• Home
• Privacy Policy
• BSR Gametime Chat
• “The Sports Doctors”
• About

Subscribe

• Blogging The Boys
• Games
  • Previews
  • Threads
  • Wrapup
• General
  • Fantasy
  • The Leon Awards
  • Trends
  • Trolling the Universe
• News
  • Draft
  • History
  • Interviews
  • Merger
  • Podcast
  • Training Camp
• NFL
  • Players
  • Teams

Same As It Ever Was

• 2006, at this point — 4-3;
• 2008, at this point — 4-3;

• 2006, penalty yards rank:  5th;
• 2008, penalty yards rank:  2nd;

• 2006, net punting - 38.0;
• 2008, net punting - 38.7;

• 2006 KO ret. avg./rank — 23.3/8th
• 2008 KO ret. avg./rank — 23.9/11th;

• 2006 punt ret. avg./rank - 8.4/19th;
• 2008 punt ret. avg./rank - 6.7/27th;

• 2006 opponent avg. start after kickoff — 28 yard line;
• 2008 opponent avg. start after kickoff - 31.5 yard line;

Bill Parcells was known as a disciplinarian.  A hardass.  He told Jerry when he was hired that he would need to win right away because his act would not wear well over time.  Kind of like Jimmy Johnson’s.  The Tuna’s teams didn’t take stupid penalties.

Bruce DeHaven had a reputation as one of the league’s better special teams coaches.  His Buffalo squads, with Hall-of-Famer Steve Tasker leading, were superb.

Then, both of them came to Dallas.  Their last team couldn’t stop committing stupid penalties.  It was mediocre on special teams.  It’s numbers are about the same as this year’s team.

We can cry for Wade Phillips’ head and Brian Stewart’s head and Bruce Read’s head but lets put the fair share of blame on the players.  Hard coach/soft coach.  Well known special teams coach/no-name special teams coach.  The results are almost identical.

And what has changed on the roster?  On defense, there are only two starters who were not here in ‘06 — Ken Hamlin and Zach Thomas.  On offense, Leonard Davis is the only member of the starting eleven who wasn’t a starter or key role player two years ago.

You can bring in a Bill Cowher or a Jimmy Johnson but if you don’t give him the saws and scalpels to perform radical roster surgery you have what you have.

Unless the players hearts — and brains — grow three sizes, Grinch style, it’s the same as it ever was.

It’s Time to Name These ‘Boys Sue

“And he said: ‘Son, this world is rough,
And if a man’s gonna make it, he’s got to be tough,
And I knew I wouldn’t be there to help you along.
So I give you that name and I said goodbye,
I knew you’d have to get tough or die…”

– Johnny Cash, A Boy Named Sue

Rams 34, Cowboys 14.

We’re angry.  We’re indignant.  We’re embarrassed. But we’re Cowboys’ fans.  Let’s not pretend we’ve never seen this before:

• 1970, week 9 — Cardinals 38, Cowboys 0.  A second consecutive loss that drops the ‘Pokes to 5-4;
• 1971, week 7 — Bears 23, Cowboys 19.  A loss to a weak Bears team in the infamous QB rotation game leaves Dallas 4-3.
• 1978, week 10 — Dolphins 23, Cowboys 16.  A second consecutive loss, this one in dreaded Miami, where Tom Landry always lost, drops the Cowboys to 6-4.
• 1981, week 6 — 49ers 45, Cowboys 14.  A second consecutive loss drops Dallas to 4-2 after a 4-0 start.
• 1992, week 5 — Eagles 31, Cowboys 7.  Dallas comes out of its bye week and gets thrashed on a Monday Night in Philly.
• 1995, week 15 — Eagles 20, Cowboys 17.  Dallas loses its second in a row and third in five weeks in the infamous 4th-and-1-x-2 game.  Their record is 10-4 but they’re being written off as yesterday’s champs, done in by Jerry’s meddling and Barry’s ineptitude.

Every one of these teams made it to the conference championship game.  Five of them made it to the Super Bowl.  Three of them won it.

I’m sure most of the Max Mercys in the press corps are writing about a coaching change today.  I’m sure if they were around in ‘70 they would have been calling for Tom’s head too.  Some of them were around in ‘95 and I know they wanted Barry axed immediately.   Don’t be led along.  You might want Wade Phillips and a couple of assistants fired too.  He might deserve to be fired.  But it’s not going to happen now.  When did a mid-season firing ever send a team on a tear?

This year’s team will have to look within itself, as these other Cowboys teams did.  It will have to draw on the devotion and camaraderie voiced by Nate Newton in the Philly locker room after that embarrassing ‘95 loss, when he said, “there’s too much love in this locker room for us to turn on each other.”

