Saints Stuff...
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ravidubey
DCC 4Life
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They are all Jerry's fall guys.
You wonder why anyone wants to work for Jones when the best case scenario is you retire after four average years and no chance for success in the playoffs. This year we are set up for a late season debacle in Washington again with the OL already starting to crumble at the beginning of November and the DL already a shell.
If Dallas sucks, it will be hard for Jerry to not fire Garrett. In all honesty I'm not impressed with Garrett the football coach, but I kind of like Garrett the motivator. His messages of "RKG" and accountability has been good for this team.
Texas Ace
Teh Acester
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About the only thing the guy deserves credit for is the fact that he has gotten the team to buy into his message.
He's had the respect of the team the entire time he's been in charge, but it just so happens that he sucks as a coach.
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Cowboys won't overreact to run game
November, 7, 2013
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com
IRVING, Texas -- Even offensive coordinator Bill Callahan was surprised the Dallas Cowboys ran the ball just nine times in last week’s win against the Minnesota Vikings.
But don’t look for an overcorrection this week against the New Orleans Saints.
“We want to run it more,” Callahan said. “We definitely want to run it better, but we do want to run it more. That’s not an overreaction thought. It’s not saying we’re going to try and run it 50 times to make up for it last week, but we’ll continue to strive for balance. But it was a little bit different last week.”
Like Jason Garrett, Callahan put the lack of the running game on tackles for losses, penalties and drops in the passing game. Trailing on their last two drives, the Cowboys felt compelled even more to pass, and Tony Romo delivered on a 90-yard drive with a touchdown pass to Dwayne Harris to win the game.
Through nine games the Cowboys are 27th in the NFL in rushing, averaging 75.7 yards a game. Last season they were 31st in rushing but actually averaged more yards on the ground (79.1).
“I just play the play that’s called, and we’re going to go up there and look at different coverages and the different fronts and go with our rules and do what we do, and I think if you do that you’re going to be fine,” Romo said. “If you’re just thinking about, ‘Boy we better get to 15 runs, or 20 runs,’ just to make sure that we appease everybody, that’s just silly. I think what you find is that we won that football game last week. We’re moving on to the next one. Maybe you only throw it 17 times the next week. Maybe you only throw it 25 times or run it whatever. It varies.”
Romo said the amount of runs he checks out of in a game can be as low as two or as high as 8-10.
“We look at it like a team is very good against the run, you might want to throw it a little bit more,” Romo said. “A team who is not as well against the pass, you might want to pass it more. A team who is not very good against the run, you might want to run it. And all that, if you have success running it early, you might just keep doing that. So certain philosophies in certain different weeks are different. When the season is over, I’m sure we will look at the stats and see where it’s at and what we need to do. But right now, we’re right in the middle of the year and we’re trying to keep improving and get better.”
The Saints have the 25th ranked rush defense, allowing 121.3 yards per game on the ground.
If anybody was wondering.
November, 7, 2013
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com
IRVING, Texas -- Even offensive coordinator Bill Callahan was surprised the Dallas Cowboys ran the ball just nine times in last week’s win against the Minnesota Vikings.
But don’t look for an overcorrection this week against the New Orleans Saints.
“We want to run it more,” Callahan said. “We definitely want to run it better, but we do want to run it more. That’s not an overreaction thought. It’s not saying we’re going to try and run it 50 times to make up for it last week, but we’ll continue to strive for balance. But it was a little bit different last week.”
Like Jason Garrett, Callahan put the lack of the running game on tackles for losses, penalties and drops in the passing game. Trailing on their last two drives, the Cowboys felt compelled even more to pass, and Tony Romo delivered on a 90-yard drive with a touchdown pass to Dwayne Harris to win the game.
Through nine games the Cowboys are 27th in the NFL in rushing, averaging 75.7 yards a game. Last season they were 31st in rushing but actually averaged more yards on the ground (79.1).
“I just play the play that’s called, and we’re going to go up there and look at different coverages and the different fronts and go with our rules and do what we do, and I think if you do that you’re going to be fine,” Romo said. “If you’re just thinking about, ‘Boy we better get to 15 runs, or 20 runs,’ just to make sure that we appease everybody, that’s just silly. I think what you find is that we won that football game last week. We’re moving on to the next one. Maybe you only throw it 17 times the next week. Maybe you only throw it 25 times or run it whatever. It varies.”
Romo said the amount of runs he checks out of in a game can be as low as two or as high as 8-10.
