Aaron Glenn — A Safeties Best Friend?
November 30, 2006
ESPNet writer and occasional ‘Boys Blog guest K.C. Joyner has written a piece on over and underrated defensive backs. Two Cowboys, Anthony Henry and Aaron Glenn, make his list of underrated corners. Of Glenn he writes (protected, so no link):
Glenn is the Cowboys’ nickel back, so he doesn’t have as many passes thrown to him as Henry or Newman, but his 5.3 YPA indicates he might be the best nickel back in the league. Bill Parcells says he has so much faith in Glenn he believes there would be no drop-off if Glenn had to fill in for either Henry or Newman.
Joyner does not detail how much Glenn’s presence helps the shaky Cowboys safeties, particularly the free safeties Keith Davis and Pat Watkins. Many nickel backs line up in the slot, where many teams put their third receiver. Teams with really good wideouts have in recent years started to line up their biggest and best receivers inside, to create a #1 WR versus a #3 corner mismatch.
One Glenn value is his ability, at age 34, to man an outside position. This allows Dallas to move #1 corner Terence Newman inside, nullifying any interior mismatches defenses want to create. Two games ago, the Colts tried taking advantage of Dallas’ scheme by leaving top wideout Marvin Harrison outside against Glenn, while lining Reggie Wayne inside on Newman and putting their third receiver on Henry.
Glenn held his ground and made a game turning play early in the third when he batted a pass for Harrison into the air. Kevin Burnett intercepted it and scored a game-tying touchdown.
Glenn’s value to the safeties is that he gives Dallas a third corner skilled in man-to-man coverage. This means the free safeties have fewer instances where they have to cover receivers alone. Think back to last year. Henry injured his groin and missed much of the second half. Dallas had to use Jacques Reeves as a nickel back. On early downs, the Cowboys stayed in their base 3-4, no matter the opposing team’s formation. This put the free safety in man coverage if a team lined up with three WRs on first down. Carolina did this and matched up Ricky Proehl and Drew Carter on Davis. Each burned him for a deep pass in Dallas’ nailbiter win.
This year, Dallas has used nickel more on early downs against teams that use three receivers as their base set. It did against Arizona, allowing Newman to cover Larry Fitzgerald in the slot. Imagine if Davis or Watkins were responsible for Fitzgerald for a couple of dozen snaps? It’s not a pleasant thought.
This doesn’t mean the safeties are completely insulated. We discussed on Monday how Joey Galloway had beaten the safeties on deep first-down patterns. Bill Parcells made a tape this week showing Galloway’s romps through coverage, warning his deep defenders not to get complacent. That said, Glenn’s resurgence and Henry’s good health means the frees have a much lighter coverage load. I think this is one reason why the pass defense has limited its breakdowns the last five weeks.
Meta-morphasis
November 30, 2006
The devil comes in many forms.
In the Garden of Eden he was a serpent,
In the movies, he was a lawyer in The Devil’s Advocate,
On Broadway, a baseball fan in Damn Yankees,
And in Dallas now, he comes in silver and blue wearing number 81.Terrell Owens is the devil alright,
Jerry Jones knew that when he offered him that sweet deal:
“here’s the money, get us to the Super Bowl…”… Jerry Jones knew that and he bit from the apple anyway,
… sometimes in good faith the devil will deliver,
before he claims your soul.Don’t say you weren’t warned!
– MNF announcer Tony Kornheiser’s peroration,
delivered just before the Cowboys/Giants kickoff, October 23rd
Brother Kornheiser can testify, can’t he? A few more minutes of his silver-tongued sermonizing and who knows, I might have renounced the Cowboys and been born again as a Redskins fan!
I have to dock the good Reverend K. for lack of originality. He may have spent days working on his gospel, but seriously, how many of you didn’t hear this warning a hundred times this summer? This was the press’ meta-narrative for Dallas in the year 2006 A.D. Pray it, er, say it with me now: Demon T.O. was going to divide the family in the locker room. Then, he was going to strike down Father Bill. Once done, he and Jerry could at last fulfill their master plan of destroying the Cowboys and conquering the world.
But a funny thing happened on the way to Dallas’ damnation — the season. Real games have a way of voiding the false prophesies and exposing the false prophets. Where is Owens these days? Circling above Valley Ranch, looking for virgin cheerleaders to sacrifice?
At last report, he had befriended fellow wideout Terry Glenn and Glenn’s young son! Not only was Owens making nice, he was making quiet. It seems that Terrell was not the devil, but had plenty of devil in him. As Cowboys fans now know, the wickedness has been driven from T.O., and the state, by a quarterbacking redeemer named Romo. What’s more, it seems Satan has landed in New York, where he has Giants players bearing false witness against one another.
