What Can They Do?
Posted: December 27, 2006 @ 7:20 pm
At today’s presser, Bill Parcells resisted calls to lapse into an angry, gloomy assessment of his team. He pushed so many smiles back at the hectoring press he was accused by one writer of being a Pollyanna. Another pointed out that he was far more negative early in his coaching career.
Said Parcells, “that’s when I knew we were going to win all the time. I’m trying to take a more optimistic approach today.”
Parcells pointed out that none of the persistent questions from least season and the summer are voiced anymore. Nobody asks about red zone proficiency, about the play calling, about troubles on the road. He also chided the press for being extremists in assessing each game. “It’s either the outhouse or the castle in this town,” he remarked.
I’ve decided to take him up on his suggestion. I’m going in search of some Parcells sunshine. How did Dallas rate in a longer view, the Saints and Eagles losses included? I’ll begin with this question, is the team better on either side of the ball than last year, when Dallas was also 9-6 and in the running?
Let’s start with a shorter long metric. At midseason Dallas was 4-4. They’re 5-2 so far this half. Go back and read some of the threads after the Redskins loss. How many posters claimed that 6-2 would be necessary to reach the playoffs? How many dismissed that outcome out of hand? It’s not done yet, but it’s possible. Those two losses reek, but 6-2 down the stretch, even in a watered down year, isn’t bad.
Now, to team performance:
Cowboys NFL rankings, 2005 vs. 2006
Total offense — 13th vs. 5th
Rushing off. — 13th vs. 11th
Passing off. — 15th vs. 7th
3rd down eff. — 11th vs. 2nd
Sacks allowed — 28th vs. 17th
Scoring — 15th vs. 4th
Turnovers — 19th (-5) vs. 13th (+4)
Penalty Edge — 3rd vs. 31st
Total defense — 10th vs. 12th
Rushing def. — 15th vs. 9th
Passing def. — 11th vs. 22nd
3rd down eff. — 6th vs. 27th
Sacks — 16th vs. 24th
Scoring — 12th vs. 18th
I’ll meet you halfway, Bill. The offense is better. Much better in fact. Fewer sacks, better running, better passing, better red zone, much better scoring.
But those pass defense numbers make me cringe. See the symboisis between a weak rush and weak covering safeties? They feed off each other, in a negative way. As a result, the Cowboys can get teams into 3rd and long, but can’t get them off the field. But then, you saw Monday’s game. You know that.
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6th to 27th on 3rd down? Its unbelieveable how we could become so ineffective on 3rd down.And yes it can be traced to the lack of a consistent pass rush. Good QBs know they will get the time against our defense. I can’t imagine how BP is going to solve this problem with the current personnel.
I was playing with possible Playoff scenarios and it seems that it may have been a belessing in disguise that we don’t win the division.
We go to Seattle and if wishes come true, we win there and then we go to Chicago and then maybe meet Sean Payton again for the Conference title.
In the scenario game, one of the possibilities was that the other wild-card team could win at Philly then go to New Orleans and if they win there and we win in Chicago, then two Wild cards meet for the Title…in Dallas…Am i missing something? Could this really happen?
Who would have thought that the lack of a free safety could prove to be the Cowboys’ undoing. Isn’t safety one of the lowest paid positions in the league? This implies that safeties are a “dime a dozen”.
How hard can it be to find adequate pass rushers? Maybe Charles Haley, Tony Tolbert, and Leon Lett can come out of retirement?
Raf,
Good analysis! Numbers to go with thoughts.
The offensive stats are good, and at least I know I have laid off of them. Those numbers would be better if the defense could have gotten New Orleans and Philly off the field. Some of Romo’s negative stats (sacks and ints) were due to the Cowboys being forced out of their game plan. Overall the offensive game plan has been well put together and keeps them in most games and burries teams late when Dallas has a second half lead.