“We look at it like a team is very good against the run, you might want to throw it a little bit more,” Romo said. “A team who is not as well against the pass, you might want to pass it more. A team who is not very good against the run, you might want to run it. And all that, if you have success running it early, you might just keep doing that. So certain philosophies in certain different weeks are different. When the season is over, I’m sure we will look at the stats and see where it’s at and what we need to do. But right now, we’re right in the middle of the year and we’re trying to keep improving and get better.”
The Saints have the 25th ranked rush defense, allowing 121.3 yards per game on the ground.
If anybody was wondering.
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Broaddus: Two Most Important Matchups For Sunday Night
Posted 1 hour ago
Bryan Broaddus
Football Analyst/Scout
Cowboys QB Tony Romo vs. Saints DC Rob Ryan:
For two years, Rob Ryan was there every time Tony Romo stepped on the field, whether it was for practice or a game. On Sunday, Ryan will once again be there with Romo, but this time it will be calling defenses against him.
This matchup has a chance to be a real classic, because these are the types of challenges that Romo seems to look forward to and thrive in. Romo lives for these games where he can match wits with a creative defensive scheme.
For Ryan, regardless of what he says, he wants to beat this team more than any other on the Saints’ schedule. He has to feel wronged by what happened to him last season after he was shown the door when his defense was hit with a massive amount of injuries, and they were unable to win one final game against the Redskins with the division title and playoff berth on the line.
What is interesting about this matchup is you feel that Ryan could come out and attack from the word “go,” or he could try and just rush four like the Lions did and play coverage behind them.
Ryan has had some games in the past where he has elected to play more coverage and see if the quarterback is willing to be more patient to take what the defense is giving him. Romo has to prepare like Ryan is going to bring pressure to try and make him as uncomfortable as possible.
Cowboys LB Bruce Carter vs. Saints RB Darren Sproles:
There are so many matchups you have to take care of when you play this Saints offense that it makes it difficult to take care of all of them. As outstanding as Jimmy Graham and Marques Colston are, having to deal with Darren Sproles might be the biggest headache for Monte Kiffin and his staff.
What makes Sproles so difficult is his explosiveness. It’s hard to simulate that during a week of practice. He is one of those players that has the rare ability to score from anywhere on the field as long as the ball is in his hands. Whether Sean Payton hands him the ball, throws it to him on a screen or has him take off up the sideline on the wheel route, he is a threat to make a play.
For Bruce Carter, it has been an up and down season, as these defensive coaches have at various times put Ernie Sims on the field instead of him. I thought last week that Carter played one of his best games of the season in the victory over the Vikings.
He will once again be back in the starting lineup when the Cowboys face the Saints on Sunday, and it will be his job to handle Sproles when he is on the field. Despite what we saw in San Diego, Carter can cover, but it won’t be easy.
But of all the linebackers the Cowboys have, athletically, he gives you the best chance to succeed.
Posted 1 hour ago
Bryan Broaddus
Football Analyst/Scout
Cowboys QB Tony Romo vs. Saints DC Rob Ryan:
For two years, Rob Ryan was there every time Tony Romo stepped on the field, whether it was for practice or a game. On Sunday, Ryan will once again be there with Romo, but this time it will be calling defenses against him.
This matchup has a chance to be a real classic, because these are the types of challenges that Romo seems to look forward to and thrive in. Romo lives for these games where he can match wits with a creative defensive scheme.
For Ryan, regardless of what he says, he wants to beat this team more than any other on the Saints’ schedule. He has to feel wronged by what happened to him last season after he was shown the door when his defense was hit with a massive amount of injuries, and they were unable to win one final game against the Redskins with the division title and playoff berth on the line.
What is interesting about this matchup is you feel that Ryan could come out and attack from the word “go,” or he could try and just rush four like the Lions did and play coverage behind them.
Ryan has had some games in the past where he has elected to play more coverage and see if the quarterback is willing to be more patient to take what the defense is giving him. Romo has to prepare like Ryan is going to bring pressure to try and make him as uncomfortable as possible.
Cowboys LB Bruce Carter vs. Saints RB Darren Sproles:
There are so many matchups you have to take care of when you play this Saints offense that it makes it difficult to take care of all of them. As outstanding as Jimmy Graham and Marques Colston are, having to deal with Darren Sproles might be the biggest headache for Monte Kiffin and his staff.
What makes Sproles so difficult is his explosiveness. It’s hard to simulate that during a week of practice. He is one of those players that has the rare ability to score from anywhere on the field as long as the ball is in his hands. Whether Sean Payton hands him the ball, throws it to him on a screen or has him take off up the sideline on the wheel route, he is a threat to make a play.
