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Darren Woodson: Don't worry about the Cowboys' lack of sacks, look at these numbers instead
SPORTSDAYDFW.COM
Published: 23 October 2014 09:17 PM
Updated: 23 October 2014 10:31 PM
Former Cowboys safety Darren Woodson joined "The Afternoon Show with Cowlishaw and Mosley" on KESN-FM 103.3 on Thursday. Here are some highlights from the interview.
On Rolando McClain:
“The story about McClain – and I remember when he came out as a rookie — they talked about how intelligent he was and his football IQ. I think that plays a much larger factor than his athleticism. The fact of knowing where to be. He plays fast simply because he knows what coming his direction, and he’s extremely instinctive. He’s reading plays before the ball is even snapped. Not only that, but moving guys around, knowing where the play is going to be. The guy misses a couple practices last week and jumps right back into this game this past weekend and plays extremely well.”
On how Rod Marinelli has been able to improve the defense:
“I think the one thing you’ve seen, they’re pretty basic. They’re very simple as far as their defensive scheme. I think the one thing that I really like about them is they’re playing to tendencies. So they’re knowing on first down how teams want to attack them. They know what’s coming on third down. They understand the weaknesses within the defense, and you can see it. … They know what’s coming their direction, especially on third down. They’re playing the sticks. They’re just playing extremely smart football.”
On whether the Cowboys get more sacks:
“I’ve always been a guy that felt like sacks are overrated. Sacks are great when it’s a key moment and you really need it. … I’ve always been a guy that (focused on) third down efficiency and points against. If you can hold a teams to under 17 points, 20 points — 17 points a game is how we used to do it — but getting out on third down is huge. If your third-down efficiency is there and you’re at high clip, I think that’s more important than the sack totals. Pressures are huge also. Getting pressure on the quarterback and getting off the field on third down, that’s where I would lean.”
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SPORTSDAYDFW.COM
Published: 23 October 2014 09:17 PM
Updated: 23 October 2014 10:31 PM
Former Cowboys safety Darren Woodson joined "The Afternoon Show with Cowlishaw and Mosley" on KESN-FM 103.3 on Thursday. Here are some highlights from the interview.
On Rolando McClain:
“The story about McClain – and I remember when he came out as a rookie — they talked about how intelligent he was and his football IQ. I think that plays a much larger factor than his athleticism. The fact of knowing where to be. He plays fast simply because he knows what coming his direction, and he’s extremely instinctive. He’s reading plays before the ball is even snapped. Not only that, but moving guys around, knowing where the play is going to be. The guy misses a couple practices last week and jumps right back into this game this past weekend and plays extremely well.”
On how Rod Marinelli has been able to improve the defense:
“I think the one thing you’ve seen, they’re pretty basic. They’re very simple as far as their defensive scheme. I think the one thing that I really like about them is they’re playing to tendencies. So they’re knowing on first down how teams want to attack them. They know what’s coming on third down. They understand the weaknesses within the defense, and you can see it. … They know what’s coming their direction, especially on third down. They’re playing the sticks. They’re just playing extremely smart football.”
On whether the Cowboys get more sacks:
“I’ve always been a guy that felt like sacks are overrated. Sacks are great when it’s a key moment and you really need it. … I’ve always been a guy that (focused on) third down efficiency and points against. If you can hold a teams to under 17 points, 20 points — 17 points a game is how we used to do it — but getting out on third down is huge. If your third-down efficiency is there and you’re at high clip, I think that’s more important than the sack totals. Pressures are huge also. Getting pressure on the quarterback and getting off the field on third down, that’s where I would lean.”
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