Other passages of the meta-story are also changing, Now, “whispers” are emerging that (gasp) Parcells may stay another year. Some wise men are speaking of Dallas as a title contender. Who would have believed such profanity!
Just look how far our faith in the Cowboys has carried us the past six weeks. It’s good to know that football scripture is written on the field and not in the press box. May T.O. remain cured and may we never have to suffer this silly Cowboys’ forecast again.
Can I get an amen?
Parcells — QB Tinkering Produces Strong Finishes
November 29, 2006
Two weeks ago, I pointed out several Cowboys teams that specialized in fast finishes. Tom Landry made the stretch run an art form. Five times in the ’70s, his teams stood at 4-3, 5-3 or 6-4 at midseason, then played .830 or better football in the second half. The results? Four Super Bowl appearances and two Super Bowl wins.
Bill Parcells is no stranger to late season steamrolls through his schedules. Most of them have involved well-considered quarterback changes and in some cases, quarterback holds:
1994 — Second year QB Drew Bledsoe and his mates struggle, losing four in a row at midseason to drop to 3-6. The pick-prone Bledsoe (he would throw 27 picks to 25 touchdowns that year) finally found his rhythm against Minnesota, when the Pats went to a no-huddle offense. Rather than simplifying Bledsoe’s role, Parcells and staff maximized it down the stretch. New England won its last seven and made the playoffs for the first time since 1986.
1996 — New England’s offense staggers out of the gate and the team goes 0-2. When the offense catches fire, led by Bledsoe and rookie sensation Terry Glenn, the young defense struggles and the Pats careen to a 3-3 mark just before Halloween. Bledsoe keeps chucking it, leading the NFL in completions, but cuts his ‘94 interception total in half. The Pats go 8-2 down the stretch and roll to the Super Bowl.
1998 — Parcells’ Jets begin the campaign with Glenn Foley under center. He was so-so, throwing four TD and four INTs as New York started 0-2. Foley was injured in week two and replaced by journeyman Vinnie Testaverde, who sparked the offense to two wins. Coming off his injury, Parcells gave Foley one more start against the Rams. In a move reminiscent of this year’s Giants game, Parcells yanked Foley after a dreadful, 5 of 15, two interception performance dropped the Jets to 2-3. Testaverde became the starter the following week and went 10-1 down the stretch. He outplayed John Elway in the AFC title game but fumbles by his teammates kept him from the Super Bowl.
1999 — The Jets title hopes are crippled two quarters into the season when Testaverde tears an Achilles tendon. Backup Rick Mirer is overmatched and the Jets fall to 1-6 before Parcells turns to third stringer Ray Lucas. The former option QB made Parcells’ ‘96 Pats team as a special teamer and followed the Tuna to New York in ‘97. He has only seven pro pass attempts to his name when he takes over but rallies the Jets to an 8-8 finish. Parcells later called the ‘99 Jets his best coaching job.
In every case, Parcells was deliberate in his moves. In the initial cases, he resisted the temptation to yank a developing Bledsoe and saw his patience rewarded. More recently, he let the starters play themselves out of a job, something he also did this year with Bledsoe. It drives the fans crazy, but it gets respect in the locker room, where every player knows he’ll get a fair shake.
Most importantly, Parcells’ fast finishers all had superbly prepared backups. Testaverde had only been a Jet for five games when he was made starter, but he started winning immediately. The same was true for Lucas. He may have been signed for special teams, but his three years in quarterback meetings was taken seriously. Hence, he won his first three starts.
The most notable Parcells backup to this point is Jeff Hostetler. In 1990, he stepped in when a week fourteen ankle injury put Phil Simms on I.R. Hostetler, a fifth year backup (sound familiar?) won his two regular season starts, then guided New York to razor-close wins over the favored 49ers and Bills to win Parcells a second title.
Parcells is in fact following an old script with his quarterbacks this year. He gave Bledsoe several bad starts, as he did with Foley and Mirer. When he made his change, he had a well-prepared, multi-year backup in the wings. Romo, like Hostetler and Lucas, was well versed in his team’s offense before he was thrown into action.
Hostetler was 5-0 in relief, Testaverde 11-2, Lucas 7-2. Romo? He’s 4-1 so far. If Parcells’ history tells us anything, more wins are on the horizon.
