Bye-Week Game Thread
November 9, 2008
OK, the important game is obviously Giants @ Eagles. There are huge implications in the outcome of this game as it pertains to the Cowboys.
The Giants win and they take a stranglehold on the division, having beaten all division opponents once. It would put them 2 games up on the Redskins and 3 games up on the Cowboys and Eagles.
Philadelphia wins and it puts the Cowboys 2 games behind the Giants and one against the Eagles and Redskins, who will host Dallas next week after also having a bye.
I’m torn on this. If I look at it from a standpoint of winning the division, I have to root for the Eagles, as it closes the gap in the division and Dallas has already beaten the Eagles once. If I root for the [gulp] Giants, a win puts the Eagles in last place by way of tiebreaker since Dallas beat them earlier.
Maybe I’ll pull for a tie… Who you got?
The NFC East is a Beast, and You Should be Ecstatic
September 21, 2008
The East is 10-2 so far, and both losses have come in divisional games.
The Redskins lone loss came to the Giants.
The Eagles lone loss came in Dallas.
The Cowboys showed the Packers are a pretender. The Cowboys wore them out so thoroughly, several Packers were getting IVs at halftime. At Lambeau Field.
The Eagles took arguably the best team in the AFC thus far and beat the snot out of them. Jim Johnson’s guys sacked Steelers QBs nine times today. At one point, game announcers were wondering out loud how Dallas could score 41 points on them and not permit a single sack.
The Redskins took a team that may be the class of the NFC West and beat them.
The Giants looked a little ragged against the Bengals, but hey, they’re 3-0.
One of these teams might finish with a winning record and miss the playoffs. The Eagles were 8-8 last year and finished last.
That narrows the Cowboys margin for error but also improves their post-season chances, should they make the playoffs. In his new book Blindsided, KC Joyner devotes a chapter to the myth that early schedules ease a team’s route to the offseason. He goes back to the merger and rates each division from 1-6 in the six division era and 1-8 in the current system.
He finds overwhelming evidence that teams from tough divisions perform better in the post season. The lowest-rated divisonal winner to win a Super Bowl is the ‘99 Rams, who came from the 6th ranked division. Teams that feast off weak divisions fold far more often than not in January.
Playing tough rivals toughens you up. Look at the ‘07 Giants. They said after their title that Dallas was the toughest opponent they faced. Michael Strahan said they were much tougher than the Patriots.
That shootout last Monday night will help to steel this team. Ask Aaron Rodgers and his mates if the Cowboys felt the short week, or the Lambeau Field mystique.
They’ll tell you no, once they pull the IVs from their arms and take their oxygen masks off.
T.O. Scares Everybody
September 17, 2008
In the early days of training camp, I mentioned that the workouts could be summarized with the phrase, “T.O. Beats Everybody.” No player had a better, more productive camp than the man whose middle name is Eldorado.
The Caddy made Philadelphia’s ballyhooed corners look like refurbished Hyundais in the first half Monday night. He not only beat Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard, he humiliated them. Owens didn’t catch a pass in the second half, but his early level of dominance changed Philly’s second half game plan, and aided Dallas’ comeback.
Jim Johnson’s initial strategy was to blitz Tony Romo with some frequency. On Romo’s 14 first half attempts, the Eagles blitzed five or more men on 6 plays, or 43% of the time. The Eagles rushed four men on the remaining 8 plays.
The Eagles initially tried playing Owens with a single corner, but neither Brown nor Sheppard could stay wtih him. He ran Brown off on a 14 yard curl route, then left both Sheppard and safety Sean Considine more than five yards in his wake on a 72 yard bomb.
Johnson showed some brass putting FS Brian Dawkins one-on-one against Owens in the second quarter. T.O. looked insulted after he easily beat Dawkins on a 4 yard slant for a touchdown.
The play that probably changed Johnson’s thinking came on Dallas’ next series. The Cowboys had run the ball on every one of its first seven 1st-down plays and the Eagles had stuffed Marion Barber, walking eight and sometimes nine men into the box. Romo’s 4 yarder to T.O. had caught them off guard, and probably explains why Dawkins was left alone against Owens — the Eagles were expecting another run.
Now, facing 1st and ten on his 20, Jason Garrett called his second 1st-down pass, sending Owens on a stop and go at Brown. T.O. was again more than five yards behind the corner when he caught the ball, which he took 55 yards to the Eagles’ 25. The play was called back by a holding penalty, but it affected the remainder of the game.
Johnson had to give the corners covering Owens deep help. When the second half started the Eagles began playing a lot of cover two, with a safety always rotating to Owens’ side. This meant the Eagles now were playing with seven in the box, and Marion Barber began to find running room. He had only 14 first half yards on six carries, and he topped that on his first 2nd-half carry, a bend play around right end for 18 yards. He gained 49 second half yards on 12 carries, a far more respectable 4.1 average.
Cover two also compromised Philly’s rush. Thirteen of the Eagles first fourteen second-half pass calls rushed four men, a meager 7% average. The Cowboys’ line handled these rushes with relative ease, giving Romo time to work his backs and tight ends in the middle of the field against Philly linebackers. When the Eagles went to man coverage, they still tracked T.O. with two players. Owens cleared out the right side of the Eagles defense on a third quarter play from the Philly 17, giving Barber the space to catch a touchdown against the overmatched MLB Stewart Bradley.
That’s Why They Pay Him the Big Money
Amazingly, Garrett had the perfect play for the one time in that 14-pass sequence where Johnson blitzed. He called a screen to Barber on a 1st down play where Johnson rushed six men. Barber followed three blockers along the far sideline for 25 yards. Johnson again backed off; he would blitz just twice more in the game.
In a fitting end to his evening, Owens beat the new Eagle Asante Samuel, drawing an interference call in the end zone that set up Barber’s game winning run. T.O. left the field knowing he had gotten the better of all three Philly corners.
Owens appears to have found a 6th gear at age 34, one that makes good cornerbacks look stupid. He not only beats everybody, he flat-out scares everybody, top-tier coordinators included.
Note: Updated offensive stats will be posted later today.
