Gosselin: Cowboys haven't seen a defense this bad since 1960

[p1_]

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.

 

[UncleMilti]

I'm ok with going in the tank if it means getting rid of Garrett.

 

[VA Cowboy]

We'd probably only scapegoat Marinelli and injuries.

 

[p1_]

I'm ok with going in the tank if it means getting rid of Garrett.

You might just get your wish. This defense is shaping up to be some serious shite stank.

 

[Cotton]

We'd probably only scapegoat Marinelli and injuries.

I can see it happening.

 

[ravidubey]

I can see it happening.

Easily, though it will probably be Marinelli's skill at substitutions and coaching turnovers that will keep us from being historically dead last.

Team chemistry means more than star power, especially in Dallas where stars are coddled and overrated.

I look at the DL and cringe... until I see how bad the LBs are. The only hope is they attack in waves and stay fresh.

 

[Clay_Allison]

We'd probably only scapegoat Marinelli and injuries.

If we were going to keep Garrett no matter what, Jerry would have given him a contract extension by now. The whole staff is going into the season as lame ducks for a reason.

 

[boozeman]

We'd probably only scapegoat Marinelli and injuries.

I think that foundation is being laid as we speak.

 

[DLK150]

We'd probably only scapegoat Marinelli and injuries.

Oh that's pretty much guaranteed, Jerrah's been finding scapegoats for almost twenty years.

 

[p1_]

I think that foundation is being laid as we speak.

Does Garrett have papal dispensation, or is he soon-to-be photo shopped out of the Jones family portrait?

 

[Rev]

Does Garrett have papal dispensation, or is he soon-to-be photo shopped out of the Jones family portrait?

Front office job. Jerry finally agrees to a GM.

 

[NoDak]

Front office job. Jerry finally agrees to a GM.

I would actually take that over the situation we have now. Certainly not ideal, but kills two birds with one stone. Garrett away from the sidelines, and Jerry no longer GM.

 

[p1_]

So, some seem to be okay with the notion of Garrett as GM? Wow, that's interesting.

 

[NoDak]

So, some seem to be okay with the notion of Garrett as GM? Wow, that's interesting.

If that's how you interpret it, ok.

 

[L.T. Fan]

I see everyone has already pronounced the Dallas defense dead on arrival and maybe that will be the case but they haven't played a down yet so how can anyone automatically make that king of pronouncement. I know the preseason was crap but it was the preseason after all. I don't have anything that tells me they will be better but conversely I haven't seen anything that absolutely shows me they will be worse. I guess we will know soon enough.

 

[p1_]

I see everyone has already pronounced the Dallas defense dead on arrival and maybe that will be the case but they haven't played a down yet so how can anyone automatically make that king of pronouncement. I know the preseason was crap but it was the preseason after all. I don't have anything that tells me they will be better but conversely I haven't seen anything that absolutely shows me they will be worse. I guess we will know soon enough.

So, if you have nothing elsse to go on, assume you get what you had last season. How does that grab you?

 

[p1_]

If that's how you interpret it, ok.

Right? ! What was your take on Rev's post?

 

[Rev]

Right? ! What was your take on Rev's post?

He posted it. I'm not alright because it would be too hard to tell how much of a puppet Garrett would be. With that being said my post was just a joke gone sour.

 

[L.T. Fan]

So, if you have nothing elsse to go on, assume you get what you had last season. How does that grab you?

Not the same lineup.

 

[p1_]

Not the same lineup.

Right, many would say/have said that the current lineup is much less talented. That bodes pretty ill; it's extremely difficult to be optimistic in light of diminished talent and huge question marks all over this defensive unit.