Flexing their Muscles
November 28, 2006
With the new contract between the television networks and the National Football League, a new concept was introduced — the flex schedule. This allows the league and networks to switch games and times to broadcast specific games based on maximizing both revenue (advertising sales, etc.) and viewership. It is designed to bring you marquee matchups for your television and football enjoyment.
The one of the main benefactors of this new concept has been the Dallas Cowboys.
Take a look at what has transpired over the past week or two — the noon game between the Cowboys and Indianapolis Colts was moved to the second slot of games. This gives all of the west coast fans a chance to see a prime game at 1PM local time instead of 10 o’clock in the morning.
And more recently, not only has the league moved the NFC East matchup of the Cowboys/Giants to a 3:15 CT start, but they also moved the subsequent game — Saints at Cowboys — to the Sunday Night prime time game slot replacing the Bills/Jets game.
The Cowboys already have a Saturday night game at Atlanta and a 4PM CT game on Christmas Day against the Eagles.
The league and networks obviously want the Dallas Cowboys to be a main part of the season’s second-half lineup and, because of continued success on the field, they appear to be getting what they want.
The Curvin Richards Moment?
November 27, 2006
Jimmy Johnson was a master team psychologist and one of his bolder — and more effective moves — came in the 1992 season finale against the Chicago Bears.
The Cowboys had sewn up the second NFC playoff seed and a first round bye. Late in their 27-14 win, backup running back Curvin Richards fumbled twice. Fans in the stands may have laughed off the careless plays, but Johnson did not. He cut Richards immediately after the game.
The move left Dallas without a backup to Emmitt Smith entering the playoffs. More importantly from Johnson’s perspective, it told his team not to become complacent; getting into the playoffs would be viewed as a mere opportunity, not as an end in itself. The young Cowboys got the message. They played near flawless football and won their first title.
You wonder if Bill Parcells is playing some J.J.-style mind games by cutting Mike Vanderjagt today? Sure, Vanderjagt was sloppy, and his blithe smirk probably had Parcells contemplating a move weeks ago. I wonder though, why he cut Vandy this week and not immediately after the Colts game? Was Parcells following his practice of letting a player work himself off the roster? He did this with Drew Bledsoe, who was given numerous opportunities to turn his fortunes around.
Or, was Parcells instead telling his penalty-prone team, “we’re all in now. The playoff run starts today. Mess up like Vanderjagt and you could be joining him?” With New York looming on the schedule, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Guarding the Future
You may have noticed that Dallas signed two offensive guards this past week. Travis Leffew joined Dallas from Green Bay’s practice squad and Joe Berger was signed from Miami’s. I’ve asked about them and have learned both are versatile. Leffew has played tackle, guard and center and Berger can move around as well.
I’m guessing Dallas is doing some long-range planning. Both centers, Andre Gurode and Al Johnson, will be unrestricted free agents next year. Dallas will almost certainly attempt to re-sign Gurode, who has anchored the line. Johnson, however, might not return. He’s a high draft pick with a rebuilt knee. He may be too expensive to keep as a backup. These guards may be getting the earliest of tryouts to succeed him.
Off the Mark — Vanderjagt Cut, Grammatica Signed
November 27, 2006
Way back in training camp, the Cowboys and Patriots swapped scouts. I looked for a motive and made this prediction:
People down thread have mentioned [a swap for a] backup nose tackle, and that’s a possibility, but try this one out for size — kicker.
Bill Parcells has expressed some frustation with Mike Vanderjagt’s output, or lack thereof. He hasn’t kicked off yet in camp. He’s nursing a sore leg. If Vanderjagt does come around, his short kickoff leg may force Dallas to keep a kickoff specialist, something the special teams obsessive Parcells would rather not do.
The Patriots, on the other hand, are watching a kicker’s duel. Veteran Martin Grammatica and rookie Stephen Gostkowski have nailed every kick put in front of them. Gostkowski was New England’s fourth-round pick in April’s draft. His big price tag and longer kickoff leg give him the current edge. Age has robbed Grammatica of his long-distance cannon, but reports from Pats camp suggest he can still get kickoffs to the goal line with some frequency. If Vanderjagt’s sore leg takes too long for Parcells’ liking, Dallas might look to New England for insurance.
A Shot In the Dark,
The’Boys Blog, August 15, 2006
I guess Bill finally got the memo. 
Dallas cut the melodramatic Mike Vanderjagt today, replacing him with long time Bucs kicker Martin Grammatica.
Anybody who had followed the Cowboys this year could have anticipated this move. In fact, many fans have been demanding it for some time. Vanderjagt was signed to provide insurance, but offered nothing but heartburn for the Dallas staff. He missed much of camp with a sore leg. When he could kick, he consistently missed field goals to the right. He appeared to have eliminated this problem by midseason, but the “wide right” disease reappeared against the Colts, when Vanderjagt missed two mid range kicks.
