Defense Looking Thin Around the Middle
Posted: November 29, 2005 @ 10:03 am
The Dallas linebacking corps, the thinnest and weakest unit on the defense, got weaker yesterday with word that captain Dat Nguyen was placed on injured reserve with neck and knee injuries. What’s worse, coach Bill Parcells suggested Nguyen may be considering retirement because the injuries prevent him from performing at his standard of play.
Nguyen played a bit against Denver, mostly out of necessity. His backup Scott Shanle was out with an ankle injury, meaning the Cowboys did not have a healthy weakside inside backer. Backup strongside linebacker Ryan Fowler got the start, meaning Dallas had no healthy backups. Nguyen spelled Ryan when Dallas played nickel defense.
The Cowboys moved quickly to add depth, signing free agent Michael Barrow. The eleven-year vet may start against the Giants on Sunday since he is familiar with the 3-4 scheme, having played it while he was a Panther in the late ’90s. Barrow has topped the 100 tackle mark six times in his career, most recently in 2003 when he was, coincidentally, a New York Giant. Barrow signed with the Redskins in 2004 but spent the entire season on IR with severe knee tendonitis.
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this team is on the verge of making a move .the nfc looks inconsistent.if the boys can score some points and run the ball more effective nobody can touch them but indy.
This is sad because Dat should have had many more good years. Maybe he comes back after some time off….. He’s the kind of classy guy you don’t feel stupid rooting for. And I hope Barrow doesn’t START-that would be awful quick for a guy off the street-I’d rather see the young guys in there and just have him provide depth-our def. did OK against Denver with what we had……..
well im pretty sure when al,henry, and crayton become healthy we will dominate like before,when these guys were healthy that was the last time the boys were very solid, and gettin henry back soon. he was the leading tackler on the team before his injury and led in picks. a corner leading the team in tackles does not happen on many teams. he shuts down tall receivers and allows roy to blitz occasionally. personally with him, johnson, and crayton back this week or next will give the boys the edge for playoffs. and im more than sure that the combo of barber and jones will get goin soon. in my opinion the boys are the best team in the nfc and everyone else would say that if they hadnt gave away 3 games this year.
this should be 9-2.one thing they have not done well is close games.and that’s got to do with not running the ball effectively.If the running game gets going we will go very far!!
Get the running game going!!! Well, if we haven’t got the consistant running game going by now, we wont get it going anytime soon, the offensive line is average at best and with no viable fullback, I cant see this team all of a sudden getting the running game going, we may make the playoffs as a wildcard, but dont see us going very far in the playoffs. Still have four or five spots to fill before we can contend for the superbowl.
derrick i disagree this team has noy been blown out this season every single game the chance was there to win the game.as far as the offensive line goes i think they’ve done a decent job considering flozell is out for the year.and look at the season bledsoe is having without some good protection we would not be in this position right now.the running game can get going we have better players than last year and jj had 8 good games at the end of the season.
that is somewhat true nando. however the washingtion game was because of the defense. after that game parcells corrected that. the seahawk game was because of the run and bledsoe. and the bronco game i blame on bledsoe, cundiff, and the tough schedule of 3 games in 11 days. but with all the injuries and changes and problems this year we cannot be mad, the boys have done well for the most part and they are one of the few teams that actually get better each week, most other teams dont. the boys also play a lot od tough teams and many other teams have a boat load of crappy teams to play.
i dont see how you can say the boys wont get far in the playoffs, the boys are easily one of the best teams in the nfc, and 1 thing we have seen in the nfc is any team that makes the playoffs have a good chance of representing the nfc in the superbowl. yeah we gave away some games this year, look at the stats we clearly dominated on most of those losses but the opposing team did not beat the boys, the boys beat their selves.
golden i am glad you think this team really has a chance.because i’ve watched every single game.and if theirs any team in the nfc that has been pretty consistent with play it’the boys.they’ve been in every single game just unable to close a few games.which to be honest is my only concern.
golden
The Washington game wasn’t the D fault when you only put up 13 points you shouldn’t win. This team doesn’t get better every week. The D is getting better but this offense is up and down but mostly down. I will take this Defense every year and with a decent offense we would go far. The offense wont allow us to do anything this year. The line needs to get better the game plan needs to be better and we need a playmaker. There are some holes on offense that need to be fix before this team will go anywhere. The Denver game was the first one we lost when we scored over 13 points.
aw, the washington game was the defense fault. the defense should not have let the skins score 2 touchdowns off of 70 yard bombs with 5 minutes to play. the game was won but the defense phukd up. the offense scored enough to win that game but the defense for what ever reason let them score to hail mary touchdowns in a very short time. theres no way a team thats up by 13 pts with 5 minutes to go lose the game and it not be the defense fault. the offense is up and down i agree, but considering the injuries to crayton, jones, and o-lineman i would honestly say many could have expected worse.
