Cowboys clash for the ages: NFL execs & Howard Mudd break down 2 all-time teams
By Mike Sando 2h ago
Charles Haley vs. Tyron Smith, Deion Sanders vs. Terrell Owens and so many other intriguing matchups popped off the page after
The Athletic’s Bob Sturm and Jon Machota drafted competing all-time Dallas Cowboys rosters this week. Those following the Cowboys through
The Athletic have likely seen Sturm and Machota critique the organization’s actual roster building. The time has come for a role reversal.
I’ve enlisted an all-star crew of experts to analyze these hand-picked fictional rosters featuring real Cowboys legends to declare a winning GM between Sturm and Machota. The panel includes two anonymous NFL evaluators plus esteemed offensive line coach Howard Mudd, who played or coached in the league from the mid-1960s into the 2010s, including with Indianapolis last season.
To assist these evaluators, we produced diagrams pitting Sturm’s offense vs. Machota’s defense and vice versa. The diagrams are so basic, they were borrowed from the Wikipedia page showing nickel offense/defense alignments. The idea was to show potential matchups and evaluate them. We added to the diagrams names from the players Sturm and Machota selected for their lineups. The evaluators operated mostly from these diagrams, offering insights into players and matchups. Mudd, himself a three-time Pro Bowl choice and member of the NFL’s 1960s All-Decade Team, explained his selections for the best offensive tackles in Cowboys history, in addition to thoughts on the key matchups up front.
We begin with Sturm’s nickel offense against Machota’s nickel defense.
Exec 1: Jon Machota has the better defense, that is for sure. But Bob’s team would be able to run the ball pretty well, I would think.
Mudd: Bob Lilly and Randy White are really, really slippery. I’d rather have the (Machota) defense in this matchup (against Sturm’s offense). Harvey Martin wasn’t such a slippery guy, but the other three were all really slippery. They beat people almost at the snap. That is what you were risking all the time with Bob Lilly or Randy White or Charles Haley. You could say, yeah, run the ball on them, but not really. Tyron Smith is good, he is athletic, but Charles Haley had some kind of other athletic gear to him.
Up front, the only matchup that would favor Bob’s team is Larry Allen against Harvey Martin. The best guard – maybe the best or most dominant offensive lineman that has ever played – is Larry Allen. There is a guy named Walt Jones in the Hall of Fame, and I have made the statement that I think he is the best that ever played, and Larry Allen to me is in that same category. But I would rather have Larry Allen at right guard than tackle. Put him at right guard and don’t even think about anyone else, although he could play both spots and did play tackle as a rookie in the NFC Championship Game against San Francisco.
Exec 2: Bob’s team has Nate Newton and Zack Martin, so you are really big inside. How would they do with Bob Lilly and Randy White’s quickness? Randy White was so damn quick. If Jon’s team got up and had the lead, Bob’s offense would be in trouble. Any offense would be. On the flip side, Bob’s team might pound the ball with that big line if they got ahead. In that case you’ve got (Troy) Aikman throwing 22 passes and Emmitt (Smith) running it 25 times.
Mudd: I’ve got a Bob Lilly story to tell you. I was in the game. I’m playing for the 49ers (in 1965), and they must have run a game or something like that. George Mira was the quarterback. He could throw a bullet. I’m in the middle of the pocket and Lilly is there, and I reach out – I’m going to hit him while he is jumping up – and he intercepted the pass right in front of me (returning it 17 yards for a touchdown). That is only three yards from the guy, and he just went ‘Pow;’ he had it. It was pretty cool. These guys were really special players.
Exec 1: Cornell Green on Michael Irvin is a good matchup. Back in the day, there weren’t many guys they took at corner and matched on a player. People played their defense, so you could get matchups you wanted. Nothing would stop us from traveling with Cornell Green on Michael Irvin if you wanted. Troy Aikman would make his money on the other side. Everson Walls was a really good player. He would guess and make a play, which is why he had so many interceptions, but he was limited and would give up plays too. He picked his spots. Your emphasis would be working on him and, of course, Byron Jones, who I don’t think is in the class with these other guys.
Exec 2: Cornell Green, Everson Walls, Byron Jones and Larry Brown (also on Jon’s defensive roster) are all kind of longer guys and not known for their speed, but if you look at the receivers they are going against, Michael Irvin and Drew Pearson weren’t speedsters. However, here comes Joey Galloway and Amari Cooper (off the bench for Bob’s team).
Exec 1: Darren Woodson should be in the Hall of Fame and, of course, Chuck Howley has been in that conversation. Woodson played linebacker, he played safety, he could play nickel in the slot. He kind of puts this defense over the top and is a little bit of a forgotten player just because they had so many stars on those ’90s teams. And then Lee Roy Jordan, as the middle linebacker in the ‘Flex’ defense, almost had to be smarter than good, if that makes sense, to change the alignments off the formation.