Vanderjagt compounded his problems with poor kickoffs. Dallas kept Shaun Suisham on the roster for the first few games before handing all kicking duties to Vanderjagt. He surprised with an occasional touchback, most recently against the Bucs, but frequently left his kickoffs at the ten yard line.
Grammatica could be the answer — if he resumes his early season form. The man once called “automatica” brought a long range leg into the pros, having hit a 63 yarder at Kansas State. From 1999 through 2002 he was one of the NFL’s best kickers. He lost his feel in ‘03 and ‘04, when he missed half of his kicks between 30 and 39 yards.
He attempted a comeback this year with the Patriots, who were looking for Adam Vinatieri’s replacement. Grammatica kicked well but was cut in favor of high pick Stephen Gostkowski. Grammatica did eventually sub for Vinatieri — in Indianapolis. The Colts signed him when Vinatieri was injured in September. He made his lone field goal attempt.
Dallas hopes Grammatica kicks more like Eddie Murray, the aged veteran who solved Dallas’ kicking woes late in its 1993 Super Bowl run and less like, well, Mike Vanderjagt.
The Hole That Hasn’t Closed
November 27, 2006
You haven’t seen it in a while, but it’s there.
I’m talking about the void in the deep middle of Dallas’ secondary. The Eagles abused it, to the score of two TDs and a 60 yard bomb that was stopped one yard shy of a third. The Giants hit it too, with Plaxico Burress grabbing a 52 yard TD between the Dallas’ safeties before the smoke from the pregame pyrotechnics show had cleared.
The Cowboys benched rookie Pat Watkins after that game, replacing him first with Marcus Coleman and then with Keith Davis. Davis held up for a while, but Joey Galloway showed enough on Thanksgiving Day to make even the most optimistic Cowboys fans wary this week.
Galloway blew past Davis on a deep post for 53 yards on Tampa Bay’s fifth play of the game. Two series later the Bucs ran the same play. Galloway again blew past a Dallas safety, but Roy Williams was able to pick off an underthrown Bruce Gradkowski pass. A source who’s watched game tape tells me Galloway could have made another big play with a better throw.
Late in the first half, Galloway burned Anthony Henry down the left sideline. Gradkowski’s throw was late and short, allowing Henry to recover and bat it away.
I mentioned in last week’s preview that Gradkowski is inaccurate on his deep throws. Had a QB with a good deep ball, say, an Eli Manning been playing, Galloway might have had a three TD day.
Manning is playing against Dallas this week. He’s desperate, after an awful two interception 4th quarter against the Titans helped them erase a comfortable 21-0 New York lead. Manning’s WRs will be smarting too. They beat Dallas in the deep middle five weeks ago and they know the potential for more deep throws exists.
You haven’t seen it in a while, but that hole is still there. Let’s hope Davis and Williams do a better job of defending it this time.
Napping Into First Place
November 26, 2006
In week two, the Giants staged a 17 point fourth quarter comeback to tie a game with the Eagles. New York won in overtime, with abundant help from butterfingered Eagles.
Today, the good luck boomeranged, as New York blew a 21-0 fourth quarter lead. Mental breakdowns and some amazing Vince Young plays pushed Tennessee to a 24-21 win. Cowboys players, likely sleeping off their Sunday afternoon naps, woke up in first place.
How do you lose such a game? Let us count the ways:
The Giants, playing with a severely undermanned defense, had stopped the Titans’ few early challenges. A goal line stop of Young just before half kept the Titans off the board.
The Giants then played keep away, holding the football for 12:03 in the third quarter. With the game in hand, Eli Manning went after an unneeded bomb, throwing 35 yards downfield on second-and-four from his own 35 three minutes into the fourth. PacMan Jones, who also wins a gold star for his late play, intercepted the ball and returned it 26 yards to the Giants 46.
The Giants defense still played tough, stopping Young for seven yards on a 4th-and-9 scramble. A personal foul flag for an elbow to Young’s head gave Tennessee new downs inside the Giants’ ten and they finally dented the scoreboard three plays later.
A long Jones punt return put Tennessee on a short field that they covered for a second touchdown. Even then, another forced Giants punt found Tennessee facing a fourth and ten on their own 24. Here, Young called upon some of his old Texas magic. He escaped an apparent Mathius Kiwanuka sack and ran 19 yards for a first down. On the Giants radio broadcast, the announcers claimed, “Tom Coughlin is running out towards Kiwanuka yelling, “why did you let him go?”
