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Cowboys Cold Truths: Jeff Heath is a symptom
The popular thing to do on this Monday morning after the Dallas Cowboys lost 343-13 to the New Orleans Saints is to blame little safety Jeff Heath.
He is Little Jeff Heath because if you saw this young man in person you would know that he is just a little guy. He is listed as 6-foot-1, 209 pounds ... don't buy it. The undrafted rookie free agent from Saginaw Valley State should, at best, be a special teams player. If that.
Instead, he is the starting safety for the Dallas Cowboys at a crucial point of the season. That should never be happening at any point in any season.
Three times against the Saints, Heath had a chance to make a TD saving tackle and did not. It would not have mattered had he made those stops. The Saints would have scored on the next play.
Heath is currently the face of the NFL's worst defense yet to blame him, or most of these guys, is pointless. The majority of the defenders being run over by the Saints on Sunday night should not be NFL starters, or anything more than fill-out-the-roster players. Instead, because of indept GMing or injuries, the likes of Jeff Heath and a bunch of other spares are being asked to do more than they are capable.
Since they are the players who are playing, technically it is "their fault" but ... to blame them is to miss a much bigger issue.
DEZ BRYANT
One catch for 44 yards against true bracket coverage that would not let him breathe.
He is on pace for 83 catches for 1,198 yards and 13 TDs. That's a great statistical season, but Sunday night's game was proof that if you take away Dez from Tony Romo this "explosive" offense is pedestrian.
THIRD DOWNS
There are so many statistical embarrassments for the Cowboys let's go with this: 0-for-9 on third downs were the Dallas Football Cowboys. The Saints converted nine third downs in 12 attemtps.
SEAN LEE
This is what happens when you draft injured players - they get hurt. The Cowboys best defensive player hurt his left hamstring against the Saints and he is going to miss some time. Don't worry - Ernie Sims has this. Or Kevin Justin Durant.
This is the risk when the Cowboys gave Lee a six-year, $42 million deal in the offseason. Chances were good this injury was always a matter of when not if.
2008: In the spring of 2008 at Penn State, he tore his ACL in non-contact drill and missed the season.
2010, Lee was injured a few times as a rookie with hamstring. He missed two games.
2011: Lee suffered a dislocated left wrist against the Eagles on Oct. 30, but he missed only one game.
2012: Suffered a broken toe and missed ten games.
2013: Left hamstring ... who knows?
TONY ROMO
On pace for 4,290 yards with 34 TDs and only 10 picks. Looks great, until you watch games on Sunday night and realize just how misleading numbers can be.
His best receiver was blanketed, but Tony Romo was simply awful against the Saints.
If his defense is going to continue to be trash, he has to be brilliant. His numbers are good, his play has been erratic.
As you can see by this screen grab, he did at least keep his humor as evidenced by what appears to be a joke he issued to backup Kyle Orton after the Saints took a 35-10 lead late in the third quarter.
If we don't have our humor, we are no better than the machines.
TERRANCE WILLIAMS
The rookie from Baylor caught one pass for 21 yards. Romo targeted Williams five times. Bottom line - if Dez is going to be bracketed, and after the Saints shut him down bet big money all future teams try this - T-Will has to get open and catch football passes.
NEW YORK GIANTS
They're going to screw this up for the Boys' vision of an 8-8 NFC East title.
The N-Y-G are 3-6 but a serious threat to the division championship. How sad.
They play the Packers, who are without their top two quarterbacks, on Sunday before hosting the Cowboys on November 24.
There is a good chance they are going to be 5-6 when they play at the Redskins on Dec. 1.
The Giants' schedule after that is brutal (at Chargers, Seahawks, at Lions, Redskins) but this is set up to be interesting.
The popular thing to do on this Monday morning after the Dallas Cowboys lost 343-13 to the New Orleans Saints is to blame little safety Jeff Heath.
He is Little Jeff Heath because if you saw this young man in person you would know that he is just a little guy. He is listed as 6-foot-1, 209 pounds ... don't buy it. The undrafted rookie free agent from Saginaw Valley State should, at best, be a special teams player. If that.
Instead, he is the starting safety for the Dallas Cowboys at a crucial point of the season. That should never be happening at any point in any season.
Three times against the Saints, Heath had a chance to make a TD saving tackle and did not. It would not have mattered had he made those stops. The Saints would have scored on the next play.
Heath is currently the face of the NFL's worst defense yet to blame him, or most of these guys, is pointless. The majority of the defenders being run over by the Saints on Sunday night should not be NFL starters, or anything more than fill-out-the-roster players. Instead, because of indept GMing or injuries, the likes of Jeff Heath and a bunch of other spares are being asked to do more than they are capable.
Since they are the players who are playing, technically it is "their fault" but ... to blame them is to miss a much bigger issue.
DEZ BRYANT
One catch for 44 yards against true bracket coverage that would not let him breathe.
He is on pace for 83 catches for 1,198 yards and 13 TDs. That's a great statistical season, but Sunday night's game was proof that if you take away Dez from Tony Romo this "explosive" offense is pedestrian.
THIRD DOWNS
There are so many statistical embarrassments for the Cowboys let's go with this: 0-for-9 on third downs were the Dallas Football Cowboys. The Saints converted nine third downs in 12 attemtps.
SEAN LEE
This is what happens when you draft injured players - they get hurt. The Cowboys best defensive player hurt his left hamstring against the Saints and he is going to miss some time. Don't worry - Ernie Sims has this. Or Kevin Justin Durant.
This is the risk when the Cowboys gave Lee a six-year, $42 million deal in the offseason. Chances were good this injury was always a matter of when not if.
2008: In the spring of 2008 at Penn State, he tore his ACL in non-contact drill and missed the season.
2010, Lee was injured a few times as a rookie with hamstring. He missed two games.
2011: Lee suffered a dislocated left wrist against the Eagles on Oct. 30, but he missed only one game.
2012: Suffered a broken toe and missed ten games.
2013: Left hamstring ... who knows?
TONY ROMO
On pace for 4,290 yards with 34 TDs and only 10 picks. Looks great, until you watch games on Sunday night and realize just how misleading numbers can be.
His best receiver was blanketed, but Tony Romo was simply awful against the Saints.
If his defense is going to continue to be trash, he has to be brilliant. His numbers are good, his play has been erratic.
As you can see by this screen grab, he did at least keep his humor as evidenced by what appears to be a joke he issued to backup Kyle Orton after the Saints took a 35-10 lead late in the third quarter.
If we don't have our humor, we are no better than the machines.
TERRANCE WILLIAMS
The rookie from Baylor caught one pass for 21 yards. Romo targeted Williams five times. Bottom line - if Dez is going to be bracketed, and after the Saints shut him down bet big money all future teams try this - T-Will has to get open and catch football passes.
NEW YORK GIANTS
They're going to screw this up for the Boys' vision of an 8-8 NFC East title.
The N-Y-G are 3-6 but a serious threat to the division championship. How sad.
They play the Packers, who are without their top two quarterbacks, on Sunday before hosting the Cowboys on November 24.
There is a good chance they are going to be 5-6 when they play at the Redskins on Dec. 1.
The Giants' schedule after that is brutal (at Chargers, Seahawks, at Lions, Redskins) but this is set up to be interesting.