Golden
14 points is 14 point no matter how or when it happens. Putting up 13 point is not enough. We are 0-3 when you put up 13 point or less, its not enough. We should have lost the NY game. JJ wasn’t doing anything before he got hurt, crayton was there for the Washington lost and the NY game. We have missed Crayton but we didn’t miss JJ because MB stepped up. 13 point is two plays away from a lost and that is what happen. Just like in Philly they had a 13 point lead, in two plays they lost. The D hasn’t lost a game for us yet in their worst game they gave up 24 point against SF. They gave up 24 against SD and 20 against Philly. The D needs help.
if any team is put in that position (up by 13 with 5 minutes to go and all the defense has to do is make sure the opposing team dont score 2 touchdowns) it should be done. the offense did score some points and the defense should be smart enough to at least be in prevent and not give up huge plays like that. that was all defense that lost that game.
AW: AWWW WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE.IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT THE LEAD IS YOU STOPPED ALL GAME. YOU MUST NOT ALLOW TWO BOMBS NOT ONE TWO WITH ACOUPLE OF MINUTES TO GO. EVEN YOUR WINNING BY 50 POINTS YOU DO NOT GIVE UO THESE 2 HUGE PLAYS.
nando
You need to wake up teams are going to score period. If you only score 13 points you shouldn’t win.
golden
13 points is not a safe lead. If we only put up 13 points I don’t care what the D does we shouldn’t win the game. Do you know how hard it is to shut any team out? The offense sucked in that game.
aw i am ashamed to call you a cowboy fan. so you mean to tell me if the score is 40 to 50 and the boys are up with 3 minutes lest you really expect them to lose??? get real. no matter what the score is. if any team is up by 13 points there should be no way the defense lets the other team score 2 touchdowns in 3 minutes, dont be dumb
golden
You are being dumb thinking when you score only 13 points you should win. Like I said before we are 0-3 when we score 13 point or less. We are 7-1 when we score more than 13 points. Even you should be able to understand that. The D is doing its job you can’t ask for much more.
no you are being dumb. it dont matter how much points they score
the cowboys could have scored 100 points and the skins could have scored 87 points until the last 3 mintues its the same thing
100 to 87 with 3 minutes left is the same as
13-0 with 3 minutes left.
so when ever the boys are up by 13 points you expect them to lose if they dont score more than 20???
AW: WASHINGTON DEFENSE IS CLOSE OR BETTER THAN OURS.PLEASE YOUR TELLING ME A 10 POINT LEAD WITH 3 MINUTES TO GO IS NOT ENOUGH.PLUS THE FACT IT HAS NOT HAPPENED AGAIN SO WHOS TO BLAME.
golden and nando
WHEN YOU ONLY PUT UP 13 POINTS YOU WILL NOT WIN IN MOST GAMES, ITS A FACT. I WILL TAKE THEM GIVING UP 14 POINTS IN 4 MIN EVERY GAME IF THAT IS ALL THEY GIVE UP. WHAT I EXPECT IF WE ONLY PUT UP 13 POINTS IS TO LOSE. YOU TELL ME HOW MANY TEAMS WIN WITH JUST 13 POINTS UP? WASHINGTON D IS NOT AS GOOD AS OURS. OUR OFFENSE JUST ISN’T THAT GOOD.
Nando,
Love your comments, but please, stop posting in all caps. It reads like you are SCREAMING ALL THE TIME!!!!!
It all starts up front and as long as the offensive line is inconsistant, we aren’t going anywhere.
aw so let me ask you this, what is the difference between
35-22 with 3 minutes
and
13-0 with 3 minutes left.
and this is the nfl, the nfc is very very very competitive so there are going to be many many close games at it has been all year. so i guess you expect us to lose every close game. bottom line is the 2ndry messed up in that washington game. the offense did their job, they scored 13 points, its not a lot but if you ask any coach would they be happy with a 13 point lead with 3 minutes left i bet you they would say “hell yeah”
Golden
The difference is how many teams you know score 35 points and don’t win? And it was a little over 4 min left in that game not 3 min. I bet if you ask any coach would you be happy with your D giving up just 14 points in a game and they would say yes. I look at the whole game two mistakes are two mistakes no matter when they happen. Putting up 13 points and doing nothing at the end of the game is not doing your job on offense. I expect if the offense comes to play we will win because the d comes every week. I dont expect to win game when we only put up 13 points.
Dat will be missed!
I sure hope Mike Barrows has something left in his tank, because we need the help!
However, if the o-line play doesn’t improve, and the offense doesn’t score more than 13 points, the season will end much too soon for us.
The defense is there, the offense needs to show up!