We’re going to learn how much these guys love each other, and how much they really trust each other.  Because today, each other is all they got.

So in the spirit of helping, and because I need to laugh to keep from grinding my teeth to the gums, I’m going to do my small part.  I will henceforth refer to the ‘08 team as “the ‘Boys Named Sue.”

They’ll either get tough or die.

Beware the Week One Rush to Judgement

NFL fans can’t wait. They’ve been without football since early February and they’re getting real football back. Their hearts are racing. Their minds are spinning.

And it leads to outrageous over reactions to good play and bad. I’ve said for years that week one of the NFL schedule is the most overanalyzed. People form hard opinions of teams that are hard to shake.

Week one reveals very litte in the long run. It resembles the end of ‘07 more than it will tell us how ‘08 will unfold. There are several factors that make it unlike any other. First, it’s the only regular season game for most teams where the staffs will have more than three to four days to prepare. For the remainder of the season coaches will have to put Sunday’s game behind them and have fresh game plans ready to install that Wednesday and Thursday.

This week, coaches can unwrap game plans that have been weeks in the making. Dallas started practicing for the Browns last week, when the Vikings were still on their schedule.

There’s the conditioning issue. Some teams have been holding back injured starters to keep them for real games. This means you’ll see teams that might not have their timing down or have the stamina to go 60 minutes. If you saw the Giants/Redskins opener you know what I’m writing. The Giants looked like they were going to run Washington off the field, racing to a second-quarter 16-0 lead. But the game stalled in the second half, where neither team scored a point.

There are teams with new staffs that are learning new systems. They’re often not ready to play their best ball on opening day.

Weeks two and three are much better indicators or what a team will be. Don’t misunderstand, I’m not trying to downplay Dallas’ odds. I think they’ll win, in part because too many Cleveland starters missed too much time this summer, a point I’ll address in the final preview today. That said, there’s a chance parts of the Cowboys game will be ragged.

Think back to last year. The Cowboys won their opener against a division rival and yet a lot of fans were white hot at Wade Phillips because his team gave up 35 points. He was a fraud, they said, a defensive coach with no defense. The secondary was doomed because Terence Newman was hurt.

Was this game a true indicator of the defense’s and the team’s future? No. The Cowboys allowed 20, 10 and 7 points in the next three games and finished the month 4-0.

Root hard, my friends, but don’t root yourself sick. There will be a week two and a week three, and thirteen more game weeks after that.

Fun With SF ‘08 II, or why T.O. is Happy With Jason Garrett as O.C.

At Oxnard, I asked Jason Garrett to describe the Cowboys’ offensive philosophy. “People get caught up in names,” I said. “They say this team runs a West Coast offense and that team runs a run-and-shoot. What offensive schools are in your playbook?”

He didn’t give it much thought. “People everywhere in the league run the same things,” he said. “It comes down to putting your people in the right situations…”

Terrell Owens, I think, would heartily agree. When Wade Phillips took over the team he remarked that the ‘06 Cowboys had used Owens almost exclusively at the X position (split end) and that his Cowboys would motion Owens a lot more and try to create more of those favorable matchups that Garrett mentioned.

Mission accomplished. K.C. Joyner’s metrics in his brand new Scientific Football 2008 demonstrate how effective Garrett was at the matchup game with Owens last year and why he’s considered such a hotshot assistant.

Owens, as I mentioned yesterday, had a top-tier overall YPA for 2007. Among receivers who were thrown the ball over 100 times, Owens ranked 2nd behind Reggie Wayne in this metric. And he wasn’t padding his numbers beating up on weaklings, at least not all the time. Owens ranked 4th in YPA when facing top-tier “red” cornerbacks.

A look at the types of matchups Owens faced shows Garrett’s skill. Joyner breaks WR attempts into five categories — attempts versus red, yellow and green corners; attempts versus unranked CBs (those who did not have enough plays to make his final CB rankings) and attempts versus non-CBs.

Owens had 139 attempts last year, meaning Dallas threw him over nine passes per game in his 15 games. Here they are broken down by class:

Terrell Owens	Attempts	% of Att.	YPA
vs. red CBs	18	13	9.4
vs. yellow CBs	47	34	7.3
vs. green CBs	18	13	10.4
vs. non-rated CBs	12	8	4.8
vs. non CBs	44	32	13.3
total	139	100	9.7

Note the solid numbers across the board, with the notable exception of those 12 attempts against Nate Jones-caliber CBs. It’s almost as if T.O. was bored playing against those guys.

