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Gosselin: Ker-plunk. The Cowboys play the worst defense in the league
Published: 28 October 2013 10:44 PM
Close your eyes Bob Lilly, Chuck Howley, Lee Roy Jordan and Mel Renfro.
Doomsday doesn’t want to see this.
The Cowboys once played the finest brand of defense in the NFL. This franchise finished with the No. 1 ranking in its Super Bowl championship seasons of 1977 and 1992.
Now the Cowboys play the worst defense in the league.
Ker-plunk.
It became official when Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Reggie Bush and the Detroit Lions torched the Cowboys for 623 yards last weekend. The Cowboys have allowed 3,380 yards this season — 166 more than the woeful Philadelphia Eagles.
The Cowboys fell from 29th in the rankings a week ago to 32nd this week. My crack research department couldn’t pin down the last time the Cowboys tumbled to the very bottom for a given week in any season.
We looked at 2010, when the Cowboys allowed a franchise-record 436 points in the final season of Wade Phillips and his 3-4 scheme. But that defense never dipped below 25th in the rankings. That unit also spent seven weeks in the top 10 before the collapse following the midseason dismissal of Phillips.
We also looked at 2012, when the Cowboys allowed a franchise record 5,687 yards. But that defense never sank below 19th in the league rankings. In fact, that unit ranked in the top 10 for the first 12 weeks of the season before a late collapse cost coordinator Rob Ryan his job.
Who would have guessed that 2012 season would be viewed as the good old days around Valley Ranch? A year ago this week, the Cowboys ranked fourth in the NFL in defense.
This certainly isn’t what Jerry Jones envisioned when he blew up his defensive staff and scheme last winter with the hiring of Monte Kiffin and his Tampa 2.
But then this certainly wasn’t what Kiffin envisioned when he arrived at Valley Ranch. His charges looked a lot better on paper then than they do on the field now.
Remember back in April when Jones said the defensive line was a position of strength for the Cowboys? Kiffin figured to have Demarcus Ware, Anthony Spencer and Tyrone Crawford to rotate at end and Jay Ratliff, Jason Hatcher and Ben Bass rotating at tackle.
But last week in Detroit, only one of those linemen was on the field: Hatcher. Bass, Crawford and Spencer are all on injured reserve. None played a down this season. Neither did Ratliff, who was cut off the physically unable to perform list in October. In addition, Ware has missed the last two games with a strained quadriceps.
The Cowboys signed veteran safety Will Allen last off-season in free agency. He played for Kiffin in Tampa Bay, knew the scheme and figured to be steadying influence in an otherwise young secondary. But he was benched after two weeks and cut after five.
That forced the Cowboys to move third-round draft pick J.J. Wilcox into the lineup at strong safety — and even he missed the Detroit game with a knee injury. Wilcox was replaced by undrafted rookie free agent Jeff Heath against the Lions. Then the Cowboys lost safety Barry Church and cornerback Morris Claiborne during the game.
With 62 seconds remaining and the Cowboys holding a 30-24 lead, the Lions took possession of the football 80 yards away with no timeouts. It took just six plays and 50 seconds for Stafford to carve up what Kiffin was offering for the winning score.
The 11 defenders on the field for that drive included three rookies (Heath, fellow undrafted free agent Jakar Hamilton and fourth-round pick B.W. Webb), an undersized pass rusher Kyle Wilber and street free-agent end George Selvie, who signed on after the start of training camp.
Not exactly Ware, Spencer, Ratliff, Claiborne and Church.
Sunday’s Cowboys were overmatched. But that’s been the case all season. They have already allowed an NFL-record four individual 400-yard passing games by the season’s midway point with Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers still looming on the schedule.
The Cowboys are on pace to give up 6,760 yards. That would stand as the third worst season in NFL history. The Cowboys believe they are better than this. Certainly better than No. 32.
“You never want to be at the bottom of the barrel,” cornerback Brandon Carr said. “We have too much talent on our side of the ball to be giving up the plays we’ve been giving up and not making the plays we should be making.”