The Cowboys Take Their Lumps but Win a Decision - Cowboys 41, Eagles 37
September 16, 2008
Tony Romo and Donovan McNabb turned back the clock last night; Romo played Don Meredith and McNabb played Sonny Jurgensen, reprising the 1966 shootout where those two combined for 701 passing yards. Romo and McNabb didn’t quite throw that far, combining for 593 yards through the air. They didn’t lack for highlights in the Cowboys 41 -37 win, making big throws, runs and mistakes. They posted 54 points on the scoreboard by halftime, when Philadelphia claimed a 30-24 lead.
They were not the only players in a throwback mode. Terrell Owens did his Bob Hayes impersonation, destroying the Eagles deep coverage, grabbing a 72 yard TD on Dallas’ first drive, crossing the goal line like a sprinter breaking the finish line tape. Jason did his best Mike Ditka, leaving the field to have an AC shoulder joint x-rayed (the Cowboys radio team said it was separated). He returned and caught over 80 of his game-leading 110 receiving yards with the bad wing.
The defense, while burned, showed an old-school trait missing in recent Cowboys defenses. They adjusted at halftime and surrendered only 7 points after intermission. What’s more, they finished with late pressure. They faced McNabb twice in the last 4:30 of play, forcing a three-and-out on the first series and a turnover on downs on the Eagles’ final drive. Greg Ellis and Demarcus Ware sacked McNabb in the final four plays, taking out frustrations built up over 59 minutes of chasing the QB around the Texas Stadium turf.
* * * * * *
Both teams brought in aggressive game plans, designed to exploit the other’s aggressive blitzing. The Eagles got great field position after Nick Folk sent the opening kickoff out of bounds. On 3rd and 6 from the Dallas 42, the Eagles went max protection, keeping Brian Westbrook and backup TE Brent Celek in while sending three receivers deep.
Or so it seemed. Celek teamed with RT Jon Runyan on Greg Ellis for two seconds, then released upfield. There were no linebackers or safeties in the middle of the field, as they dropped deep to cover the receivers, so Celek had an open field and took McNabb’s short pass 19 yards to the Dallas 23. The Cowboys held and the Eagles settled for a field goal, beginning a trend that would benefit Dallas in the end.
Dallas showed a more direct attacking style on its first drive. Facing 3rd and nine, Romo converted by finding Owens, who ran a curl route from the “delta” package. Three plays later, Dallas had not moved a yard, facing 3rd and 10 from its 28.
The Cowboys lined up in a a two TE set with Owens wide left. He feighed a square in at 12 yards. Romo pump faked towards him and SS Sean Considine bit hard, rushing up to break up the throw. When Owens sprinted up field on his double move he left Considine and CB Lito Sheppard five yards behind him. He slowed down to catch Romo’s bomb and romped into the end zone.
The Eagles made another modest drive to the Dallas 27, the big play being a curl to Greg Lewis in between the line of the Dallas’ zone. Improved pressure forced two incompletions on 2nd and 3rd down and David Akers nailed his second field goal, cutting Dallas’ lead to 7-6
Felix Jones pushed it to eight points in just 13 seconds, taking the ensuring kickoff 98 yards, behind stellar wedge blocks from Tony Curtis, Joe Berger, Pat McQuistan, Deon Anderson and Isaiah Stanback.
Dallas forced a three and out and seemed to have the game under control. Two huge Romo mistakes quickly turned the score in the Eagles’ favor. After a short Barber run, Romo ducked under an Eagles’ blitz. He rolled to his right and sidearmed a pass towards Miles Austin, who was open 12 yards upfield. The pass was high and sailed over Stanback and into the arms of Asante Samuel, who returned the pick to the Cowboys’ 28.
On the next play McNabb threw into the end zone for Lewis, who was well covered by Anthony Henry. Lewis lost his balance and cleverly drew an interference penalty. He grabbed Henry’s jersey and pulled the CB on top of him as he fell into the corner. The referee ruled Henry had pushed Lewis down and flagged Henry, putting the ball at the one. Brian Westbrook scored on the next play and the game was 14-13.
Isaiah Stanback mishandled Akers’ kickoff, letting it roll into the end zone. He was tackled at the Cowboys five. On the next play from scrimmage, Romo literally dropped the ball as he was turning to handoff to Marion Barber. Romo picked up the ball in the end zone and fumbled when he was hit by Omar Gaither. Chris Gocong recovered and the Eagles were suddenly ahead by six points.
The rookies helped Dallas quickly regain the lead. Felix Jones took the kickoff 43 yards to Dallas’ 44. On 3rd and 10 Romo found Witten behind Brian Dawkins for 14. Witten left the field in pain and was taken for x-rays on his injured shoulder.
Sensing that the Eagles would not double T.O., Jason Garrett called on the rookies in Witten’s absence. He called a reverse for Jones that gained six. He then called a tight end screen to Martellus Bennett, who raced up the right side to the Eagles 16.
Marion Barber finally found space inside, running a 2nd down trap for eleven yards to the Eagles four. Owens then beat Dawkins on a slant and Dallas was back in front 21-20.
Philadelphia then unveiled its special play. On 1st and ten from its 39, the Eagles lined up in a tight formation, with Lewis lined up as a wing outside L.J. Smith on the left, Westbrook in the backfield to McNabb’s right and Celek as the right end right. Jackson was the lone wide receiver, though he was lined up in the right slot.
Dallas deployed in zone. Jackson got a free release off the line and ran right at, and then right past Roy Williams. The Eagles used chip blocking from each TE to slow the Dallas OLBs and gave McNabb a solid pocket. He waited for his fastest receiver to torch Dallas’ slowest secondary player and then hit Jackson for an apparent 61 yard touchdown.
The ball was placed at the one when replays found Jackson had spiked the ball at the Dallas one. The ref had blown the play dead, assuming a score, so the Cowboys could not recover Jackson’s mistake. Westbrook scored on a dive and the Eagles were back in front.
The Eagles had a chance to make their own blowout when their defense forced a Cowboys punt. Philly then made an impressive march, converting a 3rd and long when it kept in seven men to block the Cowboys’ four rushers, giving McNabb time to find Jackson down the field on Pat Watkins. A few plays later, McNabb shook free from Greg Ellis, who looked to have a sack. The QB scrambled to the Dallas ten.
Here, for the third time in the half, the defense forced the Eagles to accept a field goal. Good coverage on 3rd down allowed Ellis to catch McNabb at the Dallas 4.
The Cowboys were down nine but regained the field goal when Jason Witten got behind Brian Dawkins for 42 yards, moving Dallas to the Philly 33 with just seven seconds to go. Nick Folk nailed a 51 yarder for the score.
The Eagles adjusted their coverage in the second half, giving their corners safety help after T.O. caught a 55 yard pass late in the 2nd quarter. (The play was nullified by a penalty.) In the second half, Garrett and Romo then adapted by running more and throwing short to the tight ends and backs. Dallas moved this way to a 3rd and 4 on the Eagles’ 17 early in the 4th. Dallas had converted a similar play earlier with a Felix Jones draw and the Eagles stacked the box.
Garrett countered by running Barber on a wheel route left. He easily got clear of MLB Stewart Bradley and put the Cowboys back in front, 31-30.
The Eagles went back to their pattern of throwing intermediate passes in front of the Dallas zone, converting one big play to Lewis on 3rd and 10. McNabb coufounded the Dallas rush when he scrambled right and flipped an unhanded throw to Westbrook, who raced from the Dallas 46 to the 28. A 15 yard facemask on Pat Watkins, the third such penalty on Dallas in the game, moved Philly to the 14. Westbrook scored his third short run one play later and the Eagles were back up by six.
Romo returned to the short game, hitting Witten for nine and Barber for 25 on a screen that reclaimed three points. When McNabb and Westbrook bungled an exchange on the following drive Dallas had the break it needed.
Romo returned to the short game, hitting Patrick Crayton for sixteen and Miles Austin for nine yards on two short passes, before he found Witten in front of Dawkins in the Philly zone. Romo hit Witten at the Eagles five. An interference call on Asante Samuel moved the ball to the one, where Barber scored on 2nd down.
Dallas was again in the lead and this time it kept it. The pass rush so erratic the first 55 minutes, asserted itself on the last two Eagles drives. Ellis and Ware got the better of Jon Runyan and sacked McNabb twice. When the Eagles failed on a hook and lateral on 4th and 17 with 1:10 left, the Cowboys Nation could finally exhale.
Notes
– Brian Dawkins has been the best safety in the NFC for about a decade, but last night the Cowboys made him look old. Think back to the ‘06 Christmas Day thumping the Eagles gave Dallas. Dawkins played over the top on T.O. all game and made a game settling pick on a deep ball to T.O. early in the 4th quarter.
Last night, Philly was cocky enough to put him one-on-one against T.O. when Dallas was in the red zone. Owens beat him easily for a touchdown by running a slant. Jason Witten really abused him, catching three passes for 88 yards against Dawkins. One was a huge 42 yarder before the half that let Dallas cut the lead from nine to six.
In the fourth, Tony Romo just missed Witten on a 30 yard post in front of Dawkins. On the next series the Cowboys went back to the same play and Witten gained 32, setting up Marion Barber’s game winning score.
Having Dawkins lose a step is like having Ken Hamlin turn into Keith Davis before your eyes. If he’s lost it the Eagles have a huge hole in their deep middle. We all saw how T.O. abused Sean Considine on his 72 yard TD.
– A good night for the Dallas special teams. They gave up one long return to midfield but remember Nick Folk kicked off eight times last night. None of the other returns got beyond the Eagles’ 28.
The punt coverage was strong but the real story was kickoff returns, where Felix Jones amassed 248 yards on six returns, with a 98 yard TD run topping the list.
– A lot of fans were disturbed by the Cowboys’ lack of rush, but that’s more a product of the Eagles’ game plan and Donovan McNabb’s legs. The Cowboys dropped him four times, including twice on Philly’s final series, when the outcome was in doubt. Were McNabb, well, not McNabb, Dallas might have had seven or eight, as he escaped several wrapups and scrambled for first downs.
Dallas got pressure, but couldn’t get it play after play.
If it makes you feel any better, they’re slamming the Eagles lousy rush line in Philly. The Inquirer’s Paul Domowitch groused today about “a defensive line that was unable to get any pressure on Tony Romo.”
They got pressure on him, but like McNabb, Romo made their jobs harder. The Eagles didn’t sack Romo once.
– You like the rookies now? Jones was huge. Martellus Bennett caught a big 20 yard screen just after Jason Witten visited the locker room for x-rays on an injured shoulder. He got a lot more reps and Romo threw teh ball his way. And Bennett doens’t run short routes. The Cowboys drafted him because he can get upfield and they send him upfield.
Mike Jenkins got his first extensive work in the Dallas dime package and broke up a deep pass to Greg Lewis.
– Does anybody take Nick Folk for granted? I don’t. He hit huge 51 and 47 yarders.
– Roy Williams is out for a month with a broken forearm. Pat Watkins replaced him last night. I wonder if we’ll see Courtney Brown get some chances? He’s got the coverage skills the other two guys don’t. But can he tackle in the box?
Felix Jones — He’s Crafty — Like a Cat
September 16, 2008
Felix Jones paid an immediate dividend last night, taking a David Akers kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown one play after the Eagles had drawn within 7-6. His returns show that he’s a natural at setting up defenders and already understands how to use his wedge. This suggests he’ll have a long and successful kickoff return career ahead of him.
Two years ago, I watched former special teams coach Bruce DeHaven work with the Cowboys’ returners and watched him teach his guys to use cutbacks. Returners were instructed to initially run directly up the field, even if it was not behind the wedge. The intent is to pull coverage guys towards you and give your wedge blockers an angle. After running a few yards upfield, the game is to then cut behind your blockers.
Jones followed this technique perfectly. Dallas had a center return called. Jones fielded Akers kick on his two, about three yards inside the yard numbers on the far sideline.