The more important stat is the remarkably high percentage of attempts against non-cornerbacks. Teams knew every week that Owens was Dallas’ prime receiving weapon. And with Jason Witten motioning so much into the backfield (he ranked near the bottom among TEs last year in plays where he was “flexed” or used as a WR) you would think secondaries could key on Owens even more.

Yet Garrett was able to get Owens 74 attempts, 53% of his total, against green-level CBs, non-rated CBs or non CBs. And Owens tore up safeties and linebackers. His 13.3 YPA against them ranked only behind Randy Moss’ and Joey Galloway among full-time starters.

When you look at the tiered YPAs the OCs who can best exploit matchups jump out. I mentioned yesterday that Joey Galloway had a poor YPA against red CBs, yet he ranked 3rd overall in raw YPAs. That’s because Jon Gruden got him 54% of his attempts against green-CBs, non-rated CBs and non-CBs.

Want to know why the Patriots set so many offensive records last year? Look at John McDaniel’s success in creating favorable matchups for his guys. Wes Welker had 138 attempts last year and 90 of them, a solid 65% were against non-cornerbacks

Think about that. Teams knew Welker was the Patriots’ second option after Randy Moss and yet they could only get a cornerback of any quality on him one third of the time.

The best OCs can get their best weapons into favorable matchups regularly. Garrett’s success in creating such matchups for T.O. last year is one big reason why Owens was so eager to re-sign with the team. And it’s one more reason why I believe the offense will continue to be successful without a big-name #2 receiver.

I want to thank K.C. Joyner again for allowing me free rein with his stats. Scientific Football 2008 and his new book “Blindsided” can be ordered at: http://thefootballscientist.com

Jones Move to Left Corner Likely a Peek at Regular Season Nickel

Dallas coaches and brass have been very careful not to sound presumptuous about Adam Jones’ status, claiming in every interview I’ve seen this summer that they’re not locking him into their lineup. They’ve been very coy about naming any starters thus far.

However, Wade Phillips’ claim that Jones will start at left corner against the Texans suggests Dallas is tipping its hand on its preferred nickel package for the upcoming season.

Consider:

1. Dallas will likely start the season with Terence Newman at his familiar left corner spot and Anthony Henry at his regular spot on the right.
2. Newman has been sliding inside to play the slot receiver the past few years any time Dallas goes to the nickel package.
3. Jones played left corner at Tennessee.
4. Given the choice, Dallas will use Jones in his old spot rather than going with the rookie Mike Jenkins, who started in Newman’s place against Denver.

It’s time. Phillips said his team had its best practice of the summer Tuesday, in part because the team had a precise game plan. The Cowboys have begun to prepare the team for the rhythm and pace of the season. Hence, the move to Jones.

Watch what they do, not what they say. They’re not going to make any statements to offend Roger Goodell, but they’re not going to enter Cleveland week unprepared either.

Dallas Is Not On the Schedule: Cowboys Camp Afternoon Report, August 1st

The ghost of Bum Phillips descended on Oxnard today, and Bum is still very much alive.

When he coached the Oilers in the ‘70s, Phillips the elder was often questioned by the Houston media for holding training camps which were very light on hitting.

“Houston is not on our schedule,” was always Bum’s reply.

Wade Phillips seems to be applying his daddy’s philosophy. Just one day after telling the media that the next few practices would be some of the most important of the summer, the Cowboys emerged in shorts for both morning and afternoon workouts.

That does not mean the mental intensity of the workouts diminished but it’s probably not what most fans and press members had in mind.

The afternoon session resembled a mini-camp, with the emphasis on technique and on learning assignments in each package. The session continued themes the team began to explore earlier in the week – red zone play; kickoff coverage and returns and the hurry-up offense were again practiced, in stripped down 1-on-1 WR-on-CB drills and in 11-on-11 sessions later. Here are some notes from the various sub-sessions.

1-on-1s:

