IRVING, Texas -- Defensive end Tyrone Crawford insists he knew it during the offseason, says there’s a videotaped interview of him predicting the Dallas Cowboys' defense would be good.

Defensive tackle Nick Hayden and Bruce Carter said he knew after the San Francisco game. Safety J.J. Wilcox said he wasn’t certain until the Cowboys' win over Seattle.

Until we see Crawford’s videotape, assume no one on this roster knew the Cowboys’ defense would morph from one of the NFL’s worst into a playoff-caliber unit. But it has.

Last year, the Cowboys allowed 415.3 yards per game; this year it ranks 19th at 355.1 yards per game.

“I knew in OTAs,” said Crawford, “because of the way we were working and the way we were flying around. I could see it in [Rod] Marinelli’s eyes. When you see him smiling, you know you’re doing good things because he’s on top of everything.”

The Cowboys’ defense is playing some of its best football of the season as they prepare to face Green Bay, which averaged 386.1 yards and a league-leading 30.4 points per game.

Here are 10 reasons the Cowboys’ defense is much better than it was last season: