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Gosselin: Cowboys haven't seen a defense this bad since 1960
Rick Gosselin
The last head coach of the Cowboys to face a defensive challenge this daunting was Tom Landry.
In 1960.
Landry was a first-year head coach of a first-year franchise trying to piece together a defense with discards from other teams. The Cowboys did not have a draft that year, so his defenders were plucked off the rosters of other teams in an expansion draft.
Their leading tackler, Jerry Tubbs, and leading sacker, John Gonzaga, both arrived in Dallas by way of San Francisco, and their leading interceptor, Tom Franckhauser, came by way of Los Angeles. The winless Cowboys allowed an average of 364 yards and 31 points per game that season.
On paper, the 2014 Dallas defense is the worst collection of talent by this franchise since 1960.
There were no stars in 1960. There are no stars in 2014.
All this does not bode well for Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. Landry had time to build. Garrett doesn’t. Landry was in the first year of his contract. Garrett is in the final year of his.
The Cowboys fielded the third-worst defense in NFL history last season and have since lost the most productive players off that unit: tackle Jason Hatcher (free agency), end DeMarcus Ware (salary cap casualty), linebacker Sean Lee (injury) and cornerback Orlando Scandrick (suspension).
This marks the first season since 2001 that the Cowboys have not had an incumbent Pro Bowler lining up on defense. And even then the Cowboys fielded proven commodities: Dexter Coakley, Leon Lett and Darren Woodson were all past Pro Bowlers and Greg Ellis a former first-round pick.
There has always been a great player either coming or going on the Dallas D.
It was Hall of Famer Bob Lilly from 1961-74 and fellow Hall of Famer Randy White from 1975-87. Too Tall Jones and Everson Walls carried the Cowboys through 1989. Then Charles Haley and Darren Woodson both arrived in 1992, Deion Sanders in 1995, Roy Williams in 2002 and DeMarcus Ware from 2005 through 2013. This defense has never been short of stars.
The only two years the Dallas defense lacked any marquee names were 1990 and ’91, units Jimmy Johnson was assembling with youth. Ken Norton, Russell Maryland and Tony Tolbert were young players then on their way to Pro Bowl careers. They became mainstays of a unit that led the NFL in defense in 1992.
There is no Russell Maryland on this 2014 defense. There is no Lilly, Too Tall or Haley. Nor is there a Woodson or Cliff Harris. There isn’t even a Hollywood Henderson or Charlie Waters.
There’s only one first-round pick on this unit, cornerback Morris Claiborne, and he’s just keeping a seat warm until Scandrick returns from his suspension in October. Scandrick, by the way, was a fifth-rounder.
The biggest name on this unit is tackle Henry Melton, who has been to a Pro Bowl in his five-year career. But he missed the final 13 games of the 2013 season with the Chicago Bears and then didn’t take a snap this summer in the preseason for the Cowboys.
That makes him a huge question mark heading into the season opener Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. The two starting ends, Jeremy Mincey and George Selvie, have been cut a combined seven times in their careers.
Tackle Nick Hayden sat out a season before signing with the Cowboys as a street free agent in 2013. Safety Barry Church was undrafted. A couple of recent fourth-rounders, Anthony Hitchens and Kyle Wilber, could pencil in as starting linebackers.
Now, let’s go back to 2013. The Cowboys allowed 415 yards and 27 points per game on the way to a fourth consecutive playoff-less season. Hatcher led the unit in sacks, Lee in interceptions and Scandrick in passes defended. All are gone.
Are the Cowboys better without them? Can the Cowboys be better without them?
The renovated Dallas D allowed 116 points this summer in the preseason, second most in franchise history. And the Cowboys are again gobbling up the discards of other teams, adding three new defensive players over the weekend.
The shadow of 1960 looms over this unit.
Rick Gosselin
The last head coach of the Cowboys to face a defensive challenge this daunting was Tom Landry.
In 1960.
Landry was a first-year head coach of a first-year franchise trying to piece together a defense with discards from other teams. The Cowboys did not have a draft that year, so his defenders were plucked off the rosters of other teams in an expansion draft.
Their leading tackler, Jerry Tubbs, and leading sacker, John Gonzaga, both arrived in Dallas by way of San Francisco, and their leading interceptor, Tom Franckhauser, came by way of Los Angeles. The winless Cowboys allowed an average of 364 yards and 31 points per game that season.
On paper, the 2014 Dallas defense is the worst collection of talent by this franchise since 1960.
There were no stars in 1960. There are no stars in 2014.
All this does not bode well for Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. Landry had time to build. Garrett doesn’t. Landry was in the first year of his contract. Garrett is in the final year of his.
The Cowboys fielded the third-worst defense in NFL history last season and have since lost the most productive players off that unit: tackle Jason Hatcher (free agency), end DeMarcus Ware (salary cap casualty), linebacker Sean Lee (injury) and cornerback Orlando Scandrick (suspension).
This marks the first season since 2001 that the Cowboys have not had an incumbent Pro Bowler lining up on defense. And even then the Cowboys fielded proven commodities: Dexter Coakley, Leon Lett and Darren Woodson were all past Pro Bowlers and Greg Ellis a former first-round pick.
There has always been a great player either coming or going on the Dallas D.
It was Hall of Famer Bob Lilly from 1961-74 and fellow Hall of Famer Randy White from 1975-87. Too Tall Jones and Everson Walls carried the Cowboys through 1989. Then Charles Haley and Darren Woodson both arrived in 1992, Deion Sanders in 1995, Roy Williams in 2002 and DeMarcus Ware from 2005 through 2013. This defense has never been short of stars.
The only two years the Dallas defense lacked any marquee names were 1990 and ’91, units Jimmy Johnson was assembling with youth. Ken Norton, Russell Maryland and Tony Tolbert were young players then on their way to Pro Bowl careers. They became mainstays of a unit that led the NFL in defense in 1992.
There is no Russell Maryland on this 2014 defense. There is no Lilly, Too Tall or Haley. Nor is there a Woodson or Cliff Harris. There isn’t even a Hollywood Henderson or Charlie Waters.
There’s only one first-round pick on this unit, cornerback Morris Claiborne, and he’s just keeping a seat warm until Scandrick returns from his suspension in October. Scandrick, by the way, was a fifth-rounder.
The biggest name on this unit is tackle Henry Melton, who has been to a Pro Bowl in his five-year career. But he missed the final 13 games of the 2013 season with the Chicago Bears and then didn’t take a snap this summer in the preseason for the Cowboys.
That makes him a huge question mark heading into the season opener Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. The two starting ends, Jeremy Mincey and George Selvie, have been cut a combined seven times in their careers.
Tackle Nick Hayden sat out a season before signing with the Cowboys as a street free agent in 2013. Safety Barry Church was undrafted. A couple of recent fourth-rounders, Anthony Hitchens and Kyle Wilber, could pencil in as starting linebackers.
Now, let’s go back to 2013. The Cowboys allowed 415 yards and 27 points per game on the way to a fourth consecutive playoff-less season. Hatcher led the unit in sacks, Lee in interceptions and Scandrick in passes defended. All are gone.
Are the Cowboys better without them? Can the Cowboys be better without them?
The renovated Dallas D allowed 116 points this summer in the preseason, second most in franchise history. And the Cowboys are again gobbling up the discards of other teams, adding three new defensive players over the weekend.
The shadow of 1960 looms over this unit.