• T.O. beats everybody – still. Repeat after me – T.O. beats everybody. He’s still unstoppable, but Adam Jones is slowly eating away at T.O.’s margin for error. Jones jockeyed for every matchup he could obtain with Owens, but Owens keeps on winning. Owens ran a stop-and-go route on the first matchup and got a step behind Jones. The corner once known as Pacman rushed to recover but could never make up the step. Owens caught a perfect Tony Romo pass in stride and made the score.In their last matchup, Jones blanked Owens but the receiver caught the pass on an out and up, route. Jones had a chance to bat the ball down but it got past his outstretched hand. Owens laughed at Jones, patted him on the shoulder and said, “I like that work, baby. I like that work.”
• Adam Jones beats everybody not named T.O. He blanked Sam Hurd on a couple of passes.
• Mike Jenkins looked like a rookie today. He didn’t give up any deep passes, but gave up deep ins, out routes and was kept off-balance all drill by various receives. These are the rookie growing pains.
• Sam Hurd had a tough drill. The corners seemed to dial him in. Jones gave him fits and Anthony Henry cut underneath him to make a pick.
• Anthony Henry can cover anything from the numbers out but any deep in route gets him.
• Evan Oglesby was flagged by a referee covering the drill. The officials are available to the corners to discuss the rules interpretations and the corners asked a lot of questions, learning what was permissible and what won’t be this year.
• Mike Jefferson earned Ray Sherman’s ire after Oglesby outfought him for a deep pass. “Stack him, Mike! Stack him!” Sherman yelled this three times at his rookie and gave him a withering stare.
• Isaiah Stanback shows the best deep speed besides T.O. He got behind Orlando Scandrick for one catch but bobbled another pass after beating his man.

11—on—11 notes:–

• Patrick Crayton ran a reverse at the beginning of the next to last drill and Jay Ratliff, playing at LE, was waiting for him.
• Marcus Spears blew up a Marion Barber draw one play later, getting into the backfield.
• Dallas ran several effective tight end screens the last couple of days. Today, Andre Gurode got to the perimeter to lead a Jason Witten screen.
• Bobby Carpenter was again around the ball on passes into his area. He’s making all the calls for the second unit.
• T.O. ended this phase of practice by catching a post on Mike Jenkins for a TD. Any questions?

Other Notes:

– Sports Celebrity watch: Michael Strahan was on the sidelines today, as was CNNSI’s Peter King.

– Dallas ended its practice with several two minute drills. Evan Oglesby had his defensive mates cheering when he picked off Tony Romo on the second play of the 1^st offense’s first series.

– Danny Amendola is making strides as a receiver, but he needs to add some special teams skills to his resume in order to win one of the last spots on the team.  He was working as a gunner on punt coverage teams today.

Deep Depth Thursday: Cowboys Camp, July 31st

The Cowboys built on some of yesterday’s camp themes, working more on their offensive and defensive packages when the ball is inside the opponents’ 30, 20 and 10 yard lines.

Dallas also continued to work on the change on the defensive line, where Marcus Spears took all the snaps at nose tackle and Jay Ratliff took all his reps with the defensive ends.

I asked DL coach Todd Grantham if these were permanent moves, since Spears spent every session and scrimmage rep at the nose and Ratliff spent every session and scrimmage rep at end. He told me no, that these moves had been discussed for quite some time and that the time was right in camp to roll out the changes. These are supplementary changes: Ratliff will continue to work inside at nose tackle but also get reps outside. The same is true for Spears who will get nose work in addition to his normal spots at end.

The moves were prompted by each man’s relative strengths. Ratliff is Dallas’ fastest D-lineman and the move gives him more space in which to work.

Spears has more strength and “his stoutness comes into play.” Indeed, when you look at them they seem miscast in their current starting roles. Spears is shorter and has a thicker midsection. Ratliff is what scouts call “high cut” with longer legs and a shorter torso.

Wade Phillips said in his presser today that both lineman asked to get more reps at their new positions and this is why they they got so much time at their new spots today.

Grantham said he was eager to see how rookie Marcus Dixon plays in next week’s game. Dixon had his best day, according to his coach and may be getting the hang of the pro game. “He’s starting to learn how to play with his hands. The hardest part of adjusting to the pro game is learning to play with your hands.

Watch Dixon, number 95, when the Cowboys play the Chargers next Saturday. His coaches will be eyeing him closely. If the light goes one for him he may push the coaches to consider keeping seven linemen. I asked Grantham if the team would keep six or seven and he told me it’s too early to tell. Right now, Dixon has to be considered one of the bubble boys, with Spears, Ratliff, Chris Canty, Jason Hatcher, Tank Johnson and Stephen Bowen holding the six golden tickets at the moment.

Better to Get This Mistakes Out Now

The Cowboys brought in referees to oversee their scrimmages and the yellow flags were abundant. The Cowboys corners have been playing very tight coverage the first week of camp and today they were flagged several times for playing too closely. Wade Phillips said the referees would be available to the players to clarify rules and rules changes.

Notes:

Alonzo Coleman put a nifty ole move on a closing Anthony Henry in the last scrimmage. He and Keon Lattimore are pushing to be the kept as a 5^th running back, though I’d put Coleman in the lead.  He seems to make a play every day, though both guys face long odds.