The Cowboys wedge formed at the fifteen, just outside the far hash mark. The Cowboys use Tony Curtis, Joe Berger, Pat McQuistan and Deon Anderson as their center four. They join hands and then move forward together under control until they encounter the line of Eagles. The returner who doesn’t field the kick, Isaiah Stanback in this case, runs up and flanks Anderson, adding a fifth blocker to the wedge.
Jones was about five to seven yards wide and to the left of Curtis, the closest wedge member, when he fielded the ball. Instead of angling to his right and running immediately to get behind his five bodyguards, Jones ran straight upfield, to about the ten.
At this point, the wedge met the center of the Eagles line, secondary man J.R. Reid and linebackers Akeem Jordan and Torrance Daniels.
By initially heading upfield, Jones challenged the coverage guys to leave their lanes and attack him. Daniels stayed in his lane and was double teamed by Curtis and Berger. Reid stayed in his lane and was double teamed by Anderson and Stanback on the right side of the wedge.
Jordan, the center defender of the Philly trio, tried cutting outside of McQuistan to the offensive lineman’s left, in an attempt to hem Jones towards the sideline. This was the break Jones was looking for. As McQuistan was shoving Jordan towards the far sideline, Felix cut sharply to his right, into the lane that Jordan had vacated. Jones darted through this alley into the second level of coverage, where only Akers stood between the him and a score.
Felix cut sharply back to the far sideline and easily outraced the pursuit down the sideline, perhaps thinking what Brad Sham said on the radio broadcast, “you’re not catching me, you thirty-something year old white kicker…”
The cutback is a seemingly simple task, but it requires expert coordination with your wedge. The best returners have that timing. Mediocre ones never develop it. Felix already has it. That he made two more big returns last night only confirms this skill. Imagine what he could do with a little more practice?
Full game report later this morning.
Cowboys vs. Eagles, First Half Thread
September 15, 2008
Tee it up!
The Chat room is open. Look at the “BSR Gametime Chat” tab just below the masthead at the top of the page.
Cowboys-Eagles Preview. Who Will Execute? Only the QBs Know
September 15, 2008
If you’ve been hanging around here a while you know that few rants crank me up like the blanket “the play calling sucked,” lament.
Sometimes, it does. More often than not, the Cowboys lose because their execution sucks. Let’s take the two Eagles games last year as examples. In game one, the Eagles got a lot of early pressure on Tony Romo, with their blitzes. Romo, however, was able to consistently slide in the pocket and find late releasing backs and tight ends and keep drives going. He started 8-8 and posted TDs on his first two drives.
Donovan McNabb was matching him for about 25 minutes, hitting short timing routes and keeps the Eagles’ chains moving. He was finally forced out of his rhythm and threw a pick late in the first half that turned the game in Dallas’ favor.
In game two, Romo had several big plays available in the first 20 minutes. Terrell Owens was two steps behind Lito Sheppard on a go route and Romo badly overthrew him. Later in the sequence Romo floated left, away from pressure, and just overthrew Sam Hurd, who could not make a diving catch for a big gain.
In the second quarter, with Dallas in the Eagles’ red zone, Romo missed an easy crossing route to a wide open Owens that would have been another touchdown. He started 0-6 in this game.
In between, Terence Newman dropped a 25 yard interception TD when he eyed the goalline and let a McNabb pass slip through his fingers.
In game one, the Cowboys executed, and had a 21-7 halftime lead. In game two, proper execution would have given them another 21-7 halftime lead. Instead, their drops and errant throws sent them to intermission down 7-3.
That’s the difference between winning and losing. These teams know each other very well. There wasn’t any great change in strategy from game one to game two, just a dropoff in playmaking by Dallas. Here are some points to look for.
When Dallas Has the Ball
1. Romo needs to go West Coast. Brett Favre and McNabb have made a living with delays to running backs. You blitz them, a back stays in, they slide away from the pressure and make big plays with short dumpoffs to those same running backs who block and then release.
In game one, Romo jabbed effectively at the soft midsection of Philly coverage by doing a superb McNabb imitation. He would side step pressure and then make short tosses to Marion Barber and Julius Jones. The Eagles zone blitz a lot, and give heavy attention to T.O. and Jason Witten. Delayed passes to the backs are big gainers because the linebackers have dropped deep and the backs have lots of open space in which to run. Look for these plays as ways of blunting blitzes.
2. Send Jason Witten vertically — The Eagles use FS Brian Dawkins a lot to help their corners over the top on Terrell Owens. Jim Johnson brackets Witten as well, but he has done this with linebackers. Dallas had big plays in both games sending Witten up the field on seam routes. He’s too fast for the Philly backers, who are very, very big. They’re better at rushing upfield than in covering downfield.
3. Get good blocking from the backs. Johnson likes to overload an offensive line up the middle. He’ll give a split-six look, where all four of his d-linemen will shade the outside shoulders of your guards and tackles. Then, he’ll line up two linebackers over your center and rush both.
When lines begin sliding their protection inside, to help the center, Johnson will bring two outside rushers, usually a linebacker and a safey or corner, off the weakside edge and drop the strong side defensive end into coverage. Dallas countered this in the October game last year with stellar blitz pickups from Barber and Deon Anderson. Felix Jones was hot and cold as a blocker and his playing time this week will depend on how much he complements the starters.
4. Get T.O. invested in the game early. The Cowboys wins over Philly have seen Owens or Terry Glenn get hot early. The Eagles wins have seen their secondary start hot. They’re a bully team, that gets a lead and pours it on. If you can get ahead of them, their nature changes. They press even harder and increase your chances for making big plays.
5. Maintain the third and short advantage. The Cowboys were superb in both games at beating the Eagles with draws on 3rd-and-3s and 3rd-and-4s. The Eagles sold out blizing on many of those plays and the Cowboys interior line did a great job of blocking them. Cory Procter will have to produce another quality game as a run blocker.
6. Keep Flozell Adams motivated. Adams dominated Trent Cole in both matchups last year, which allowed the Cowboys to help other linemen. Johnson will no doubt test Adams and Procter with lots of twists. He beat Adams and Kyle Kosier repeatedly with games like this in the Eagles’ 06 win at home. Kosier was slow to switch and overextended. Procter will have to prove he can recognize and make the switches. The Browns went at him last week and he was okay, though big DTs like Shaun Rogers got by him one-on-one.