For Bruce Carter, it has been an up and down season, as these defensive coaches have at various times put Ernie Sims on the field instead of him. I thought last week that Carter played one of his best games of the season in the victory over the Vikings.
He will once again be back in the starting lineup when the Cowboys face the Saints on Sunday, and it will be his job to handle Sproles when he is on the field. Despite what we saw in San Diego, Carter can cover, but it won’t be easy.
But of all the linebackers the Cowboys have, athletically, he gives you the best chance to succeed.
Smitty
DCC 4Life
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There have definitely been too many times they've been chased out of it this season.
I'm also guessing they realize that and just aren't in the business of telling the media "Yeah, we suck at stressing the run."
I don't think they need to go run heavy but they need to be smarter about how they pick their spots. For example they had a second and 1 against Minnesota where we threw that quick WR screen that should have been ruled a lateral, but was incomplete. Then on third down we ran and they stacked the line and stopped us, and we had to punt.
Just run the ball there on second down. You are having trouble keeping the chains moving, you'd think picking up the first there would be a priority.
Of course, I do believe Romo probably audibled there, as I highly doubt the playcall was "Let's go with a quick screen here." He probably saw something and thought they could exploit Minnesota's overaggressiveness on the play but it backfired. But then you have to reel Romo in and say "You don't get an option here, run the ball."
Of course our run blocking is still also subpar, but situationally, you can do better.
I'm also guessing they realize that and just aren't in the business of telling the media "Yeah, we suck at stressing the run."
I don't think they need to go run heavy but they need to be smarter about how they pick their spots. For example they had a second and 1 against Minnesota where we threw that quick WR screen that should have been ruled a lateral, but was incomplete. Then on third down we ran and they stacked the line and stopped us, and we had to punt.
Just run the ball there on second down. You are having trouble keeping the chains moving, you'd think picking up the first there would be a priority.
Of course, I do believe Romo probably audibled there, as I highly doubt the playcall was "Let's go with a quick screen here." He probably saw something and thought they could exploit Minnesota's overaggressiveness on the play but it backfired. But then you have to reel Romo in and say "You don't get an option here, run the ball."
Of course our run blocking is still also subpar, but situationally, you can do better.
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Situational play-calling is a weakness.
Since Romo apparently can do what he wants, that burden falls to the coaching staff. The head coach, OC and QB coach.
Smitty
DCC 4Life
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I agree, I've said they can do that better.
Cowboysrule122
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Cowboys look for breakthrough road win
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com
IRVING, Texas -- The last time the Dallas Cowboys visited the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, their 2009 season was on the line.
They had lost their previous two games and there weren’t just whispers that they were in the midst of another late-season collapse -- there were shouts of another late-season collapse.
The Saints were undefeated at the time. The Superdome was as loud as any stadium the Cowboys had played in.
And the Cowboys won 24-17 and would go on to win their final two regular-season games, shutting out the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles to finish with an 11-5 record and win the NFC East.
“I think how monumental that game was. It was a big game for us,” defensive end DeMarcus Ware said. “It was like one of those turnaround-season games.”
At 5-4, the Cowboys currently lead the NFC East and don’t necessarily need a turnaround-season win, but they do need to win a game on the road against a good team. From 2010-12 they have beaten four teams that ended the year with a winning record (New York Giants, Week 10, 2010; Philadelphia Eagles, Week 17, 2010; San Francisco 49ers, Week 2, 2011; Cincinnati Bengals, Week 14, 2012).
So far this season, they are 1-3 away from AT&T Stadium.
“A win would be extremely valuable,” linebacker Sean Lee said. “At some point, it’s just another win. What we’re trying to win is consistency week in and week out and finishing football games and stacking wins together. That’s something we haven’t been able to do. A lot of that has come because we haven’t finished at important times such as the Detroit game when we had a shot to finish and we made critical errors in critical moments. That’s something we’re working on now.”
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com
IRVING, Texas -- The last time the Dallas Cowboys visited the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, their 2009 season was on the line.
They had lost their previous two games and there weren’t just whispers that they were in the midst of another late-season collapse -- there were shouts of another late-season collapse.
The Saints were undefeated at the time. The Superdome was as loud as any stadium the Cowboys had played in.
And the Cowboys won 24-17 and would go on to win their final two regular-season games, shutting out the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles to finish with an 11-5 record and win the NFC East.
“I think how monumental that game was. It was a big game for us,” defensive end DeMarcus Ware said. “It was like one of those turnaround-season games.”