A 20 yard pass and another Young scramble, this one for sixteen yards, set up a fourteen yard TD pass to Brandon Jones with 49 seconds left.
That only tied the game. Manning gave the Titans a chance at a regulation win with a second interception. PacMan Jones picked this one off as well, giving the Titans possession at the New York 49 with 23 seconds left. Young completed two short passes to New York’s 31 before Rob Bironas blasted a 49 yard game winning field goal with six seconds left.
The Giants Jeremy Shockey talked big last week about owning Dallas. He has a point. New York has won four of the last five matches and none of the Giants wins have been close. However, it appears New York has been overly obsessed with Dallas. Like the Eagles, who lost three in a row after defeating the Cowboys, the Giants have now lost three straight entering their Dallas rematch.
Not a bad way to spend a sleepy Sunday, huh Cowboys fans?
Sunday Open Thread
November 26, 2006
What teams are on your screen?
Fun With Numbers, 2006 Rankings
November 24, 2006
Last season, I tried handicapping the playoff field for the NFC and AFC at midseason using points scored and points allowed as metrics. The formula worked well, as it ranked Seattle tops in the NFC and Pittsburgh second among AFC contenders behind the Colts. Here’s a revised set, using all 80 Super Bowl teams as benchmarks:
I’ve followed up a hunch and decided to handicap this season’s playoff field, based on the ratings of past Super Bowl contestants. I’ve decided to use just two metrics — points scored and points allowed. I’ve assesed all 80 Super Bowl teams and have found some interesting stats to chew on:
1. 62 of the 80 Super Bowl teams ranked in the top ten in both points scored and points allowed. So roughly three quarters of the Super Bowl teams were outstanding on both sides of the ball. Does this give us some insight as to who the front runners might be?
In the NFC, the answer is yes. There are only two teams in conference with top ten rankings on both sides of the ball — Chicago and Dallas.
In the AFC, only New England produces the double at this point. The Ravens and Jaguars are on the cusp, however, with good offenses complementing top-tier defenses.
2. Of the two factors, points allowed is the more important for determining who will go the Super Bowl. Of the 40 NFL/NFC champs, only two did not have a defense ranked in the top ten. The lowest ranked defenses from the conference to ever play in a Super Bowl were the ‘79 Rams and the ‘83 Redskins. Both were ranked 11th in the league.
Both lost.
This should make Dallas fans feel optimistic. There are only three NFC teams in the top ten, with Chicago 1st, Carolina 6th and Dallas tied for 7th. The Eagles have a chance to climb into the top 10, as they rank 11th.
In the AFL/AFC, only nine teams have advanced to the Super Bowl with a defense ranked outside the top ten. Seven of those lost. In fact, the ‘76 Raiders and the ‘83 Raiders are the only NFL Champions to have defenses ranked outside the top ten in points allowed.
Given these two formulas, here are my rankings of each conference’s field:
AFC
1. Patriots (9th offense, 2nd defense)
2. Ravens (11th offense, 4th defense)
3. Jaguars (12th offense, 3rd defense)
4. Chargers (1st offense, 14th defense)
5. Colts (4th offense, 18th defense)
6. Chiefs (13th offense, 10th defense)
7. Broncos (23rd offense, 5th defense)
8. Bengals (5th offense, 25rd defense)
9. Jets (21st offense, 19th defense)
This is a tough field to handicap. The Patriots are alone in my top tier, being the only team to rank in the top ten in both categories. The Ravens appear to be solid; with Steve McNair at QB, they’ve got much better balance than their early decade contenders. The Jags are also in position to finish in the top ten offensively and defensively. Kansas City also has surprising balance and has to rank ahead of Denver after last night’s game.
The Chargers lack balance. Even with Shawne Merriman returning soon their secondary looks suspect. The same is true for Cincy and Denver, who each have a very strong unit and a weak one.
I should probably create tiers, with the Pats at the top, the Ravens in the second tier and the Jags, Chargers, Colts and Chiefs comprising the pack.
NFC
1. Bears (2nd offense, 1st defense)
2. Cowboys (3rd offense, 7th defense)
3. Panthers (25th offense, 6th defense)
4. Giants (10th offense, 17th defense)
5. Seahawks (14th offense, 20th defense)
6. Eagles (6th offense, 11th defense)
7. Falcons (16th offense, 15th defense)
8. Saints (7th offense, 22nd defense)
9. 49ers (19th offense, 32nd defense)
Definite tiers in the NFC with the Bears and Cowboys in the upper, and Carolina in the second tier on the strength of their defense. The Giants and Seahawks made up the middle with the rest comprising the pack.
