.

[Hitman21ST]

I've got us at 6-6 v. 4-3 D's and 3-1 v. 3-4 D's.

IDK if I'd call that a good enough sample size to prove anything.

That puts us at 9-7. You're one game off.

[ncr2h]

Median performance vs the 3/4:
16/26, 210 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 87.3 Rat, 7.4 YPA; 7 Rush attempts, 32 Yards, 0 TDs

Median performance vs the 4/3:
19/26, 206 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 101.9 Rat, 8.3 YPA,; 9 Rush attempts, 72 yards, 0 TDs

This basically reflected my general feeling, which was that the zone read is much less effective when there is an extra linebacker to account for - that's extra speed for the defense, more versatility, etc. Pittsburgh gave us some serious trouble this season (Baltimore and Dallas not so much). If Dallas is switching to a 4-3 due to us, they are probably making a mistake.

[orlskinsfan]

Monte Kiffin did a steller job at USC. NOT! Im not worried about this change.

[thesubmittedone]

I don't know if it's really about 4-3 versus a 3-4 defense... that would probably be over simplifying things if the Cowboys were making a decision like that for us.

That being said, Jerry Jones was emphatic about us being the team to beat in the NFC East and how they were going to make changes in the offseason to combat our offense after the last game of the season, so who knows?

We did completely nullify Ware though in their scheme. Without even blocking him, lol.

[emor09]

The only teams who really stopped us were Atlanta and Carolina. (Don't anyone dare say Pittsburgh, we beat ourselves with drops)

Both of those teams run 4-3, correct?

[Hitman21ST]

The only teams who really stopped us were Atlanta and Carolina. (Don't anyone dare say Pittsburgh, we beat ourselves with drops)

Both of those teams run 4-3, correct?

The odd thing is, in general the ZBS works better against 4-3 teams. The 3-4 causes more confusion in the blocking schemes.

[thesubmittedone]

The odd thing is, in general the ZBS works better against 4-3 teams. The 3-4 causes more confusion in the blocking schemes.

Yeah, in the end, we shouldn't worry either way. This offense has an answer for everything. The Giants had no answer for our offense both times we played them and they run a 4-3 as well.

[skinny21]

Yeah, in the end, we shouldn't worry either way. This offense has an answer for everything. The Giants had no answer for our offense both times we played them and they run a 4-3 as well.

Though the Giants held us under 20 both times, didn't they?

I was pretty surprised that Dallas gave up on Ryan so quickly missing so many key guys. Guess they needed a scapegoat and Wonderboy wasn't gonna be it. Maybe there was something else behind the scenes I didn't hear about.

I've got a lot of respect for Kiffin though I don't know much more about him than your average fan.

I'm less worried about the type of D we face than the personell. Carolina seemed to kill us because they got consistent penetration on our line.

[thesubmittedone]

Though the Giants held us under 20 both times, didn't they?

I was pretty surprised that Dallas gave up on Ryan so quickly missing so many key guys. Guess they needed a scapegoat and Wonderboy wasn't gonna be it. Maybe there was something else behind the scenes I didn't hear about.

I've got a lot of respect for Kiffin though I don't know much more about him than your average fan.

I'm less worried about the type of D we face than the personell. Carolina seemed to kill us because they got consistent penetration on our line.

The first time I'm pretty sure we scored over 20, the second time it was only 17. But we could've reached 20 since we were in field goal range when we went into victory formation. Still, we did rack up a ton of yards against them in the first game. Turnovers killed us from scoring more. In the second game, we ran the ball a lot and they played very conservative defense which contributed to the lack of points. And I believe we had another turnover in that game that killed us if I'm not mistaken. Still, we were successful over all against them.

I think the Carolina game was just a bad outing from everyone. We all forgot after that game how we moved the ball well against them in general but just failed in the red zone. The Steelers loss simply lingered and Robert wasn't as accurate in that game as he normally is. Had we played Carolina after the bye week I think we would've destroyed them, honestly.

[#BgMase76#]

Yeah, in the end, we shouldn't worry either way. This offense has an answer for everything. The Giants had no answer for our offense both times we played them and they run a 4-3 as well.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. The ZBS works best against 4-3s since you get everyone going in one direction. I like the zone read option against 3-4s. But regardless we're set up on offense to attack whatever the defense does.

---------- Post added January-16th-2013 at 11:02 AM ----------

Cowboys fired Ryan, hired Kiffin. ryan ran a 3-4, and Kiffin runs a 4-3/Tampa 2. Reading over Cowboyzone forums, theres a few posts over there that think the change is because the 2 games we had against them we exposed them through the air and the ground and they are saying that the read/option and pistol formations are not as effective against 4-3 defenses. So I ask you, what teams have we played this year in the 4-3 and what teams in the 3-4?

I will say this, Ware wont be nearly as effective in a 4-3 as he was in a 3-4.

Kiffin was an innovator w/ the Tampa 2 and no doubt a great defensive mind. But the Tampa 2 has been figured out and played out after their SB run. As good as Lee is he's no Derrick Brooks. Besides, Ware would need to put his hand in the dirt to be remotely effective. I'd love to see him in coverage as a LB.

[Popeman38]

The only teams who really stopped us were Atlanta and Carolina. (Don't anyone dare say Pittsburgh, we beat ourselves with drops)

Both of those teams run 4-3, correct?

Atlanta beat us because RG3 got knocked out and Cousins wasn't prepared. They picked him off twice. Carolina, RG3 had his worst day reading a D all season. He missed Moss and Robinson WIDE OPEN for 2 easy, long TDs. Robinson didn't have a DB within 15 yards. Moss was streaking down the sideline with no DB within 20 yards. The whole endzone section rose expecting TDs both times. He pulled the ball down and second guessed himself, resulting in short pass and scramble. He throws those 2 balls, we walk away from Carolina easily.

Also, the Giants and Eagles run a 4-3 and they were SOOOO successful shutting our O down.

[SkinsFanMania]

Atlanta beat us because RG3 got knocked out and Cousins wasn't prepared. They picked him off twice. Carolina, RG3 had his worst day reading a D all season. He missed Moss and Robinson WIDE OPEN for 2 easy, long TDs. Robinson didn't have a DB within 15 yards. Moss was streaking down the sideline with no DB within 20 yards. The whole endzone section rose expecting TDs both times. He pulled the ball down and second guessed himself, resulting in short pass and scramble. He throws those 2 balls, we walk away from Carolina easily.

Also, the Giants and Eagles run a 4-3 and they were SOOOO successful shutting our O down.

Its not that he missed moss and Robinson as much as it was the rib injury (none were broken) in the first quarter of the Carolina game that didn't allow him to make those throws. He was also high on many other throws in that game.

[Renegade7]

The only teams who really stopped us were Atlanta and Carolina. (Don't anyone dare say Pittsburgh, we beat ourselves with drops)

Both of those teams run 4-3, correct?

And both of those game we were without Garcon and it showed. Seriously, 3-4, 4-3 it doesn't matter. You have to play disciplined football in order to keep from being embarrassed by the zone-read option. The cowboys are anything but disciplined.

If they do go to 4-3, it will be a mistake because of the time it will take to get the players to run it right. Spencer may easily walk, and people are still trying to figure out how Ware is going to fit in in all this (if at all). By the time they do get it right, they're going to need to have a replacement for Romo, which could effectively be the closing of their "window". Not to mention Kiffin is 72 years old, so he won't be around that long.

But more power to them, by all means.