At 5-4, the Cowboys currently lead the NFC East and don’t necessarily need a turnaround-season win, but they do need to win a game on the road against a good team. From 2010-12 they have beaten four teams that ended the year with a winning record (New York Giants, Week 10, 2010; Philadelphia Eagles, Week 17, 2010; San Francisco 49ers, Week 2, 2011; Cincinnati Bengals, Week 14, 2012).
So far this season, they are 1-3 away from AT&T Stadium.
“A win would be extremely valuable,” linebacker Sean Lee said. “At some point, it’s just another win. What we’re trying to win is consistency week in and week out and finishing football games and stacking wins together. That’s something we haven’t been able to do. A lot of that has come because we haven’t finished at important times such as the Detroit game when we had a shot to finish and we made critical errors in critical moments. That’s something we’re working on now.”
Cowboysrule122
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Machota: Brees: Cowboys DE Ware is a game-changer
BY: JON MACHOTA
IRVING, Texas — DeMarcus Ware practiced Wednesday for the first time since straining his right quadriceps Oct. 13 against Washington.
Probably not the news that New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees wanted to hear. The seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end has 115 sacks in his career and four of them have come against Brees.
"He's a stud. He's such a stud," Brees said Wednesday. "He's a guy you've got to have a plan for at all times. Where is he? How you protect [against] him? How you take care of him? All that stuff. You know the leadership he brings. You know the productivity that he brings. He's just a game-changer, so you've always got to be ready for him."
Ware, who has four sacks this season, was wearing his helmet, shoulder pads and sweatpants during the portion of practice that was open to the media Wednesday at AT&T Stadium.
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Tuesday that he thinks Ware will be ready for Sunday's game in New Orleans.
"DeMarcus Ware is one of the best players in the league," Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said Wednesday. "So it's certainly better to have him than not have him. Hopefully he's healthy and ready to go. He's a guy who can impact the ballgame himself, he's done that throughout his career. He's a mismatch type player.
"Typically, he gets a lot of attention and like a lot of great players in this league, continues to show up and have an impact on the ball game. He's a great player. Hopefully he'll have a great week of practice and hopefully he'll be available for this game."
BY: JON MACHOTA
IRVING, Texas — DeMarcus Ware practiced Wednesday for the first time since straining his right quadriceps Oct. 13 against Washington.
Probably not the news that New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees wanted to hear. The seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end has 115 sacks in his career and four of them have come against Brees.
"He's a stud. He's such a stud," Brees said Wednesday. "He's a guy you've got to have a plan for at all times. Where is he? How you protect [against] him? How you take care of him? All that stuff. You know the leadership he brings. You know the productivity that he brings. He's just a game-changer, so you've always got to be ready for him."
Ware, who has four sacks this season, was wearing his helmet, shoulder pads and sweatpants during the portion of practice that was open to the media Wednesday at AT&T Stadium.
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Tuesday that he thinks Ware will be ready for Sunday's game in New Orleans.
"DeMarcus Ware is one of the best players in the league," Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said Wednesday. "So it's certainly better to have him than not have him. Hopefully he's healthy and ready to go. He's a guy who can impact the ballgame himself, he's done that throughout his career. He's a mismatch type player.
"Typically, he gets a lot of attention and like a lot of great players in this league, continues to show up and have an impact on the ball game. He's a great player. Hopefully he'll have a great week of practice and hopefully he'll be available for this game."
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Cowboys' communication key for dome
November, 8, 2013
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com
IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys expect the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to be loud Sunday night when they play against the New Orleans Saints.
A night kickoff in New Orleans? Bourbon Street not far away? Yes, the fans will be ready.
While the practice fields might have been a little wet on Wednesday, the Cowboys moved practice to AT&T Stadium so they could practice indoors with crowd noise. Obnoxiously loud crowd noise. Arrowhead Stadium was loud in their Week 2 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, but the other road trips have not been obnoxiously loud.
“It’s definitely a very tough spot to play,” quarterback Tony Romo said. “The communication is difficult. I think if you’re relying on communicating to move the football, you’re going to be in trouble, especially against this defense. I think you just got to have the team and players understand their assignments and be ready to go.”
The Saints’ opponents in their first four home games have committed just one false start and that came on a punt. So far this season the Cowboys have 11 false-start penalties, which is 21st in the NFL but way down from last season when they finished 31st in the league with 28.
The Cowboys altered their silent snap count from earlier in the season and had the right guard -- either Brian Waters or Mackenzy Bernadeau -- tap center Travis Frederick when Romo calls for the ball.