Philadelphia is the wild card. They should be ranked higher based on the metrics, but can they maintain without Donovan McNabb, who was having a Pro Bowl season?
The Saints defense is starting to drag them down and San Francisco is overachieving, considering their 32nd ranked scoring defense. Norv Turner is definitely earning his money as their OC.
Got Their Romo Working — Dallas Topples Tampa, 38-10
November 24, 2006
Tony Romo continued his amazing adventure as an NFL quarterback yesterday, tossing five touchdown passes against an overmatched Tampa Bay defense in a 38-10 rout. Tampa Bay sacked Romo and forced Dallas to punt on its opening possession then tried in vain to contain him as Dallas drove for touchdowns on five of its next six series. Dallas used a series of half rolls to slide Romo away from Tampa overloads. He played with a schoolyard zeal, laughing with his teammates after every good throw.
On the other side of the ball, Dallas appeared to have attacked the turkey and stuffing early. Jon Gruden stunned the groggy defenders with a 53 yard bomb to Joey Galloway on Tampa’s fifth play from scrimmage. A 13 yard Galloway fade over Anthony Henry three plays later moved Tampa to the Dallas five. A Mike Alstott plunge put Tampa ahead 7-0 just over five minutes into the game.
The defense would shake out of their stupor. After yielding 80 yards on the TD drive, the defense would yield just 132 the rest of the way. The pass rush by committee continues to work, with Jason Hatcher joining Demarcus Ware as the most effective Dallas blitzers. The Cowboys only sacked Bruce Gradkowski once, but pressured him several other times. He and his teammates could muster only one sustained drive the rest of the afternoon.
Here are some initial game notes:
Jason the Hatchling
Bill Parcells was visibly upset a few weeks ago when rookie DE Jason Hatcher was injured. He stated in more than one press conference that Hatcher’s absence upset his end rotation with Demarcus Ware and Greg Ellis. Hatcher showed why yesterday, providing steady pressure from right end. He logged Dallas’ only sack of the day. His return allows Ware to flip to left end, where he has been driving right tackles crazy.
Spreading the Load
Parcells stated before the three-games-in-eleven-day stretch that he didn’t want to overwork Julius Jones. Mission accomplished. Jones and Marion Barber each had fifteen touches in the win over Arizona. Last week Jones got 25 touches against the Colts, while Barber had only nine. Yesterday Barber got a season high eighteen touches while Jones had a season low eleven. Barber took advantage of the extra work, rushing for 83 yards on sixteen carries — a 5.1 average — and catching two short touchdown passes.
He Gets It — And Just in Time
The light seems to have gone off in Demarcus Ware’s head. He’s no longer bull rushing and is relying more on his quickness and change of direction skills to shed offensive tackles. His sack totals have not gone up, but his ability to pressure QBs has. He forced a Payton Manning fumble last Sunday and yesterday shoved Bruce Gradkowski so violently that the quarterback’s head bounced off the turf. The second series hit threw Gradkowski off rhythm after he led Tampa to an opening drive TD.
Still the Achilles Heel
Erratic free safety play continues to hurt the Cowboys. On Tampa’s opening series, Joey Galloway ran a deep post. Anthony Henry redirected him inside. It appears Keith Davis was supposed to cover Galloway but instead dropped deep and towards the right sideline. Galloway was left alone in the deep middle, where he hauled in a 53 yard pass to the Dallas fourteen. The Bucs scored their lone touchdown five plays later.
The Bucs tried this pattern again on their third series, but this time Roy Williams was waiting for Galloway and closed to intercept the pass. Tampa didn’t land any more deep punches but you wonder what a better quarterback might have done against this soft deep coverage. The defense has played very well since Greg Ellis tore his Achilles, but they’re hardly perfect.
Got to be Good Blocking ‘Cause He’s So Hard to See
Backup RT Jason Fabini replaced starter Marc Colombo for a series early in the second quarter. It’s doubtful many noticed. The Cowboys methodically marched to their second touchdown with Fabini playing flawlessly until Colombo could re-enter the lineup.
The Romon Conquest
| Opponent | Times Sacked | Turnovers | Takeaways | Penalties- Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panthers | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9-86 |
| Redskins | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11-153 |
| Cards | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8-69 |
| Colts | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7-53 |
| Bucs | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2-19 |
| TOTAL | 6 | 3 | 13 |
Some internals on those stats: Six sacks in five games. That translates to roughly 20 per season. Just three turnovers. Two on bad Romo passes and one Romo fumble. I’ll take that pace over the course of a season. Any coach would too. The backs have lost just one fumble all year. That was way back in week two, when Julius Jones coughed up the ball just before halftime versus Washington.