When the Eagles Have the Ball
1. Tackle well – Philly’s design is to hit passes in the short zones off three step drops and then take their shots up field when you commit more to jumping their short routes. The Cowboys will concede a lot of four, five and six yard passes, if McNabb is in rhythm. They can live with this, so long as their corners and linebackers make immediate tackles and eliminate yards after the catch.
2. Attack Philly’s left side — the Eagles’ offensive line was leaky last year. Their linemen gave up 23 sacks, compared to 11 for Dallas’ guys. LG Todd Herremans surrendered five sacks and LT William Thomas gave up six, though he played only part of the season. Dallas had a lot of success in the second game looping Demarcus Ware off the edge inside, at Herremans.
I look for Dallas to send more inside pressure, a la Philly, at McNabb, using Ware and ILBs Bradie James and Zach Thomas to shake McNabb out of his comfort zone.
3. Defend against Philly’s right side. The Eagles are right handed. RG Shawn Andrews and RT Jon Runyan are their best power blockers. The Cowboys played a lot of six man fronts against Cleveland last week, but they will stay in their base 3-4 or keep a SS in the box if the they deploy in a 4-3-5 nickel. Dallas will not show six man fronts against Brian Westbrook. Jay Ratliff told me at Oxnard that the Eagles and Vikings were the toughest opposing lines Dallas faced, because they’re both big and physical. Ratliff won his battles against Jamal Jackson last year. Marcus Spears and Ratliff need to stalemate Runyan.
4. Mix up coverages — Dallas got two huge first half turnovers from McNabb because they mixed looks. The Cowboys played a lot of zone, taking away big throws and forcing McNabb to make long sustained drives, in the hope that they could sack him or pressure him into risky throws.
The strategy worked. I think Dallas will stay with heavy zone coverages, mixing in some man-to-man, for obvious reasons. Westbrook and McNabb are Philly’s two biggest running weapons. If you play lots of man-to-man, and either of them breaks containments, your d-backs are chasing their men and will have their backs turned to the line of scrimmage. They won’t see either Eagle breaking into the open field. This is how big plays occur.
Dallas’ strategy will be to get McNabb throwing short almost by rote, and then calling a M-2-M play, hoping he’ll relexively throw into the suddenly tight coverage. This worked in the second game, but Newman, as I have said, dropped a gift-wrapped interception.
5. Mind the screens — Dallas gives extra attention to Westbrook as a matter of course and the Cowboys were outstanding at recognizing and nullifying screens to him in both games last year.
Overall — You’ll know about ten minutes into the game what you’ll see. If Romo starts hot, Dallas will have a good day. If he doesn’t, it’s gonna be a 60 minute taffy pull.
Jason Garrett said in camp that the second Eagles game was their one real stinker from ‘07. Not only was their execution poor, but their game plan seems to lack the snap from the first. I think he and Romo will do a better job this time.
Defensively, I’m curious to see if the Cowboys give any attention to DeSean Jackson. He’s the only receiver who poses a threat to the secondary. I think they’ll start in their nickel and mix in 3-4 packages to keep McNabb and OC Marty Morhinweg guessing.
Dallas 23, Philadelphia 14
Cowboys by the Numbers — The Secondary
September 13, 2008
Three Eagles receivers — Greg Lewis, Hank Baskett and DeSean Jackson — had 100 yard games against the Rams. The Cowboys corners shackled Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow. Something has to give.
Here are the cornerback coverage lines:
| player | att. | comp. | yds. | YPA | Def. | drops, yds. | pen. |
| Anthony Henry | 9 | 2 | 16 | 1.8 | 3 | 1 (25) | 0 |
| Adam Jones | 6 | 2 | 20 | 3.3 | 1 | 1 (5) | 1 |
| Orlando Scandrick | 2 | 1 | 9 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Those are stellar lines for each corner, though they’re artificially high thanks to Braylon Edward’s butter fingers. He dropped the lone pass where a Cleveland receiver got behind the Cowboys secondary and two in the game.
– Anthony Henry was the top target. The Browns went at him six times in the first quarter alone and nine times during the game. His strong start pushed Rob Chudzinki and Derek Anderson to target other corners. Four passes to Edwards netted zero yards. Henry tackled Edwards on a smoke route for no gain, got a break when Edwards dropped a 25 yard bomb, then broke up a pass and defended a fade in the end zone.
Henry’s yards came when he covered Winslow. The tight end beat Henry on a deep in for 15 yards and Henry left Winslow in the end zone, allowing the Brown to catch a one yard pass for Cleveland’s lone TD.
– Adam Jones got more attention as the game proceeded and did fairly well. That yardage and completion line includes a three yard interference call in the end zone, where he let Edwards cross his face on a square in and tackled the receiver while Anderson’s pass was in the air.
Jones had a breakup and was ready to tackle Edwards on a five yard stop where the receiver dropped the ball. The lone reception came in the 4th quarter, when Jones’ man got behind him on a deep out.
– Orlando Scandrick was sound. He missed a tackle on an Edwards curl but Zach Thomas cleaned up after a nine yard gain. He had solid coverage on a fade to Edwards that Anderson tossed too high and out of bounds.
Dallas kept the Cleveland stars under control and the Cowboys corner trio played a big part in that. I don’t think the Eagles backups — Jackson, Baskett and Lewis are the Eagles’ 3rd, 4th and 5th receivers (Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis are hurt) — will terrorize the Dallas wideouts. Tackling will be key. The Eagles will throw a lot more short passes and I expect them to complete quite a few. If the Cowboys’ corners wrap up quickly and limit short throws to short gains, they should be okay, whether Terence Newman plays or not.
Cowboys vs. Eagles: Paper Champions vs. Pretenders?
September 12, 2008
I warned last week that opening game results are always over-analyzed and over-hyped. If you look at the rivers of ink spilled on the Cowboys and Eagles post game reviews, you’ll understand. They were two of the most impressive week one teams and now play each other for an early lead in the division. They’re the two most touted NFC favorites, but are they really on even terms?