“It definitely helps,” Frederick said of the practice work with crowd noise, “because you can get used to things without crowd noise. You talk about it more on the line whereas with the noise you just have to know what it is or if this person says something it means something. Before [without noise] you could kind of ask, ‘What do you think this is?’ There’s no questioning now. Somebody has to make the call and then you have to do it because there’s no way to communicate back and forth.”
November, 8, 2013
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com
IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys expect the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to be loud Sunday night when they play against the New Orleans Saints.
A night kickoff in New Orleans? Bourbon Street not far away? Yes, the fans will be ready.
While the practice fields might have been a little wet on Wednesday, the Cowboys moved practice to AT&T Stadium so they could practice indoors with crowd noise. Obnoxiously loud crowd noise. Arrowhead Stadium was loud in their Week 2 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, but the other road trips have not been obnoxiously loud.
“It’s definitely a very tough spot to play,” quarterback Tony Romo said. “The communication is difficult. I think if you’re relying on communicating to move the football, you’re going to be in trouble, especially against this defense. I think you just got to have the team and players understand their assignments and be ready to go.”
The Saints’ opponents in their first four home games have committed just one false start and that came on a punt. So far this season the Cowboys have 11 false-start penalties, which is 21st in the NFL but way down from last season when they finished 31st in the league with 28.
The Cowboys altered their silent snap count from earlier in the season and had the right guard -- either Brian Waters or Mackenzy Bernadeau -- tap center Travis Frederick when Romo calls for the ball.
“It definitely helps,” Frederick said of the practice work with crowd noise, “because you can get used to things without crowd noise. You talk about it more on the line whereas with the noise you just have to know what it is or if this person says something it means something. Before [without noise] you could kind of ask, ‘What do you think this is?’ There’s no questioning now. Somebody has to make the call and then you have to do it because there’s no way to communicate back and forth.”
L.T. Fan
I'm Easy If You Are
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Of course. It's always in the game plan. Safe statement.
Cowboysrule122
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Yup, at least 9 times.
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Matchup to Watch: Dallas Cowboys LB Bruce Carter vs. Saints RB Darren Sproles
By RAINER SABIN
12:00 pm on November 9, 2013 | Permalink
When the Cowboys began installing the 4-3 defense this past off-season, many predicted that third-year veteran Bruce Carter would thrive as a weakside linebacker. He was big, fast and instinctive. He seemed an ideal fit for the scheme. But Carter has struggled and lost playing time as well as his starting position to Ernie Sims.
After coming back and performing well in the second half of Dallas’ 27-23 victory over Minnesota, Carter will now face a tough task defending New Orleans’ Darren Sproles. Carter, who gave up two touchdown catches to San Diego’s Danny Woodhead in a September loss, will have to supply better coverage against Sproles, a player who thrives in space.
The 5-6 Sproles, who suffered a concussion last Sunday and is listed as probable on the team’s injury report, has made 37 receptions for 368 yards and a touchdown this season. And he won’t be easy to defend for Carter, who has allowed 23 of the 35 passes thrown his way to be completed for 266 yards and three touchdowns. He’ll need to perform better Sunday to keep Sproles at bay.
By RAINER SABIN
12:00 pm on November 9, 2013 | Permalink
When the Cowboys began installing the 4-3 defense this past off-season, many predicted that third-year veteran Bruce Carter would thrive as a weakside linebacker. He was big, fast and instinctive. He seemed an ideal fit for the scheme. But Carter has struggled and lost playing time as well as his starting position to Ernie Sims.
After coming back and performing well in the second half of Dallas’ 27-23 victory over Minnesota, Carter will now face a tough task defending New Orleans’ Darren Sproles. Carter, who gave up two touchdown catches to San Diego’s Danny Woodhead in a September loss, will have to supply better coverage against Sproles, a player who thrives in space.
The 5-6 Sproles, who suffered a concussion last Sunday and is listed as probable on the team’s injury report, has made 37 receptions for 368 yards and a touchdown this season. And he won’t be easy to defend for Carter, who has allowed 23 of the 35 passes thrown his way to be completed for 266 yards and three touchdowns. He’ll need to perform better Sunday to keep Sproles at bay.
Genghis Khan
The worst version of myself
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We seem to struggle against the 3-4 don't we?
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We did against KC, and a little against Philly. But Ryan is running more of a hybrid in New Orleans.