‘
Anthony Spencer made the best of his time in Demarcus Ware’s role. He got consistent pressure looping inside on a blitz and later crashing from the edge. The offense later tried running a bootleg at him. Spencer ignored the fake and blew up the play. He’s looked strong against the run and shows more pressure as a rusher.

Ware was held out as a precaution for after having his bell rung in yesterday’s morning practice.

The team held a one-on-one drill with linebackers and backs and Phillips said his younger backs did a solid job against the blitzers.

Newman: A “Significant” Groin Injury

Wade Phillips opened his presser today with the news that an MRI on Terence Newman revealed a “significant” groin injury that will keep him out a minimum of three weeks.

Dr. Luis Rios, the medical doctor half of the sports doctors, said, “if this is a normal individual, I’d tell them they were out at least six weeks. But pro athletes are not normal people and with the trainers they can access, I’d say maybe four to six weeks.  I doubt he’ll play in the pre-season, but why does he need to?”

Tuesday Teaser — Cowboys Camp, July 29th

One tasty morsel from yesterday’s notes that somehow missed the post:

In the last 11-on-11 drill the Cowboys offense ran a play from a one back set that had Felix Jones behind quarterback. Jones ran a circle route out of the backfield and crossed in front of linebacker Zach Thomas. Thomas tracked Jones and closed in when the QB checked down with his pass.

I should say that Thomas tried to close, because he never had a chance to make the tackle. Felix (there are always too many Jones on this team, so I’m going to call Felix and Adam by their first names) caught the pass and blew away from the veteran.

Folks, we’ve all mused about the exotic ways that Dallas can use Felix Jones. We’re all wondering if he’ll line up at receiver and if he’ll line up with Marion Barber in a two running back set.

What I saw was one of the most basic plays in the Cowboys playbook. The route is one backs were running a generation ago.

The Cowboys don’t have to do anything crazy with Felix Jones. They just need to get him the ball in space. He’ll do the rest. Wade Phillips compared Felix to Thurman Thomas, whom Wade coached in Buffalo. When I watched Felix make Zach Thomas look like he was wearing cement cleats, I thought of another back who wore Jones’ number 28 — Marshall Faulk. Now, don’t misunderstand me. I know that comparison is not fair. Faulk was a superstar. Jones hasn’t even played his first pro game. However, Felix Jones shows the same receiving skills that made Faulk so dangerous in his prime.

Look forward to that when Dallas visits San Diego a week from Saturday.

Cool, but Hot — Cowboys Camp Report, July 28th

The famed Oxnard weather finally appeared Monday morning with overcast skies, cool ocean breezes and temperatures in the 70s. The atmosphere was perfect for practicing football and the Cowboys took advantage, drilling fundamentals, special teams and working a lot more 9-on-9 running drills and 11-on-11 open drills.

Fundamentals are a constant at every Wade Phillips practice. Today, for instance, the quarterbacks, tight ends, fullbacks and running backs spent a lot of time working on proper spacing on running plays. The staff rolled out long blue and yellow strips, marking off the camps on the line of scrimmage and the backfield units worked on running their plays through their designed gaps.

Across field, Hudson Houck worked his guys on running the same running plays against different defensive fronts, so his blockers knew precisely who they should block, regardless of the scheme they face.

In individual drills the tackles continued to practice beating spin moves. Erik Williams showed his group how to slide laterally and not lunge, which would give his opposing lineman a free shot into the backfield.

The teams then worked up to a 9-on-9 running drills. There were good plays by both offense and defense but the offense got the better of most plays. Their run blocking looks better than this point last year.

The team then alternated kickoff coverage and return drills between two 11-on-11 anything goes sessons. Observations from those sessions are below.

Notes:

Terence Newman missed the practice with a leg injury. Dave Campo told me after practice that he’s not sure whether Newman injured an ankle or a groin. Nor was he sure of the severity, leaving all questions for the training staff. I’m sure we’ll all learn more at Wade Phillips’ afternoon presser.

Mike Jenkins got the majority of the reps with the first team and Campo said his play made a quantum leap from yesterday’s session, which was Jenkins’ first. When asked why Adam Jones didn’t get the reps, Campo said simply that Jones has yet to be re-instated and he does not want to give him first team play until he’s sure the former Pacman can play.

Erik Walden is running with the second unit at weakside outside linebacker, behind Demarcus Ware. He showed a burst in yesterday’s session but was stonewalled by Flozell Adams and Doug Free in the 11-on-11s today. That’s typical. New players will have a good practice and follow it up with a so-so performance.

Jenkins’s time with the first unit gave Alan Ball a lot of reps at corner on the second unit, opposite Adam Jones.

