The Dallas Cowboys defense has exceeded expectations this season. Through the ebb and flow of the offense, the Cowboys defense has kept the team's head above water.

Going into Sunday's slate of games, the Cowboys defense ranked eighth in yards allowed per game (331.1) and fourth in points allowed (19.4). Moreover, the Cowboys defense is seventh in explosive run rate allowed and fourth in explosive pass rate allowed.

The Cowboys defense has yet to break through the glass ceiling and become an elite unit, as evidenced by the team ranking 21st in defense DVOA and 28th in third-down conversion rate allowed (43.97 percent), but it's a very good unit capable of giving most NFL offenses fits.

When discussing the defense's improved play this season, the credit (player wise) typically goes to four players: DeMarcus Lawrence, Leighton Vander Esch, Jaylon Smith and Byron Jones. The four horsemen of the Cowboys defense are playing at a Pro Bowl level, and each deserves a large portion of the credit for the defense's impressive level of play.

Though those four deserve the most credit, they aren't the only defenders who deserve credit for the defense's level of play this season. These players have been overshadowed by the exploits of Lawrence, Vander Esch, Smith and Jones, but that shouldn't diminish the contributions of the underrated members of the Cowboys defense.

With that in mind, let's take a look at a few underrated members of the Cowboys' surprisingly stingy defense.

Xavier Woods, safety

While everyone fantasizes about Earl Thomas donning a Cowboys jersey in 2019, Xavier Woods is currently playing the best football of his career (outside of the missed tackle that must not be named). In the last three games, Woods has 14 tackles, two stops, five pass breakups and two interceptions, while allowing just three catches for 35 yards.

Put simply, the Cowboys haven't had a deep safety play at this level since Darren Woodson retired.

Woods has been a big reason why the Cowboys defense has limited explosive (15-plus yards) pass plays this season, as the Louisiana Tech product thrives in coverage. His near-interception against Washington was a great illustration of Woods' ability in coverage:

Great coverage from Xavier Woods here. Does an excellent job of reading Colt McCoy eyes to undercut his pass. Still needs to attack the ball though. pic.twitter.com/iZ2Z1lSwgb — John Owning (@JohnOwning) November 24, 2018

On this play, the Cowboys are in a two-deep shell, meaning Woods and Heath are aligned deep on separate halves of the field. However, once the ball is snapped, Woods rotates down into the 'hole' while Heath rotates into the deep middle, putting the Cowboys in a single-deep safety coverage.

After rotating down, Woods shows off his excellent vision, football intelligence and instincts by reading Colt McCoy's eyes and making a 'plus' break on the pass, meaning that Woods starts to break on the pass during McCoy's throwing motion instead of after the ball leaves his hands.

The plus break allowed Woods to undercut the receiver before the ball arrived, giving himself a legitimate interception opportunity. Unfortunately, because Woods didn't attack the ball, the receiver had just enough time to knock the ball out of Woods' hands, rendering the pass incomplete.

Even though he wasn't able to come down with the interception, it was still a fantastic play from Woods, and the type of play the Cowboys defense hasn't had since Darren Woodson retired.

The ability to consistently make plus breaks on passes is one of the biggest differentiating factors between Woods and Heath. On plays where Woods would get a plus break, Heath usually takes a tick or two longer, waiting until the ball leaves the quarterback's hand to start breaking on the pass. It may not seem like much, but it makes all of the difference in a sport where every inch matters. Here's an example:

Here, the Cowboys are in a split safety look with Woods aligned on the wide side of the field in the end zone. On the wide side of the field, the Cowboys have Woods and Byron Jones defending Eagles receivers Golden Tate and Alshon Jeffery.

The Eagles do a great job of getting Jeffery isolated on Woods in the red zone. However, because he is able to get a plus break on the pass, Woods is able to arrive at the catch point as the ball does and prevent the touchdown catch, forcing Philadelphia to settle for a field goal in a game where Dallas won by just seven points.

Woods' biggest issue right now is his tackling, missing seven tackles this season, per Pro Football Focus. Woods' tackling is an issue, especially at safety where he is oftentimes the last line of defense, but it's interesting to note that Jeff Heath (12), Jaylon Smith (10) and DeMarcus Lawrence (9) have missed more tackles than Woods.

Woods' ability in coverage has made the Cowboys defense even more deadly, especially in recent weeks, as it's not a coincidence that Woods is playing at a high level at the same time the Cowboys defense held the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles - two of the most potent offenses in football a year ago -- to 20 points or less.

Maybe don't hit 'buy' on those Earl Thomas-Cowboys jerseys just yet.

Tyrone Crawford, defensive line

It doesn't seem possible, but Tyrone Crawford is somehow overpaid and underrated at the same time. When Crawford signed his five-year, $45 million contract extension, the expectations surrounding him reached levels that he was never going to achieve.

Because of this, Crawford has received undue criticism for his exploits on the football field. He's never a bad player, but Crawford failed to develop into the dominant defensive lineman fans believed his new contract stated he was.

Still, bad contract or not, Crawford has been an incredibly valuable member of the Cowboys defensive line this season. Through 11 games, Crawford has recorded 25 tackles, 14 stops, 31 total pressures and 4.5 sacks. He's second on the team behind DeMarcus Lawrence in sacks and total pressures.

While the Cowboys have dealt with a slew of injuries to the defensive line in recent weeks, Crawford's ability to play well at defensive tackle and end has been vital for the defense.