Let’s go back to 2004. The Eagles ended a run that resembled the ’60s Cowboys by finally reaching their first Super Bowl in 24 years. Philadelphia averaged 12 wins from 2001 through 2004 but lost three consecutive NFC Championship games before breaking through. There, they lost to New England.
That same year, Bill Parcells was enduring the second year blues, watching a team he buggy whipped to 10-6 his first year melt down to 6-10. It was at this point that the Tuna went all in for a conversion to a 3-4 scheme. A comparison of team rosters shows how superior the Philly roster was at that time:
Offense
(holdover players in bold)
| Pos. |
Eagles |
Cowboys |
| QB | D. McNabb | V. Testaverde |
| RB | B. Westbrook | J. Jones |
| FB | J. Richie | R. Anderson |
| TE |
L.J. Smith | J. Witten |
| LT |
W. Thomas | F. Adams |
| LG |
A. Hicks |
L. Allen |
| C | H. Fraley | A. Johnson |
| RG | J. Mayberry | A. Gurode |
| RT | J. Runyan | T. Tucker |
| WR |
T. Owens | K. Johnson |
| WR |
T. Pinkston | T. Glenn |
Defense
| Pos. |
Eagles |
Cowboys |
| DE | J. Kearse |
K. Coleman |
| DT | C. Simon |
L. Carson |
| DT | D. Walker | L. Glover |
| DE |
D. Burgess |
G. Ellis |
| OLB |
N. Wayne |
A. Singleton |
| MLB |
J. Trotter |
D. Nguyen |
| OLB | I. Reese | D. Coakley |
| CB | L Sheppard | T. Newman |
| CB | S. Brown |
P. Hunter |
| SS |
M. Lewis | R. Williams |
| FS |
B. Dawkins | T. Dixon |
The Cowboys had a core of Pro Bowl talent. In fact, five Cowboys — Adams, Allen, Witten, Glover and Williams — made the ‘04 squad. Look at the six holdover Cowboys. All of them made the Pro Bowl last year.
The Eagles, however, sent ten players to Honolulu in 2004. Since that time, age and injury have thinned the Eagles’ Pro Bowl depth. They’ve spent big on occasion, for players like Asante Samuel, but they’ve relied almost entirely on their draft to rebuild their defensive front seven and offensive lines. They have 12 starters from their ‘04 through ‘07 draft and un-drafted free agent groupings. Two of them, RG Shawn Andrews and DE Trent Cole, are blue chippers. They have several other good players, notably OLB Omar Gaither, but their drafts have dropped down in quality from their ‘98 through ‘03 drafts, which producted 14 starters and eight Pro Bowlers.
The Cowboys have used a mixture of draftees and free agents. They don’t have as many draftees starting, but they’ve obtained quality, in Demarcus Ware, Jay Ratliff, Chris Canty, Marion Barber, and Marcus Spears. They also incorporated unsung players like Tony Romo, Bradie James, Patrick Crayton, and Marc Colombo, who were on the bottom of their ‘04 roster. They’ve hit spectacularly in free agency in the Jerry Jones 2.0 era, signing Pro Bowlers Terrell Owens, Leonard Davis, Ken Hamlin, Zach Thomas and starters Anthony Henry and Kyle Kosier.
Consequently, the Cowboys have closed the talent gap. They’ve also pulled past the Eagles in performance:
Eagles, 2001-2004
| Year |
Record |
vs. NFCE | vs. Dallas |
| 2001 | 11-5 | 6-2* | 2-0 |
| 2002 | 12-4 | 5-1 | 2-0 |
| 2003 | 12-4 | 5-1 | 1-1 |
| 2004 |
13-3 | 6-0 | 2-0 |
| totals |
48-16 | 22-4 | 7-1 |
*last year the NFC East had 5 teams
Cowboys 2001-2004
| Year |
Record |
vs. NFCE | vs. Phil. |
| 2001 | 5-11 | 4-4 | 0-2 |
| 2002 | 5-11 | 1-5 | 0-2 |
| 2003 | 10-6 | 4-2 | 1-1 |
| 2004 |
6-10 | 2-4 | 0-2 |
| totals |
26-38 | 11-15 | 1-7 |
Eagles 2005-2007
| Year |
Record |
vs. NFCE | vs. Dallas |
| 2005 | 6-10 | 0-6 | 0-2 |
| 2006 | 10-6 | 6-0 | 2-0 |
| 2007 | 8-8 | 2-4 | 1-1 |
| totals |
24-24 | 8-10 | 3-3 |
Dallas 2005-2007
| Year |
Record |
vs. NFCE | vs. Phil. |
| 2005 | 9-7 | 3-3 | 2-0 |
| 2006 | 9-7 | 2-4 | 0-2 |
| 2007 | 13-3 | 4-2 | 1-1 |
| totals |
31-17 | 9-9 | 3-3 |
The Cowboys are 14 games above .500 the last three years, while the Eagles have been a flat .500. Their core of McNabb, Westbrook, Thomas, Runyan, Dawkins, Smith, Sheppard and Brown are showing age. McNabb has averaged 11 starts the last three years and is 17-16 as a starter in that span.
You may see stats comparing the Cowboys to the Eagles in the Andy Reid era, but the only numbers that matter are from 2005 to the present. As the ‘04 rosters show, the Cowboys team that took the field against Cleveland last week was nothing more than a fond wish back then. If you want to compare the current Cowboys to the current Eagles, its clear that Dallas can more than hold its own. It’s deeper and younger.
This is why I’m looking for the Cowboys to win the game Monday night. One game knee-jerk analyses suggest these are two top-tier, evenly-matched squads. Longer term stats suggest otherwise.
Let the Cowboys-Eagles Woofing Begin
September 9, 2008
At Oxnard, Patrick Crayton gave the diplomatic response when asked to comment on Donovan McNabb’s “we’re the team to beat” remark. But it wasn’t easy:
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Everybody Hurts
August 24, 2008
Update: Osi Umenyiora has a torn MCL and will miss the entire 2008 season.
Update 2: They’re breathing easier in Washington, where Jason Taylor’s knee sprain will only keep him out two weeks.