Brad Johnson continues to look for Mike Jefferson.

Johnson also threw a lot of deep balls in the 11-on-11s. Don’t get carried away thinking he’s found the fountain of youth. One was broken up and another was picked.

Zack Knows – The defense faced a shotgun formation while in its base. Zach Thomas yelled “watch for the draw” and then stepped up to stop Marion Barber when the offense in fact ran the draw. It’s hard to fool the old vet.

The defense sees Terrell Owens everywhere. On one play Owens and Sam Hurd lined up in a slot formation, with T.O. inside. When he released upfield both corners on that side hesitated, wondering whether he should take the receiver. A safety rotated over the top. While all three DBs were tracking Owens, Felix Jones ran untouched around end to their side of the field. Owens laughed at the trio when he loped back to the huddle.

Tank Johnson continues to show an inside burst. We know Jay Ratliff can be what Bradie James terms a “hybrid” nose tackle, in that he can rush as well as stopping the run. If Johnson can make a contribution, and it appears he can, the Cowboys rush gets that much stronger.

Dallas continues to sprinkle zone blitzes into liberal doses of man-to-man coverage.

The defense blitzed their Mike inside backers a lot today and Bradie James and Bobby Carpenter broke through cleanly numerous times. The result was several Tony Romo incompletions.

T.O. has been Mr. Sizzle for the passing game thus far. Jason Witten is Mr. Reliable. Romo could hit him on deep ins and outs whenever he needed a play. He’s another veteran who could start the season this Sunday.

Bobby Carpenter got a lot of love from his position coaches today. He had his assignments down and was cursing when he mistimed a leap and therefore missed a sure interception.

Dallas practiced a play where the tight end , linemen and fullback all block to the strong side while the tailback takes a pitchout naked around the weakside end. The play broke for a huge gain when it was run in the 11-on-11s.

The Cowboys are not scaling back their running play list. They have more traps and toss plays than ever.

Evan Oglesby had two breakups at right corner.

It’s Alumni Week. First, Dave Campo and Hudson Houck return. Then, Duane Thomas and Calvin Hill stop by. Erik Williams pops in on a coaching fellowship and today Michael Irvin and Nate Newton are about, Irvin hosting for ESPN Radio in Dallas.

Note: I will not be covering this afternoon’s session, which will focus on special teams. The next report will come mid-day tomorrow.

Building Blocks — Camp Report, Morning, July 26th

The morning was surprising hot and so was the pace of the Cowboys first practice in full pads. The structure of the practice showed the emphasis on building units upon sound fundamentals.

Perhaps the best way to understand the work underway is to compare it to the structure and pace of Bill Parcells’ Oxnard camps, since this is the first session here for Wade Phillips.

The first and most noticeable difference is in tone. Camp Bill was fast paced and intense. It also had the shadow of paranoia about it. A high school coach who was spotted charting plays one year was brought before The Tuna by security and interrogated. The electronic press had their video access limited in year one.

And the practices were hard to view for the fans. There are two fields at Oxnard, one near the fans stands and another set behind it. Parcells always kept his offensive players on the far field and at the left end, where they were hardest to view.

Camp Wade, by comparison is an open city. The offense works out right in front of the fan stands, giving them what they want – the maximum chances to ooh and aah over a Tony Romo pass and a T.O. or Jason Witten catch.

Security is still tight – two bragged to me this morning of spotting and evicting a “reporter” with a counterfeit press pass, but everything sits in plain sight. HBO has brought “Hard Knocks” here, after all, and their cameras are everywhere, on the sidelines and in the bleachers. Players linger much longer after practice, working in small groups and signing autographs. At Camp Wade, openness and progress are not seen as enemies.

With that atmosphere surrounding them, the players jumped immediately into work. On defense, the initial drills emphasized chaos – for opposing offenses. Each position coach took a unit and stressed stripping the football, handing the football properly after an interception or fumble recovery and knocking down passes. After two minutes, the groups rotated to the next station, where they learned another way of disrupting an offense.

At this point, the offensive and defensive units returned to their respective coaches and worked from individual drills to unit drills. For instance, the quarterbacks and receivers worked together on routes and route combinations, with nobody opposing them. Then, the tight ends and running backs were summoned from the far end of the field, where those units were working with the offensive linemen on run blocking.

The QBs, RBs, TEs and WRs, then worked on integrated patterns. Later, they joined with their linemen and squared off against the defense.

The initial pairing saw the offensive and defense square off on running plays. The group then broke up and special teams coach Bruce Read took over, working today on punt coverage. He, like his coaching peers, broke the act down into discrete units: gunners worked in units on their releases, while the core group worked on blocking inside charges. The units later merged and worked on covering together.