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Spagnola: These Numbers Simply Jumble Logic
Posted 13 hours ago
Mickey Spagnola DallasCowboys.com
IRVING, Texas – Oh boy, here they go again, and already know what you’re thinking, causing some high anxiety heading into Sunday night’s game in Na’ Orlins’.
Cowboys-Saints, in the Superdome, and of all things, at night, 7:30 CT, about as bad as it can get if you figure some 73,000 will have all day to get juiced for this game, as if the folks down there on the bayous need any artificial aid to get ready for a game involving their beloved Saints.
Drew Brees vs. that Cowboys’ 31st-ranked defense.
Yikes!
I mean, geesh, one week the Cowboys have to face Philip Rivers, currently the NFL’s third-ranked quarterback. The next it’s Peyton Manning, the league’s top-ranked quarterback. Then RGIII, and thank goodness he was still on the mend.
Then it’s LeSean McCoy, who at the time and still is the NFL’s leading rusher. Then the dynamic duo of Stafford/Johnson, the seventh-leading passer teaming up with the third leader in receiving yards. Then it’s Adrian Peterson, the sure-fire Hall of Famer who is fourth in the NFL in rushing yards and tied for second with seven rushing touchdowns.
And if all that is not enough to make your defensive heads spin, now comes Brees, his 104.5 passer rating fourth in the NFL, along with tight end Jimmy Graham, the NFL’s leading scorer among non-kickers with 10 touchdowns, two more than Jacksonville has scored all season and just three fewer than what Tampa Bay has scored.
Talk about a Murderers’ Row. That’ll just wear you out.
Now, it’s bad enough this game will match the league’s third-ranked passing attack against the 31st-ranked pass defense, one that in nine games has been rocked for four, 400-yard passing performances by opposing quarterbacks – an ignominious single-season NFL record. But, it’s also a defense that already has been hit for a franchise single-game-high 488 passing yards by an opposing quarterback (Matthew Stafford) and a franchise single-game high of 329 receiving yards by an opposing receiver (Calvin Johnson)
Oh, and this: The Cowboys have given up 36 passing plays of at least 20 yards, and then another 32 running plays of at least 10 yards, including last Sunday’s season-high 52-yard run by Peterson.
But it gets worse.
Sure, the Cowboys are rejoicing over the return of sackmeister DeMarcus Ware, scheduled to play his first game in a month come Sunday night in New Orleans, having been nursing a debilitating quad injury.
But … but … the Cowboys just might be without their two starting defensive tackles, Jason Hatcher, the team’s leader in sacks (seven), still trying to regain feeling in his left arm after suffering another stinger in his left shoulder/neck that knocked him out of the Minnesota game, and Nick Hayden, a guy who didn’t play all last season but has started all nine games this year – just four short of his previous five-season total – still recuperating from the rib injury also suffered against the Vikings. They will be game-time decisions, Hatcher listed as questionable and Hayden surprisingly probable.
This on top of being forced to waive defensive tackle Marvin Austin injured at the beginning of the week and poaching rookie defensive tackle Everett Dawkins off the Minnesota practice squad, meaning if Dawkins plays this week as last week’s no-name signee Everette Brown did on short preparation against the Vikings, he will become the 17th defensive lineman to play in a regular-season game for the Cowboys in just 10 weeks.
Indeed, it’s time to incorporate the idea of former scouting director Larry Lacewell of erecting a Statue of Liberty replica out front of The Ranch, as if a Cowboys’ help-wanted ad one year when injuries equally had decimated the team:
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses …
Right?
Who ever heard of getting ready to play your 17th defensive lineman by the 10th game of a season. Being able to name all 17 is sure to become some sort of Trivial Pursuit brainteaser?
Worse, by my count, and hey, not saying someone didn’t fall through the cracks, but Dawkins also becomes the 32nd defensive lineman to have passed through Cowboys rights since the start of the offseason.
You’d think some devilish looking creature in a black cap is at the doorstep howling some ghoulish-sounding ha-ha-hah with the incongruous Saints about to march right in.
Yeah, yeah, we all know about “the next guy up” Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett keeps preaching, but this next, next-guy-up Dawkins has never played a down in an NFL regular-season game, and that on the heels of last week’s NGU not having previously played in a game since 2011. Oh, and let’s not forget the likes of Casaer Rayford and Jason Vega making their NFL debuts this season, too, with the Cowboys.
And some of you wondered why the Cowboys were overly patient with Jay Ratliff. Heck, they might be one injury away from trying to convince Wednesday night’s Cowboys Legends Show guest Randy White to reconsider having retired even if he’s 60 years old.