Update 3: Dawkins has a “mild sprain” of his ankle and expects to be ready for the Eagles season opener.
Cowboys fans are no doubt concerned about the offensive line’s cohesion after Kyle Kosier sprained his foot. The injury will likely wipe out the first month of his season.
Kosier has plenty of company in the trainer’s room. Every team in the division suffered at least one significant injury last night.
– In New York, they’re sweating Osi Umenyiora’s MRI. He was taken from the field on a cart after injuring his knee. Umenyiora was in extreme pain and told trainers his knee “locked up.” Coach Tom Coughlin said trainers do not believe the DE suffered ligament damage but nobody will know the full extent of Umenyiora’s injury until later today.
If Umenyiora has to miss significant time the team’s defensive strength, their pass rush line, will take a body blow. Michael Strahan is resting in California after retiring. Right now New York may have to open the season without both its starting ends from ‘07. One city paper is already urging Giants GM Jerry Butler to call Strahan and try to coax him back onto the team.
– In Washington, the Redskins are concerned that DE Jason Taylor may have a significant knee injury. He’s also slated for an MRI today after hurting a knee in the 47-3 blowout loss to Carolina. The Redskins acquired Taylor because they had already lost two DEs, one of them ‘07 team sack leader Philip Daniels, for the season.
Washington also lost RT Jon Jansen with a sprained foot. Jansen missed most of ‘07 with an Achilles injury.
– Philadelphia has lost FS Brian Dawkins for an undetermined amount of time because he injured his ankle Saturday night against New England.
The Eagles are already thin at wide receiver, where Kevin Curtis will miss several weeks with a hernia and Reggie Brown is nursing a sore hamstring.
Philly also has questions on the offensive line. C Jamaal Jackson suffered a concussion last night and RG Shawn Andrews is just back after seeking treatment for despression.
The NFL season is a war of attrition. I don’t think so many teams expected to be so worn before it gets started. Add Tom Brady’s and Peyton Manning’s injuries to the equation and injuries rival Gene Upshaw’s death as the top league story heading to opening day.
Adam Jones, CB Rankings and Ken Hamlin’s Best Position: K.C. Joyner Returns, Part I
June 29, 2008
The football scientist K.C. Joyner gave BSR an interview Friday, taking time from finishing Scientific Football 2008 to discuss Adam Jones, the Cowboys incumbent corners, whether Ken Hamlin should be moved to strong safety and other topics. Today, we focus on the defense.
BSR: Adam Jones has finally landed in the Cowboys’ secondary. There’s a lot of discussion on the site about his ability to recover from a year off. I don’t think it’s an issue. He was suspended for being a knucklead. He didn’t miss time for a major injury or behavior that damaged his body, like drug or alcohol abuse. Paul Hornung and Alex Karras missed a full year in ‘63 for gambling. Both played well after they returned and they were both 28 the year they sat. Jones was 24. I think his performance curve can actually improve.
Joyner: I agree. Physiologists and baseball analysts like Bill James say that your physical peak comes around age 27 or 28. Don’t forget that John Riggins also sat out a year and helped win a Super Bowl after he returned.
BSR: I saw a comment from an AFC pro personnel guy who said Jones has talent but was inconsistent while at Tennessee. How much can we expect him to add to the secondary this year?
Joyner: Remember, he’s replacing Jacques Reeves. Reeves had a 7.9 yards per attempt in ‘07. Now, a 7.0 YPA is about league average. Adam Jones had a 5.4 YPA in 2006 (which ranked 8th overall). Jones doesn’t have to equal that to be an improvement. Even if he’s a notch below his ‘06 play he’ll raise the secondary’s play.
As for being inconsistent, you don’t post a 5.4 YPA giving up a lot of big plays. He may have given up a decent throw here and there, but you can’t give up many and post a number like that.
BSR: How did the Cowboys’ regular corners rate?
Joyner: Anthony Henry had a 6.6 YPA. That’s in the top third. Terence Newman had a 6.2 YPA. That’s in the top 20. The Cowboys had a top ten secondary with Reeves starting 13 games. They should be as good or better with Jones.
[Note: Joyner didn't have his rankings handy, but he's on the mark. A 6.2 YPA ranked 15th in both the '05 and '06 CB ratings. A 6.6 YPA ranked 21st and 20th in those years. ]
BSR: There’s been a lot of speculation that the Cowboys will move to Anthony Henry to free safety and Ken Hamlin to strong safety, putting Roy Williams on the bench. Henry hinted at this when Jones got some reps at starting right corner in last week’s mini-camp. But Hamlin was very good at free safety last year. Would Dallas be messing with success to move him?
Joyner: Before Ken Hamlin the Cowboys were awful at free safety. [Note: Keith Davis and Pat Watkins had the worst pass coverage numbers for starting FSs in '05 and '06.]
I think Dallas might be creating one problem by trying to solve another one. I don’t have his stats but Hamlin was very, very good last year. If the Cowboys want to replace Roy Williams at strong safety, they should get another strong safety. Look, I don’t have any problems saying this on the record. I think Roy Williams is just one of those guys, like Randy Moss, who’s going to play his game, the game that he wants to play, no matter what.
BSR: Let’s look at the Dallas secondary in comparison to another top divisional unit. I’ve written a couple of pieces on the NFC and I have the Eagles as my bubble team; I’m putting them outside the playoffs but can see them in if they keep Lito Sheppard. How good can Philly’s secondary be if they keep him?
Joyner: Lito dropped off. He takes chances and has high YPAs but the Eagles put up with it because he made plays and got picks. He’s stopped doing that.
BSR: What did Asante Samuel post last year?
Joyner: He was 7.2. Good, but not great.
I think the Eagles suffered letting nickel back Rod Hood go. He posted a 6.6 YPA for Arizona, which is very respectable. They replaced him with William James, who had a YPA over 11.0 last year, which is one of the worst marks in the league.
– Come back Monday for Part II, where K.C. will discuss Tony Romo’s ‘07, the difficult matchups he faces in ‘08, Patrick Crayton’s value as a number two and whether rumored WR target Joe Horn has anything left.