As seen in previous threads, my dismay with the defense is:
1.) the predictability of our defense (formations and blitzes)
2.) the same mistakes over and over again (i.e. failure to touch/cover TEs and RBs)
3.) the use of personell - Newman should be shadowing team’s #1 WR and Roy should be crushing players who dare cross the middle of the field - moving around not in zone where OCs can avoid Dallas’ better players
4.) the scheme - this “cover 2″ scheme allows WRs to run past the first line of coverage and get man to man with our safeties, with little to no pass rush our safeties loose
What can they do? .. Well I say get more agressive on defense. And I do not mean “max” blitzes. Man up! Newman on team’s #1 - Henry on their #2, LBs covering RBs and TEs with two safeties deep, leaving four to rush. Yeah mix it up with some 5 man blitzes and max cover packages with 3 linemen rushing. … The Saints and Eagles used 3, 4, and 5 wide sets with great success. To counter this, I would love to see the Boys use 4 corners and 3 safeties (2 deep + Roy roaming the middle of the field as a nickel LB), Kevin Burnett and rush 3 linemen (possibly putting Ware in on a 3 man line in these special situations, so we don’t loose his pass rushing ability). It puts a lot more speed on the field for us, plus I can see Roy blasting a WR or two to get them thinking twice about crossing over the middle. In my opinion, it beats rushing 7 and still getting little pressure, then having fullbacks, runningbacks, and tight ends running WIDE OPENED across the middle of the field.
So the sky is falling, right?
Falling right over Zimmer?
The Zimmer that seems to be the one chosen by most of the guys looking for someone to punish.
You guys could be right, but you guys could also be wrong.
Maybe Zimmer is doing all that he’s capable of doing with the team that he has, just like he did early in the decade.
Yeah, I know all about the talent that this team Defense seems to have in boatloads… But, I’m not seeing the talent being put on display on the field.
So, maybe, just maybe, it’s more on the players than on the coaches, or Zimmer.
Let’s elaborate a little more and let’s point some fingerS:
First 5 fingers: 3 man front DEs, Marcus Spears, Chris Canty, Jason Hatcher, Kenyon Coleman and Jay Ratliff. Some have said that this team doesn’t looks like the others 3-4 teams, yeah, they don’t, and it all starts up front. Where you guys trying to compare the guys mentioned above to this guys: Richard Seymour/Ty Warren/Jarvis Green, Kimo Von Oelhoffen/Aaron Smith/Brett Keisel (when Kimo used to be a Steeler) and Igor Olshansky/Luis Castillo/Jacques Cesaire? Well, most of those guys tend to be double teamed to stop them from being too disruptive, our Cowboys tend to be double teamed to be taken out of a play completely.
Next 4 fingers: 4 man front DLineman, Demarcus Ware, Ratliff, Hatcher and Coleman. Ware stays too much on the field and tries to bullrush too much, in 2nd halves he’s obviously exhausted. Ratliff consistency made me claim that he needed to step up before midseason, he looked really good from time to time and lost from time to time, right now I can’t even tell if he’s on the field. Hatcher and Coleman are also more off than on.
Next 2 fingers: ILBs, Bradie James and Akin Ayodele. Some have wondered why aren’t they sent on some unexpected blitzes, well, they are too slow and big to fall in unexpectedly, they have been sent on blitzes, the thing here is that you just can’t hide a cow if you only have grass to disguise them…
Next 3 fingers: OLBs, Al Singleton, Bob Carpenter and Kevin Burnett. Singleton is Singleton. Carpenter is a rookie, though he’s developing he still has problems seeing Guards (how hard can it be not to see a 300 pounder running right at you?) pulling and taking him out of plays. Burnett isn’t good enough for Parcells to give Ware some rest.
And the last fingers: Whoever at FS. No need to explain.
If you feel the need to add the coaching staff to all the finger pointing that I already made, it’s your right, I’m just not sure enough if it’s right to point in just one direction, Zimmer.
I agree with everything said here-it’s been very easy to see the defense go backwards since the Indy game.
I think part of the fault does lie with the offense-I’ve put the stats up before-this great running game some of you talk about has been almost nonexistent during the same stretch our D seems to be declining. Our Time of Poss. at the beginning of the year was incredible, but we have been struggling on offense maintaining drives, which adds to the defensive woes.
Not that they’re causing them, but that they were covering them up earlier in the year.
A good pass rush makes your safeties look better, too. I actually think our safeties are adequate, but the QB’s get too much time! Any QB given time will find someone open…..
What gets me is that on 3rd down % we were doing fine for a long time, but have fallen apart-I don’t know how it can be SO different!
We weren’t ranked that low at the midpoint, as I recall, anyways….
Is Henry’s knee the cause for all the zone? We had been playing more man coverage I thought, and did well every time we put Newman on some name receiver and then took our best shot that way.
Should Glenn be starting???
The man coverage forces our D to be more aggressive, I think.
I can’t remember Roy W’s last big hit or play, except the hits he’s put on his own teammates-maybe age is catching up to him?
raf, would you now agree that our Def. lacks speed? Would a better word be ‘athleticism’?