Dallas is plus ten in the turnover department during the Romo Era, a big jump from the Bledsoe Era, where they were breaking even.
The most encouraging trend is for penalties. Since their meltdown in Washington, the Cowboys have paid much better attention to detail. Yesterday they set a season low with only two penalties the entire game. If the Cowboys stop beating themselves it will be very difficult for other teams to defeat them.
Cowboys - Bucs Open Thread
November 23, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving everybody. Don’t OD on tryptophan.
A Fine “Mess”
November 23, 2006
“Well into his fourth season of failing to clean up Jerry Jones’ decade-long mess, Parcells’ Cowboys finally notched a signature win, which leads to the next question…”
– Randy Galloway, Hold Your Fire: Team Deserves Break After Signature Win,
The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, November 20, 2006
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Jerry Jones Cowboys. Here are the members of the 2002 “Mess” — the last pre-Bill Parcells team — still on the active roster:
Roy Williams,
Keith Davis,
Flozell Adams,
Andre Gurode
We should probably add Greg Ellis to the list. Given the offseason rumors, perhaps Terrell Owens should be made an honorary mess member as well. Still, this looks like a pretty thorough housecleaning to me.
Parcells had no more original talent at his disposal than Jimmy Johnson. J.J. inherited Michael Irvin, Kenny Norton, Mark Tuinei, Nate Newton, Jim Jeffcoat and Bill Bates. And let’s not forget Herschel Walker and his magical draft pick powers.
Which leads to my questions:
1. Was 10-6 with the Quincy Carter/Troy Hambrick 2003 Cowboys a failure?
2. Was 9-7 last season a failure?
3. How many years did it take Johnson and Jones to clean up Tom Landry’s, Gil Brandt’s and Tex Schramm’s mess?
We all know the answer to question three is four. Let’s compare where Jimmy was and Bill stands after 58 games:
Jimmy Johnson — 27 wins, 31 losses, one playoff appearance;
Bill Parcells — 31 wins, 27 losses, one playoff appearance;
We need to wait until at least January before anybody is declared a failure.
Preview: Bucs @ Cowboys
November 22, 2006
It’s back to work in a hurry as the Tampa Bay Bucs invade Texas Stadium for the annual Thanksgiving Day game. A win would catapault Dallas back atop the NFC East, at least until New York plays on Sunday.
When Tampa Bay Has the Ball
Last season it seemed the Bucs had managed the quick turnaround. They had dropped into mediocrity since their Super Bowl win in 2002. Last season, however, they rebounded to an 11-5 record and a division win. Youth paced the turnaround, as Chris Simms took over for an injured Brian Griese and rookie RB Cadillac Williams rejuvenated the running game. Sure, the team had age on defense and lots of question marks on its offensive line, but it seems the Bucs run among the conference bottom feeders was over.
2006 has shown that last season was the mirage. The Bucs were winless before Simms was lost to a ruptured spleen in week three. Without him, the team has gone full speed ahead with a youth renovation project. Top rookie offensive linemen Davin Joseph (RG) and Jeremy Trueblood (RT) have joined last year’s OL find, LG Dan Buenning, in the starting lineup. The Bucs have had to play rookie Bruce Gradkowski at quarterback, as Griese left for Chicago in the offseason.
The results are what you expect from a rebuilding team. The Bucs rank last in scoring among NFC teams. Williams has been grounded, and is averaging just over 60 yards per game. The passing game has been quiet; third year wideout Michael Clayton, who looked so strong as a rookie has yet to rebound from his injury-riddled 2005. He’s been healthy this season, but drops have plagued him. He has less than 300 yards receiving for the year.
Gradkowski has been the silver lining to an otherwise dismal season. He’s the definition of a Bill Parcells bus driver, throwing nine touchdown passes to only four interceptions for a respectable 74 quarterback rating. On the whole, however, he plays like a rookie. His arm has been suspect and teams have built book on him forcing him to throw deep. A stat during the Bucs-Giants broadcast several weeks ago showed that Gradkowski was hitting on roughly ten percent of his deep throws. To emphasize it, Gradkowski prompty missed three open receivers on deep routes.