Having said all that, here is what is so frustrating about a Cowboys defense being held together at times with duct tape:
The Cowboys’ 31st-ranked total defense is giving up 419.2 yards a game, on pace to obliterate last year’s franchise single-season record of 355.5 yards. The Cowboys’ 31st-ranked pass defense is getting burned for 305.2 yards per game, another on pace to break the 1983 franchise single-season record of 245.5 passing by opponents.
That’s unbelievable.
But so is this: This same defensive unit, one giving up those gobs of yards and decimated by injuries, is tied for second in the NFL with 21 takeaways. Twenty-one, now, as many in nine games as the Cowboys had all of last season.
Go figure.
Check this out further. Already the Cowboys have intercepted 12 passes, five more than all of last season. And the nine fumble recoveries in nine games matches last year’s 16-game total.
And since this team has significantly cut down on its own turnovers, the Cowboys are sitting there with a plus-10 turnover differential, second in the league to Kansas City’s plus-15. Why, the last time the Cowboys finished a season plus-10 when it came to turnovers was 1999.
Oh, and sacks, a vitally important commodity when playing the pass-happy 6-2 Saints: The Cowboys, without three of their projected four starting defensive lineman these past three weeks and could be in the same boat if Hatcher isn’t lining up next to the returning Ware on Sunday, have totaled 23 sacks, so on pace for 41 – seven more than last season’s 34.
So as you can see, this defense being riddled by loads of opponent yards is surviving on sacks and takeaways while giving up at least 30 points in four of the nine games, but limiting three opponents to no more than 17 points.
Just doesn’t make much sense, does it? And that’s the frustrating part of this season, that and an offense that has been somewhat inconsistent.
Well, while numbers don’t lie, maybe they have become somewhat misleading because in the game the Cowboys set the opponent franchise-high of 623 total yards and an opposing quarterback franchise high of 488 passing yards, they only lost by one point, 31-30, to Detroit on the road. And the winning touchdown wasn’t scored until the final 12 seconds of the game.
Continue to go figure.
And maybe all this numerical deciphering is the biggest problem here. Maybe we’re not supposed to worry so about all these debilitating numbers since only two count, right? The 5 and the 4, their record, desperately trying to enter next week’s bye at 6-4.
And wouldn’t that be something.
Posted 13 hours ago
Mickey Spagnola DallasCowboys.com
IRVING, Texas – Oh boy, here they go again, and already know what you’re thinking, causing some high anxiety heading into Sunday night’s game in Na’ Orlins’.
Cowboys-Saints, in the Superdome, and of all things, at night, 7:30 CT, about as bad as it can get if you figure some 73,000 will have all day to get juiced for this game, as if the folks down there on the bayous need any artificial aid to get ready for a game involving their beloved Saints.
Drew Brees vs. that Cowboys’ 31st-ranked defense.
Yikes!
I mean, geesh, one week the Cowboys have to face Philip Rivers, currently the NFL’s third-ranked quarterback. The next it’s Peyton Manning, the league’s top-ranked quarterback. Then RGIII, and thank goodness he was still on the mend.
Then it’s LeSean McCoy, who at the time and still is the NFL’s leading rusher. Then the dynamic duo of Stafford/Johnson, the seventh-leading passer teaming up with the third leader in receiving yards. Then it’s Adrian Peterson, the sure-fire Hall of Famer who is fourth in the NFL in rushing yards and tied for second with seven rushing touchdowns.
And if all that is not enough to make your defensive heads spin, now comes Brees, his 104.5 passer rating fourth in the NFL, along with tight end Jimmy Graham, the NFL’s leading scorer among non-kickers with 10 touchdowns, two more than Jacksonville has scored all season and just three fewer than what Tampa Bay has scored.
Talk about a Murderers’ Row. That’ll just wear you out.
Now, it’s bad enough this game will match the league’s third-ranked passing attack against the 31st-ranked pass defense, one that in nine games has been rocked for four, 400-yard passing performances by opposing quarterbacks – an ignominious single-season NFL record. But, it’s also a defense that already has been hit for a franchise single-game-high 488 passing yards by an opposing quarterback (Matthew Stafford) and a franchise single-game high of 329 receiving yards by an opposing receiver (Calvin Johnson)
Oh, and this: The Cowboys have given up 36 passing plays of at least 20 yards, and then another 32 running plays of at least 10 yards, including last Sunday’s season-high 52-yard run by Peterson.
But it gets worse.
Sure, the Cowboys are rejoicing over the return of sackmeister DeMarcus Ware, scheduled to play his first game in a month come Sunday night in New Orleans, having been nursing a debilitating quad injury.