PS: how does Henry NOT take that pick to the house? A 10 yard head start on the WR & QB, yet he gets caught from behind at the 35. That was a CB’s dream scenario… take the damn piano off Henry’s back - he was beat badly on the play too.
PPS: Oliver Hoyte shouldn’t be on the field of play… appauling missed block at the goal line
Tex,
Henry’s playing with a very sore knee. Be happy he’s holding together and making plays. And he was caught by Donte Stallworth, who can fly.
Chandus,
Blame FS? Sure why not, but keep in mind most defensive schemes do not put FSs in one on one coverage with WRs. Do you recall how teams used to try to create situations to get D. Woodson in mismatches with their WRs? Well Zimmer is gift wrapping single coverage with a FS in the “cover 2″. But hey, lets blame the player, even though most NFL coaches recognize FS aren’t the best man to man players.
The “cover 2″, while placing S in 1/2 the field deep coverage (which can often develope into man to man), also takes our best cover CB (Newman) out of plays. Why play our best CB in a short zone so offenses can play away from him? Plus create a situation for our FS to play man to man against a WR deep into coverage? It doesn’t make sense!! Look at how many big plays were made on the Cowboys the past few years were our FS were blamed for not being able to cover WRs. Yet its not the FS nor SS job to single cover WRs in most NFL schemes. That is what CBs do!!
I do not know what you have seen the past few years, but its the same ole same ole. You can not tell me that player after player keeps making the same mistakes. NO!!! Something is wrong with the coaching. TEs, FBs, and RBs have gone free into our secondary for some time now. In a close game in the 4th quarter, Minnesota, the RB WIDE OPENED in the middle of the field. Bryant Westbrook runs free down the field, but McNabb just misses him, off his finger tips. Who has Shockey?? No one apparently and Giants force OT. Cris Colley made the Pro Bowl simply for his play against the Cowboys, were no one decided to cover him either. Same whole in our D. Same whole in our D. Same whole in our D. Now just look at the past 3 games! FBs WIDE OPENED!!! L.J. Smith untouched in the middle of the field. Do you really think all of these players are missing something up there to make the same stupid error over and over again? I mean if a LB or a S got beaten by the Saints FB, I’d agree with you and say that its the players. But Dallas didn’t even have a player covering him, nor did anyone cover Smith, nor Shockey last year, etc. etc. .. and that tells me that the problem lies within the scheme. Maybe its too complex for players to understand - but then its an awful high amount of guys not understnding it. Or maybe the scheme has OBVIOUS wholes to exploit. By the way the Eagles and Saints game planned against Zimmer, I am going with the ladder.
Eric:
Are you telling me that if somehow, or someway, Ware, James, Ayodele, Singleton, Carpenter, Burnett, Roy, Davis or Watkins made the mistake of reading a play the wrong way that it’s because of the playcalling (Zimmer)?
And 2nd, it kind of works both ways, if Romo (or Bledsoe for that matter) has time he’s going to throw the ball to an open receiver, our team Defense is struggling to press the passer, they are going to get someone open, especially when they have 4 and 5 receiving options, which misteriously, right now, is the norm.
Teams aren’t killing our team with long passes, it’s the 5 to 10 yards throws that keep the Defense on teh Field, which is why Newman and Henry are playing more often short routes, while leaving their prior assignments to the safeties.
If this team could be able to apply any kind of pressure, that scheme would do wonders for our team.
But QBs aren’t feeling any kind of heat.
Chandus,
If a teacher teaches say 15 kids, and 13-14 of them make the same mistake over and over again, who is at fault? At some point accountability needs to fall on the teacher. We saw the same missed coverages with Coakley and Dat .. now new names but the same mistakes continue. …. I place more accountability on the teacher here.
As far as the scheme, the “cover 2″ is a good scheme with the right personel. Tampa Bay and disciples of that system have fast/smallish play makers when they are successful. We have drafted big physical players to play the 3-4, especially at LB. So it really doesn’t fit too well. .. I would rather see Newman in man coverage than zone, Henry playing physical at the line, and Roy looking to lay someone out over the middle instead of being in a deep attempting to cover a bunch of ground. .. Just my opinion.
And during all that “bad teaching” do you think that Parcells’ only been an espectator?
The same Parcells that seems to be well respected as a teacher…
If it were just coaching, Parcells would be as guilty as Zim.
And it’s just my opinion, too, we aren’t supposed to think alike as often as we have in the past.