We continue with Machota’s nickel offense against Sturm’s nickel defense.
Exec 2: I would put Deion on T.O. and then roll towards Newman and Renfro. I’m glad you’ve got Brock Marion at safety instead of Roy Williams. Not that Marion was a great player, but he had more range, was more of a center fielder-type. Roy was better as a box player.
Exec 1: I like Terance Newman, but Kevin Smith was a better coverage guy, more flexible, good movement, change of direction, just a little better to me (Smith is on Bob’s bench, so moving him into the lineup would be possible).
Exec 2: Deion could lock down Terrell Owens.
Exec 1: Bigger guys were tougher for Deion, but the thing you were always worried about with Deion was, you get four completions against him but he takes one back for a touchdown. You had to be smart with what you did against him.
Exec 2: Bob Hayes was a vertical receiver, so you could roll coverage to him. T.O. was more versatile. Who is the receiver that can beat you the most, from short to deep, the slants and deep ins? On that team, I would say T.O. is the No. 1 receiver and then roll coverage to Hayes.
Exec 1: If you have Deion on the other side, you can do that. Just remember, you had to be scared to death of Bob Hayes. He did not have to catch a lot of balls. He might be the fastest guy that has ever played.
Mudd: The two best tackles that have played there (for Dallas) are Erik Williams and Rayfield Wright. That is my opinion. I would play Rayfield Wright at left tackle under this scenario. He was very athletic and had a lot of length. He didn’t ever have trouble with a speed rusher in his time. He is a prototypical tackle, and he’s in the Hall of Fame, like the other real athletic guys that played the position. And then Erik Williams could dominate his guy. From a strength standpoint, I’d put him up against Reggie White.
Exec 1: Erik Williams would just bury guys. He would drive a guy from the hash across the numbers, dive on top of him with his helmet first and just finish him. It would be a penalty today. Just incredible. It’s too bad he had the car accident (in 1994), or I think he might be in the Hall of Fame. He knew how to finish.
Mudd: If we were going to play a game (with Jon’s offensive line against Bob’s defensive line), I would feel very confident in matching up. This is how I would have said it: ‘I’ll be disappointed if you don’t handle them because you’re that much better, a couple of degrees better.’ Now, DeMarcus Ware is a werewolf, but I’d put Rayfield Wright over there, and he would probably be OK. La’Roi Glover was a very good player, but so was John Niland.
Exec 1: Both quarterbacks (Aikman on Bob’s team and Roger Staubach on Jon’s team) are Hall of Famers. Staubach’s movement was like Russell (Wilson), like (Patrick) Mahomes. You hear people say, ‘This guy has changed the game.’ Go back and watch Roger Staubach play. They couldn’t tackle his ass. The movement part of it was incredible. Then he would turn and make throws off it. He was really, really hard to defend. Roger, in this day and age with the field spread and everything the way it is – please. He would be a problem. Of course, he was a pretty big problem then.
Thoughts on the coaches
The coaching selections drew close scrutiny. There were no arguments against Tom Landry or Jimmy Johnson as head coaches, and all agreed Norv Turner was a solid choice as one of the offensive coordinators. Ernie Zampese, Dan Reeves, Mike Zimmer, Ernie Stautner and especially Dave Wannstedt were popular suggestions for some of the other spots. The guidelines Jon and Bob followed allowed them to fill coordinator spots with candidates best known as head coaches, with Dallas or elsewhere. That didn’t make sense to the execs.
Wannstedt coordinated or was a head coach for top-five scoring defenses with three organizations, including the 1992 Super Bowl champion Cowboys, and he did it using what had previously been a college scheme.
“Wannstedt should be in there,” one of the execs said. “He did a great job calling that defense. The game was different then, but you can’t control that. They shut people down, and had all those turnovers in the Super Bowl against Buffalo.”
Final verdict
Looking at the overall rosters, arguments were made for Darrin Smith being included at linebacker over Robert Jones, who was selected by Bob. There was a vote for Robert Newhouse at fullback (Jon and Bob drafted only three in Daryl Johnston, Don Perkins and Walt Garrison). A case was made that Mark Tuinei (drafted by Bob) should have been a starter. Ultimately, both rosters were stacked, featuring a combined 16 Hall of Famers, counting coaches, and a few more who might land in Canton eventually. There was much to like about these teams.
But if there has to be a winner? Both execs and Mudd generally favored Jon Machota’s team based largely on the matchups discussed here. Let the bragging commence.
