Tag: defensive effort

Xavier Woods provides disappointing answer for Cowboys’ lack of effort

Dallas Cowboys safety Xavier Woods describes what’s wrong with the team’s defense in one disappointing answer.

The Dallas Cowboys have one of the worst defenses in the NFL through the first month of the season. It also looks like they have been regressing each week under new DC Mike Nolan.

In this case, looks aren’t deceiving, the stats will back this up. The Cowboys currently ranked 30th in the league in total defense, are next to last in rushing yards allowed per game and are dead last in ppg, giving up 36.5 points a contest.

That’s not bad, that painstakingly putrid.

There are valid reasons to explain some of the ineptitude of the defense. Having less on-field work this off-season and no preseason games to work out the kinks of a new scheme was a less than ideal situation for the defense.

It also hasn’t helped that injuries have sapped some of the teams’ starters on the defensive side of the ball. The CB position has missed Anthony Brown and Chidobe Awuzie, Gerald McCoy is out for the year at DT and LB Leighton Vander Esch was injured in the first game of the season, while fellow LB Sean Lee has yet to practice.

That’s a lot of talent sitting on the shelf for the Cowboys and it hasn’t helped their cause on defense.

However, there are more issues on the defense other than injured players and learning a new system. After a third straight pitiful performance against the Cleveland Browns, Nolan’s defense was put under a microscope. What was seen on film, wasn’t good. The defense was bad, but what was worse, it seemed like they lacked effort.

Failing because of talent is one thing, but getting beat because you didn’t hustle or put forth your best effort is something much different. You can understand losing if you don’t have the ability to play any better, but not playing with the maximum effort is inexcusable.

While the Cowboys coaches and owner Jerry Jones didn’t seem to believe the rhetoric the team didn’t try their hardest, one player confirmed what many people had pointed out. S Xavier Woods admitted he doesn’t go full speed for every play.

That’s extremely disappointing to hear from Woods and it’s not a good look. The football world has been bashing your effort for the past few days and Woods admits that he doesn’t give his all on every play.

It takes nothing to try. It doesn’t take talent to give effort, and apparently, Woods lacks the will to go full speed on some plays.

The Cowboys don’t have the elite talent on defense to be successful right now, but they could make up for that with their effort. That doesn’t appear to be happening either. When neither is happening, it’s a bad combination.

And the results are speaking for themselves.

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