Later, the team returned to 11 on 11 drills, with new units being run in on every play. The result was hard to track. The first offensive line, for example, would stay in for several plays while a new QB, RB, TE and WR set would enter on each play. The constant churn made it hard to get a feel for who looks good and who looks bad, since players didn’t have extended runs today. Nonetheless, here are some observations of scattered plays:

Sam Hurd’s route running looks very crisp. He got consistent separation on all CBs I saw in 1-on-1 drills and turned Terence Newman around on a comeback route.

Terrell Owens could start the season now. He torched Newman on a deep fade where T.O. started in the slot. He left Adam Jones in his wake a couple of times. I’ve watched enough camps now to get a feel for whether a player is doing well or the corners are stumbling. It’s only day two, and day one in pads, but don’t worry about T.O. slowing down.

– WR coach Ray Sherman and WRs Sam Hurd and Patrick Crayton all commented on Isaiah Stanback’s deep speed. He got behind Adam Jones with ease on a fly pattern but could not snatch a pass that was short and outside. He lined up exclusively as the flanker this morning.

– Anthony Spencer can’t be blocked by running backs or fullbacks on blitzes, at least not the ones I saw try to block him today.

– The defensive line, or at least the first unit, got the better of the offensive line in the 11-on-11 drills, which is no surprise on day two. The rushers put steady pressure on Tony Romo and Jason Hatcher batted down one of his passes.

Dallas is practicing a lot more press coverage. On one play the offense lined up in a slot formation and Anthony Henry and Terence Newman both took a man, lining up just two to three yards off the ball. Newman told me he has asked DC Brian Stewart to let the defense play more press. “I know they want to zone blitz, that’s what [Stuart and Phillips] did in San Diego, but with the players we have here, I think you have to let them play to their abilities.” Based on this morning’s work, the defensive coaches may have paid attention.

Other Notes:

– Felix Jones was not at the morning practice, but is expected to play this afternoon.

– Terence Newman and Adam Jones alternated returning punts. I asked Newman if he was going to return more kicks this year and he smiled, shook his head and said, “we’ll see when the first game comes…”

– The special teams punt coverage session was an ensemble production today: While ST coach Read focused on the inside blockers, Dat Nguyen coordinated the rotation of rushers. On the outside, TE coach John Garrett worked with the gunners on their releases.

“Little Things Make a Difference…”

The Cowboys completed what head coach Wade Phillips termed a “pretty basic” day of practice in shirts and shorts today, hours before donning full pads for the first time tomorrow morning.

While the load was limited the execution was crisp. A long walk around the practice field found teaching underway on at every station:

• On the far left field defensive backs coach Dave Campo literally worked his men from the ground up, emphasizing foot placement in a press coverage drill. He stressed that his corners not widen their stances too much when they turned and jammed their receivers; doing so would let their men escape the chuck.
• A few yards behind Campo, safeties coach Brett Maxie schooled his guys on keys for recognizing runs versus pass plays. Maxie paid strict attention to each safeties placement on the field — each was supposed to line up exactly 12 yards off the line of scrimmage in certain packages. Players repeated drills when they made false steps towards the line. “Little things make a difference,” was his mantra.
• At the far right field new defensive line coach Todd Grantham taught his linemen proper hand placement, creating leverage with their and how to “strike, then bench press” when then engaging offensive linemen.
• The outside and inside linebackers worked in different groups, with the inside guys working on proper zone drops and the outside guys learning how to pivot around the edge and slap down an offensive tackle’s punchout.

The drills were interrupted by loud cheers from the near sideline, where any Terrell Owens catch caused the opening day crowd to erupt.

The press abandoned their viewing later during a seven-on-seven drill to hear Jerry Jones discuss his decision to release Terry Glenn. One reporter joked that Tony Romo could injury himself and nobody would notice, given the attention Jerry commands.

First impressions:

– HBO camera crews are everywhere, on the sidelines, in towers and just off Jerry’s arm. You almost expected one member of his personal team to walk a few steps ahead of him throwing rose petals.

– Martellus Bennett is huge. He towered over RT Marc Colombo, no drawf he.

– Bennett’s position coach John Garrett will keep him honest; Garrett was on Tony Curtis for rounding off a route on the backside of a play late in the session.

– Rookie DE Darrell Robertson made an early push to get noticed, running over Colombo on a running play to the right. Colombo didn’t appreciate being rolled in a non-contact drill.