At defensive end, Crawford is difficult for offensive tackles to deal with against the run, as Crawford's deliberate hands and raw power tend to give tackles fits on the edge in the run game. Here's a great example:

Here, Crawford is matched up with Eagles left tackle Jason Peters, who has been one of the best tackles in football since arriving in Philadelphia. Once the ball is snapped, Crawford does an excellent job of not getting sucked inside, which would have given Corey Clement the opportunity to bounce the ball outside for a big gain.

Instead, Crawford makes the micro-movements necessary to expand toward the edge, attaining outside leverage on Peters with superior hand placement. This allows Crawford to set a strong edge, which forces Clement to cut upfield. Notice how Crawford peaks outside and eliminates the initial path Clement wanted to take.

Because Crawford initiated contact with superior hand placement, he's able to dictate the action at the point-of-attack. After peaking outside, Crawford is able to redirect inside with a powerful cross chop to break Peters' point-of-contact, leaving him free to lunge for the ball carrier to make the tackle at the line of scrimmage.

Moreover, when teams try to get cute on the edge and block him with a tight end, Crawford makes them pay:

Here, Crawford is in a one-on-one matchup with Zach Ertz on the backside of the run play. The Eagles are looking to attack the B-gap on the opposite side of Crawford. However, it was never able to develop because Crawford was able to drive Ertz into the backfield so quickly and bring him down just after he receives the ball.

As Ertz attempts to expand and hook the Cowboys defensive end, Crawford launches into Ertz's chest with the proper pad level and hand placement, giving Crawford the leverage advantage to go with the strength advantage he already had. This allows the Boise State product to drive Ertz into the backfield without much resistance on his way to making the tackle at the line of scrimmage.

When reduced inside to defensive tackle, Crawford has been an extremely effective pass rusher who wins with speed and an impressive repertoire of pass rush moves. His sack against Washington was a great example:

On this play, Crawford is aligned in the A-gap across from his former teammate Jonathan Cooper, who was Dallas' starting left guard last season. After the ball is snapped, Crawford crosses Cooper's face with a speed rip move, appearing as though he's looking to set up a T/E stunt.

However, once he realizes that Gregory can't loop around, Crawford immediately sequences into a hump move -- made famous by Reggie White -- where his inside hand comes underneath Cooper's near-side armpit to toss Cooper upfield, using his momentum against him. It wasn't the cleanest hump move, as Crawford falls to a knee for a moment, but it was certainly effective, as it allowed Crawford to disengage and make the sack.

Even when he's not the one making the plays, Crawford routinely does the little things necessary to play good team defense. He controls his gap well against the run and helps keep his linebackers clean and able to roam to the ball without being immediately encumbered by offensive linemen. Moreover, he's the best penetrator on stunts, as he's set up numerous teammates for sacks on stunts this season.

Focus on the contract all you want but don't ignore how valuable Crawford has been to the Cowboys defense this season.

Antwaun Woods, defensive tackle

Another underrated member of the Cowboys defense is defensive tackle Antwaun Woods, whose 25 tackles and 1.5 sacks don't truly tell the story of his impact on the Cowboys defense.

One year ago, the defensive tackle position was, by far, the weakest spot on the Dallas defense, especially when David Irving was out. When the Cowboys had trouble defending the run, it was because the defensive tackles were getting displaced out of their gap, leaving the Cowboys linebackers to defend multiple gaps, which isn't sustainable.

In the offseason, to the dismay of many, the Cowboys didn't make any big moves to shore up the defensive tackle position. Instead, the Cowboys opted to sign a former undrafted free agent who only had one game of experience in his career.

That player was Woods, who appeared to lose a little bit of weight to be a better fit in Rod Marinelli's penetrating front. By the time training camp was over, Woods had firm control of the starting nose tackle (one-technique defensive tackle) position, and he's yet to give it up. Woods is currently third on the defensive line in snaps despite missing Week 11's contest against the Falcons.

He still leaves a lot to be desired as a pass rusher, but Woods has been incredibly valuable as a run defender on a team that ranks first in adjusted line yards allowed and fifth in runs stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage, per Football Outsiders.

At 6-foot-1 and 312 pounds, Woods uses his natural leverage advantage along with his powerful lower body to hold his ground against double teams and re-set the line of scrimmage when matched up one-on-one. This play is a great example:

On this play, Woods is aligned inside the A-gap between Houston's center and right guard. As soon as the ball is snapped, Woods fires out of his stance and occupies the double team from the center and right guard without giving ground, effectively clogging Houston's preferred running lane while keeping Jaylon Smith unblocked.

This forces Alfred Blue to attempt to bounce the ball outside, but DeMarcus Lawrence eliminated that option by setting a strong edge and flashing outside once Blue looked to race to the corner. From there, Blue is forced to cut the ball back into the teeth of the Cowboys defense, where Smith and Woods are able to make the tackle.

Not only does Woods take on the double team and refuse to be displaced from his gap, but he does an excellent job of continuing to fight and claw his way down the line of scrimmage with active hands to get in on the tackle.

In addition, Woods has also proven to have surprising lateral quickness, which has allowed him to make a surprising amount of plays behind the line of scrimmage. Here's an example:

Here, Woods is aligned in the backside A-gap between the center and right guard. Once the ball is snapped, Woods quickly expands across the center's face, employing a club-rip move to expand outside and clear contact from the center.

From there, Woods is able to penetrate the play-side A-gap, pursue Adrian Peterson make the tackle for a one-yard gain. Offensive linemen often underestimate the lateral quickness of Woods, allowing him to utilize it to his advantage on a couple snaps every game to penetrate into the backfield.

Woods has been one of the best offseason additions to the Cowboys roster, and he's another feather in Will McClay's hat, as Woods has brought stability to the nose tackle position while only costing $480K this season. That's one serious bargain.

Twitter: @JohnOwning