There’s plenty of room for improvement. At least in the rankings.
Published: 28 October 2013 10:44 PM
Close your eyes Bob Lilly, Chuck Howley, Lee Roy Jordan and Mel Renfro.
Doomsday doesn’t want to see this.
The Cowboys once played the finest brand of defense in the NFL. This franchise finished with the No. 1 ranking in its Super Bowl championship seasons of 1977 and 1992.
Now the Cowboys play the worst defense in the league.
Ker-plunk.
It became official when Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Reggie Bush and the Detroit Lions torched the Cowboys for 623 yards last weekend. The Cowboys have allowed 3,380 yards this season — 166 more than the woeful Philadelphia Eagles.
The Cowboys fell from 29th in the rankings a week ago to 32nd this week. My crack research department couldn’t pin down the last time the Cowboys tumbled to the very bottom for a given week in any season.
We looked at 2010, when the Cowboys allowed a franchise-record 436 points in the final season of Wade Phillips and his 3-4 scheme. But that defense never dipped below 25th in the rankings. That unit also spent seven weeks in the top 10 before the collapse following the midseason dismissal of Phillips.
We also looked at 2012, when the Cowboys allowed a franchise record 5,687 yards. But that defense never sank below 19th in the league rankings. In fact, that unit ranked in the top 10 for the first 12 weeks of the season before a late collapse cost coordinator Rob Ryan his job.
Who would have guessed that 2012 season would be viewed as the good old days around Valley Ranch? A year ago this week, the Cowboys ranked fourth in the NFL in defense.
This certainly isn’t what Jerry Jones envisioned when he blew up his defensive staff and scheme last winter with the hiring of Monte Kiffin and his Tampa 2.
But then this certainly wasn’t what Kiffin envisioned when he arrived at Valley Ranch. His charges looked a lot better on paper then than they do on the field now.
Remember back in April when Jones said the defensive line was a position of strength for the Cowboys? Kiffin figured to have Demarcus Ware, Anthony Spencer and Tyrone Crawford to rotate at end and Jay Ratliff, Jason Hatcher and Ben Bass rotating at tackle.
But last week in Detroit, only one of those linemen was on the field: Hatcher. Bass, Crawford and Spencer are all on injured reserve. None played a down this season. Neither did Ratliff, who was cut off the physically unable to perform list in October. In addition, Ware has missed the last two games with a strained quadriceps.
The Cowboys signed veteran safety Will Allen last off-season in free agency. He played for Kiffin in Tampa Bay, knew the scheme and figured to be steadying influence in an otherwise young secondary. But he was benched after two weeks and cut after five.
That forced the Cowboys to move third-round draft pick J.J. Wilcox into the lineup at strong safety — and even he missed the Detroit game with a knee injury. Wilcox was replaced by undrafted rookie free agent Jeff Heath against the Lions. Then the Cowboys lost safety Barry Church and cornerback Morris Claiborne during the game.
With 62 seconds remaining and the Cowboys holding a 30-24 lead, the Lions took possession of the football 80 yards away with no timeouts. It took just six plays and 50 seconds for Stafford to carve up what Kiffin was offering for the winning score.
The 11 defenders on the field for that drive included three rookies (Heath, fellow undrafted free agent Jakar Hamilton and fourth-round pick B.W. Webb), an undersized pass rusher Kyle Wilber and street free-agent end George Selvie, who signed on after the start of training camp.
Not exactly Ware, Spencer, Ratliff, Claiborne and Church.
Sunday’s Cowboys were overmatched. But that’s been the case all season. They have already allowed an NFL-record four individual 400-yard passing games by the season’s midway point with Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers still looming on the schedule.
The Cowboys are on pace to give up 6,760 yards. That would stand as the third worst season in NFL history. The Cowboys believe they are better than this. Certainly better than No. 32.
“You never want to be at the bottom of the barrel,” cornerback Brandon Carr said. “We have too much talent on our side of the ball to be giving up the plays we’ve been giving up and not making the plays we should be making.”
There’s plenty of room for improvement. At least in the rankings.