Early depth charts:

– Offensive line – 1^st unit:  no changes from ‘07.  From LT to RT: Adams, Kosier, Gurode, Davis, Colombo;

– 2^nd unit – Doug Free, James Marten, Cory Proctor, Joe Berger, Pat McQuistan

– Felix Jones’ absence gave Tashard Choice lots of early reps.

– Justin Rogers is getting some work at OLB, with Kevin Burnett and Bobby Carpenter backing up Zach Thomas and Bradie James.

Trading Black Hats for White Ones — Or Not?

Duane Thomas once commented that the Dallas Cowboys have never won anything without controversy. Thomas of course generated his fair share of it, but he has a point. Let’s look at some of the Cowboys’ championship seasons and consider the distractions that accompanied each one:

1971 — 1970 Rookie of the Year Thomas is traded during the preseason, has his trade to New England reversed after a bustup with Pats’ coach John Mazur, returns and then plays the season without speaking to his teammates. Meanwhile, Tom Landry employs a quarterback rotation system, which craters in week seven when he alternates Roger Staubach and Craig Morton on each offensive play in an embarrassing loss to a bad Chicago Bears team.

The offense settles down after Staubach is named the starter and the Cowboys run the table.

1993 — The Cowboys have little time to celebrate their third title before Emmitt Smith and Jerry Jones stage a contract showdown. Smith holds out and Dallas stumbes into the season with two losses. The team settles down and swaggers through the playoffs, though it has to overcome several key injuries, namely Mark Stepnoski’s ACL tear, Smith’s separated shoulder and Troy Aikman’s concussion, which wipes out his memory of the Super Bowl.

Simmering beneath the surface is the rift between Jones and Jimmy Johnson, which erupts almost immediately after they accept their second Lombardi trophy. Jimmy clumsily dodges a question in the locker room about his readiness to pursue a third consecutive title and days later mocks Jones on The Tonight Show. The J.J.s part shortly thereafter.

1995 — Dallas pursues it’s third title of the Jones era with the widely-despised Barry Switzer at the helm. Jones picks a fight with the league over sponsorship deals and is served with a lawsuit during a league meeting. The Cowboys are ripped for “buying a title” after they outbid San Francisco for Deion Sanders’ services. The cries for Switzer’s dismissal peak after his two 4th-and-1 gambles fail in Philadelphia. When Dallas beats the Steelers in the Super Bowl the sighs of relief are as loud as the cheers.

It seems the Cowboys require discord to fuel their title runs. Perhaps that’s why the Terry Glenn tiff feels like home; I’d be far more worried if everything were hunky dory.

I think many Cowboys fans feel the same way. One character trait I’ve noticed in the three plus years of running this site is that the Cowboys nation cannot exist without creating villains on their own team.

Look at the Parcells years. Drew Bledsoe was always the instant scapegoat, even when losses were not directly his fault. More recently, Julius Jones served as a whipping boy for the fans.

Even today, with the Cowboys coming off a 13-3 season, there are several black hats riding in the posse. I give you the Cowboys you love to hate, ‘08 edition:

• Roy Williams
• Terry Glenn
• Marcus Spears
• Bobby Carpenter

and give you these potential baddies:

• Wade Phillips
• Tony Romo
• Anthony Henry
• Adam Jones
• Tank Johnson

a former black hat gone straight:

• Flozell Adams

and these wild cards:

• Greg Ellis
• Terrell Owens

Too much controversy? Too many loose cannons? From my perspective, the blend looks great. The Cowboys thrive on crazy and Jerry has done his best the past two years to raise the instability quotient. Outsiders may deride his gambles on T.O. and the former Pacman Jones but team history suggests he’s right where he needs to be.

Wade Phillips Year Two

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.

Jones Creating a Good Kind of Frustration

The team’s web site reports that Adam Jones took some plays at right cornerback and that Anthony Henry was “frustrated” by his reduced reps.

Wade Phillips downplayed any controversy, saying the team was trying out different options and that Henry was going to be kept at corner “as long we [the team] can.”

I can’t see any reason for concern. Henry might not like it, but:

• he’s under contract for two more years;
• he’s been injury prone, so working out a quality backup at RCB simply looks like Dallas conducing due diligence to me;
• somebody has to play right corner when Henry is lining up in the slots on passing downs.

I see no downside to this. Get Henry revved up and get even better play from him. You may have noticed that Anthony Spencer caused Greg Ellis to do some big time pouting but he also inspired Ellis to a career-high in sacks last year.

Competition never hurt anybody.

Next Page »

• Cowboys Tickets on eBay

• ESPN Scoreboard

• Burst Media

Copyright © 2008 Your Dallas Cowboys Blue and Silver Report · Log in