Because Gradkowski sprays deeper throws, he’s faced two game plans. The first takes away his short throws and dares him to win the game deep. For the most part it has worked. Last week, however, Gradkowski found Joey Galloway on a deep post late in the Bucs comeback win over the Redskins. The other tactic is to tamp down on Galloway and force the Bucs to drive a long field. The belief is that Gradkowski will make a mistake or his young line will offer up a sack.
Both approaches have their benefits. Whatever Dallas decides, stopping Galloway will be priority one. He is the Bucs offense this year. His 626 receiving yards are more than double the next Tampa Bay receiver’s. He still has deep speed and is dangerous on reverses. He has five of the Bucs 13 offensive touchdowns this season and is the only player with more than two. He’s almost certain to get double coverage wherever he goes, since Tampa Bay lacks speed at the other wideout positions. Second year TE Alex Smith is a Jon Gruden favorite but he’s banged up at the moment.
I look for Dallas to play it straight up against Gradkowski. Stay in the 3-4, make certain that Williams does not get off to a fast start running the ball and keep Galloway contained. If that happens, Bucs punter Josh Bidwill will be a busy man. He’s tied for the NFL lead with 63 punts. (Mat McBriar, by comparison, has punted only 40 times, the 4th lowest NFL total the and lowest NFC number.)
When Dallas Has the Ball
Dallas got a run through against Monte Kiffin’s Bucs defense last week against the Colts. Tony Dungy gets a lot of ink for the Tampa Two, coverage scheme but it’s Kiffin who put it together. It’s a base 4-3 that plays a lot of zone behind it. The base coverage is a “cover two” with the safeties playing deep and taking one half of the deep zone each. The middle linebacker has to be athletic to drop into the deep middle and take away deep throws into the center part of the field.
It’s a simple scheme, much like the one Jimmy Johnson ran in Dallas last decade. It depends on fast, active players to shorten the field. When Tampa Bay was dominant early this decade, it had speed across the board. Simeon Rice, Warren Sapp and Anthony McFarland could run through you or around you on the line. They and LE Greg Spires could generate a rush by themselves, allowing Tampa to play the maximum seven men deep. WOLB Derrick Brooks was a top linebacker for several years. In the deep third, Ronde Barber, John Lynch and Brian Kelly had the size, speed and smarts to smother opposing attacks.
As you can see, most of these guys don’t play in a Bucs uniform anymore. Sapp left for Oakland. Lynch captains the Broncos’ secondary. McFarland was traded to Indianapolis earlier this year, an early sign that Tampa was folding on 2006 and thinking about the future.
Kelly and Rice are both out with injuries. Rice was placed on injured reserve today. Brooks and Barber are all that remain of those great Tampa defenses and they’re in the 10th and 12th seasons respectively.
Tampa’s scheme is murder when they’ve got the players, but they don’t have them right now. They’re ranked in the bottom half of the league in rushing, passing and overall yardage. The team has only fifteen sacks, which puts maximum stress on the defense. Barber can still sting you: he picked off Donovan McNabb twice for scores in the Bucs upset of the Eagles earlier this year, but if he’s not making the plays, nobody else is.
Think back to Sunday’s game for this week’s game plan. Lots of running inside. Lots of throws to Jason Witten in the middle of the field. Screens and dumpoffs to the backs when the linebackers drop too deep. Lots of double moves on the outside to shake receivers free. This week, look for lots of early throws to Terrell Owens on crossing routes. He was relatively quiet last week and the last thing Dallas needs on the verge of a winning streak is a sour T.O.
Overall
Dallas should win this game. The short week does make for sloppy games and Kiffin can cook up schemes to trip up the Dallas offense. That said, this is a much weaker team than the Colts. They’re 0-4 on the road, their aging veterans are beginning to drop from injuries and they’re scoring a conference low 13.2 points a game. They’re topped 21 points only twice this season, once when Barber returned two interceptions for TDs.
They’re averaging just over nine points per game on the road.
If the Cowboys don’t give the Bucs scores with careless ball handling, and if they can keep Joey Galloway in front of them, I have a hard time imagining Tampa scoring. Their defense still has its moments, but its a far weaker unit than Bucs defenses of the past. The Bucs have been staying with people for a half but wearing out down the stretch. Don’t lose your Thanksgiving meal if the score is 10-7 or 7-3 at the half. The Cowboys were much faster starters with Drew Bledsoe at the controls, but they’re much better finishers with Tony Romo running things.
Dallas 28, Tampa Bay 13
Back Roster Roulette
November 21, 2006
RB Keylon Kincade once again is on the street, having been cut by the Cowboys today.
Dallas signed OG Travis Leffew (no relation to Pepe) from Green Bay’s practice squad. Leffew played his college ball at Louisville.
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