Wade Phillips Year Two
June 24, 2008
Last month I wrote a piece on the “Wade Phillips Effect” showing how Phillips had improved his new teams in his first year running their defenses. With Phillips entering year two at Dallas there were lots of calls for a follow up assessing his second year at each stop. Here it is.
Stop One — Philadelphia, ‘86 through ‘88
Jeff Fisher and Gregg Williams come to mind when you think Buddy Ryan disciples, but Phillips was Ryan’s first DC when Buddy took over the Eagles.
| Team | Record | Pts. Allowed | Rank | Rush Rank | Pass Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‘85 Eagles | 7-9 | 310 | 10th | 5th | 21st |
| ‘86 Eagles | 5-10-1 | 312 | 12th | 15th | 19th |
| ‘87 Eagles | 7-8 | 380 | 25th | 9th | 28th |
It’s hard to get a full reading on the ‘87 team, since ‘87 was the strike year and the Eagles made no attempt to field a competitive strike team, going 0-3 in those games. This defense had a poor secondary and a very good run defense, with rookie DT Jerome Brown stepping in to join ends Reggie White and Clyde Simmons. The Eagles ranked 9th in rush defense that year but probably would have finished in the top five in a regular season — they allowed 90.3 yards with the regulars but the replacements gave up over 156 per game.
Stop Two — Denver, 1989 through 1994
Phillips gets control of a 3-4, taking over for long time 34 guru Joe Collier under Dan Reeves.
| Team | Record | Pts. Allowed | Rank | Rush Rank | Pass Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‘88 Broncos | 8-8 | 352 | 20th | 27th | 7th |
| ‘89 Broncos | 11-5 | 226 | 1st | 7th | 3rd |
| ‘90 Broncos | 5-11 | 374 | 23th | 17th | 21th |
Phillips performed a miracle in ‘89, taking a unit that ranked ‘20th overall in ‘88 and pushing it to #1 in points allowed. Karl Mecklenberg was back that year after missing 7 games in ‘88 but the revelation was rookie Steve Atwater, who anchored the secondary.
The team never recovered from giving up 55 points to San Francisco in the Super Bowl and collapsed in ‘90, dropping across the board, though the defense returned almost intact. Was this a hangover, or just a temperamental bunch? The Broncos were an up-and-down group, finishing 3rd, 19th, 10th and 23rd in points allowed the last four years of Phillips’ stay in Denver.
Stop Three — Buffalo, 1995 through 2000
| Team | Record | Pts. Allowed | Rank | Rush Rank | Pass Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‘94 Bills | 7-9 | 356 | 22nd | 8th | 21st |
| ‘95 Bills | 10-6 | 335 | 12th | 11th | 20th |
| ‘96 Bills |
10-6 | 266 | 6th | 14th | 8th |
The ‘06 Bills were old and past their Super Bowl days, but Phillips’ defense carried Marv Levy’s squad to their last playoff tourney, posting defensive number as good as the Super Bowl teams of ‘91 and ‘93.
Stop Four — Atlanta, 2002-2003
| Team | Record | Pts. Allowed | Rank | Rush Rank | Pass Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‘01 Falcons | 7-9 | 377 | 24st | 21st | 13th |
| ‘02 Falcons | 9-6-1 | 314 | 8th | 23rd | 16th |
| ‘03 Falcons |
5-11 | 422 | 30th | 29th | 32nd |
Phillips squeezed the last juice out of an aging Falcons’ D in ‘02 but in ‘03, the greybeards collapsed together. This was almost to a man the same defense that took the field in the Super Bowl five years earlier against the Broncos. Only two starters, Patrick Kerney and Keith Brookings, were under 30 and they were 27 and 28 respectively.
Stop Five, San Diego 2004 - 2006
Phillips joins Marty Schottenheimer and contributes to an 8 win turnaround. Players like Drew Brees say he made the biggest difference in the transformation.
| Team | Record | Pts. Allowed | Rank | Rush Rank | Pass Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‘03 Chargers | 4-12 | 441 | 31st | 26th | 23rd |
| ‘04 Chargers | 12-4 | 313 | 11th | 1st | 32nd |
| ‘05 Chargers |
9-7 | 312 | 13th | 1st | 28th |
Phillips used NT Jamal Williams as the anchor in his league-best run defense in ‘04, contributing to a 128 drop in points allowed. In ‘05, he treaded water, keeping his top rush ranking and improving just slightly in pass defense.
The Chargers’ secondary was pedestrian and the Chargers attacked the problem by drafting more rushers — Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips were on the ‘05 roster but only got 10 and 3 starts respectively. The next year they opened at the OLB spots and combined for 28.5 sacks after notching 17 together in ‘05. Their big sack totals helped the pass defense jump from 28th in ‘04 to 13th in ‘06.
Stop Six, Dallas 2007 to present
| Team | Record | Pts. Allowed | Rank | Rush Rank | Pass Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‘06 Cowboys | 9-7 | 350 | 20th | 10th | 24th |
| ‘07 Cowboys | 13-3 | 325 | 13th | 6th | 13th |
| ‘08 Cowboys |
? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
The results are a mixed bag. Where Phillips has veterans with some tread left, as in Buffalo, he got performance. On the other hand, he had decent defenses fall apart on him in Denver and in Atlanta, though the Falcons unit didn’t boast the talent that his Bill, Chargers and Broncos Ds did.
His Eagles defense was very young and incomplete. Blue-chip CB Eric Allen and S Izell Reese were still in college Phillips’ last year there. His Chargers units were maturing up front but the secondary had yet to jell, something that did not occur until last year, when Antonio Cromartie blossomed.
Phillips has as much overall talent as he did anywhere else. He’s got top pass rushers, as he did in Philly, Denver and San Diego.
What he lacked at all other stops and what he has in Dallas, is depth in his secondary. If you’re looking for a parallel with past Phillips defenses, based on talent and age, I’d point to his San Diego squads. That’s reason for optimism, in my opinion.
– Another plug for the camp drive. We’re closing in out our target and are even closer to our two-week floor of $2K. Help us bring you our best camp coverage yet.
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