But … but … the Cowboys just might be without their two starting defensive tackles, Jason Hatcher, the team’s leader in sacks (seven), still trying to regain feeling in his left arm after suffering another stinger in his left shoulder/neck that knocked him out of the Minnesota game, and Nick Hayden, a guy who didn’t play all last season but has started all nine games this year – just four short of his previous five-season total – still recuperating from the rib injury also suffered against the Vikings. They will be game-time decisions, Hatcher listed as questionable and Hayden surprisingly probable.
This on top of being forced to waive defensive tackle Marvin Austin injured at the beginning of the week and poaching rookie defensive tackle Everett Dawkins off the Minnesota practice squad, meaning if Dawkins plays this week as last week’s no-name signee Everette Brown did on short preparation against the Vikings, he will become the 17th defensive lineman to play in a regular-season game for the Cowboys in just 10 weeks.
Indeed, it’s time to incorporate the idea of former scouting director Larry Lacewell of erecting a Statue of Liberty replica out front of The Ranch, as if a Cowboys’ help-wanted ad one year when injuries equally had decimated the team:
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses …
Right?
Who ever heard of getting ready to play your 17th defensive lineman by the 10th game of a season. Being able to name all 17 is sure to become some sort of Trivial Pursuit brainteaser?
Worse, by my count, and hey, not saying someone didn’t fall through the cracks, but Dawkins also becomes the 32nd defensive lineman to have passed through Cowboys rights since the start of the offseason.
You’d think some devilish looking creature in a black cap is at the doorstep howling some ghoulish-sounding ha-ha-hah with the incongruous Saints about to march right in.
Yeah, yeah, we all know about “the next guy up” Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett keeps preaching, but this next, next-guy-up Dawkins has never played a down in an NFL regular-season game, and that on the heels of last week’s NGU not having previously played in a game since 2011. Oh, and let’s not forget the likes of Casaer Rayford and Jason Vega making their NFL debuts this season, too, with the Cowboys.
And some of you wondered why the Cowboys were overly patient with Jay Ratliff. Heck, they might be one injury away from trying to convince Wednesday night’s Cowboys Legends Show guest Randy White to reconsider having retired even if he’s 60 years old.
Having said all that, here is what is so frustrating about a Cowboys defense being held together at times with duct tape:
The Cowboys’ 31st-ranked total defense is giving up 419.2 yards a game, on pace to obliterate last year’s franchise single-season record of 355.5 yards. The Cowboys’ 31st-ranked pass defense is getting burned for 305.2 yards per game, another on pace to break the 1983 franchise single-season record of 245.5 passing by opponents.
That’s unbelievable.
But so is this: This same defensive unit, one giving up those gobs of yards and decimated by injuries, is tied for second in the NFL with 21 takeaways. Twenty-one, now, as many in nine games as the Cowboys had all of last season.
Go figure.
Check this out further. Already the Cowboys have intercepted 12 passes, five more than all of last season. And the nine fumble recoveries in nine games matches last year’s 16-game total.
And since this team has significantly cut down on its own turnovers, the Cowboys are sitting there with a plus-10 turnover differential, second in the league to Kansas City’s plus-15. Why, the last time the Cowboys finished a season plus-10 when it came to turnovers was 1999.
Oh, and sacks, a vitally important commodity when playing the pass-happy 6-2 Saints: The Cowboys, without three of their projected four starting defensive lineman these past three weeks and could be in the same boat if Hatcher isn’t lining up next to the returning Ware on Sunday, have totaled 23 sacks, so on pace for 41 – seven more than last season’s 34.
So as you can see, this defense being riddled by loads of opponent yards is surviving on sacks and takeaways while giving up at least 30 points in four of the nine games, but limiting three opponents to no more than 17 points.
Just doesn’t make much sense, does it? And that’s the frustrating part of this season, that and an offense that has been somewhat inconsistent.
Well, while numbers don’t lie, maybe they have become somewhat misleading because in the game the Cowboys set the opponent franchise-high of 623 total yards and an opposing quarterback franchise high of 488 passing yards, they only lost by one point, 31-30, to Detroit on the road. And the winning touchdown wasn’t scored until the final 12 seconds of the game.
Continue to go figure.
And maybe all this numerical deciphering is the biggest problem here. Maybe we’re not supposed to worry so about all these debilitating numbers since only two count, right? The 5 and the 4, their record, desperately trying to enter next week’s bye at 6-4.
And wouldn’t that be something.