Defense must present Cowboys’ best case against Falcons

The Dallas Cowboys fielded a defense that ranked third worst in NFL history two years ago, a unit that made career backups and no-name players on opposing teams look like Hall of Famers.

Enter Rod Marinelli as defensive coordinator last season. The defense progressed to being an opportunistic, bend-but-don’t-break squad. Now, the Cowboys’ defense is flirting with being among the elite in the league.

And they certainly need to be if the team wants to keep its Super Bowl aspirations intact with the offense having been ravaged by injuries to quarterback Tony Romo and wide receiver Dez Bryant.

The defense has been hit with injuries, too, losing promising rookie end Randy Gregory in Week 1 to a high ankle sprain, which will keep him out a second consecutive game Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons. Defensive tackle Terrell McClain has been lost for the season to a sprained big toe that will require surgery.

The latest blow came when veteran end Jeremy Mincey was ruled out with a concussion for the game at AT&T Stadium.

But the defense remains the more complete unit and knows it must pick up the slack with the offense missing key pieces, even though nobody would outwardly say it.

“You can’t focus on Dez and Tony,” linebacker Sean Lee said. “Obviously, Dez and Tony are unbelievable players and great leaders. We have to focus on ourselves and getting better every day. After last week, there are things we still could be better at, still can get better at.

“That’s really what our focus is — not on what we had to do and what injuries are going on.”

Added defensive tackle Tyrone Crawford: “We shouldn’t have to put pressure on ourselves like that anyway. We’re going to go out there and play our style of defense and do what we do.”

Slowing Julio

Containing Julio Jones, the dynamic Falcons receiver, is the top priority for the defense. Jones has already put together two impressive games, with nine catches for 141 yards and two touchdowns in Atlanta’s season-opening win over Philadelphia and then setting a career high with 13 catches for 135 yards in a win against the New York Giants last Sunday.

Jones has faced the Cowboys only once in his career, finishing a November 2012 game with five catches for 129 yards, as well as one rush for 8 yards.

“He’s a unique player all around the board,” cornerback Morris Claiborne said. “There’s not too many things you can pick out on film that he’s lacking, so it’s going to be a good challenge for us. But I’m pretty sure and positive from this week of practice that we’re ready to step up and take on the challenge.”

For its part, the secondary should feel good about what it’s done early on in preventing a star receiver from going off. They shut down the New York Giants’ Odell Beckham Jr. in the season opener and had similar success against the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jordan Matthews.

The goal is the same this week in forcing someone other than Jones to beat the secondary.

“We don’t want to let Julio [go] off because he’s been getting off these first couple of games,” safety Barry Church said. “They have a couple other weapons, so we want to make them beat us with the other weapons.”

But Jones is a player who will get the ball thrown his way regardless of how well he is covered. Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan treats Jones much like Tony Romo treats Dez Bryant in certain situations.

Jones is simply among the top receivers in the game, and there’s a strong chance he will come down with the ball, even in traffic.

Jones is tied for the lead in the NFL in receptions with 22 and is second in yards with 276 through two games. His teammate, veteran receiver Roddy White, said a 2,000-yard season isn’t out of the question for Jones.

That’s never happened in the NFL, and the Cowboys don’t want to be one of the victims should Jones do it.

Fast turnaround

Through two weeks, the Cowboys’ defense ranks third in yards allowed per game (257.5) and sixth in points allowed per game (18). Not to mention they have boasted the league’s best rushing defense, holding opponents to 53 yards a game.

Owner Jerry Jones called the defense’s resurgence “one of the pleasant things I’ve had happen in the NFL.”

“And I’m not exaggerating,” Jones said.

Jones admitted that last year’s defense was filled with a bunch of no-name players who exceeded everybody’s expectation. Credit, of course, deserves to go to Marinelli.

The Cowboys then spent this off-season adding several pieces to fortify the defense.

They spent their first-round pick on defensive back Byron Jones, and felt they found a gem in the second round when Gregory slipped to them.

But the most impactful addition has been the return of Lee, who missed last year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and is now thriving as the weakside linebacker in Marinelli’s Tampa 2 scheme. Lee set a production-points record last week against the Eagles with 14 tackles, including two for loss, and an interception.

“You couldn’t talk about our defense without talking about the difference and the impact he’s making,” Jones said.

Jones mentioned a couple other defenders by name, too. Claiborne, a bust to date, is finally playing well in the secondary, as is safety J.J. Wilcox, who continues to progress in his third season.

All of it has added up to the Cowboys feeling confident about relying on their defense with the offensive injury issues.

Who would have thought that could be the case two years ago?

“We’ve got good players,” Marinelli said. “We go to work every single day, so I think if you do that and keep adding a few splash players here and there, then the system grows.”

This story was originally published September 26, 2015 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Defense must present Cowboys’ best case against Falcons."