JJT: Cowboys show a way to Super Bowl
Dallas held Seattle's Alexander, Carolina's Smith in check
09:37 PM CST on Friday, January 20, 2006
Jean-Jacques Taylor
SEATTLE – Seattle running back Shaun Alexander is the NFL's Most Valuable Player. After Carolina receiver Steve Smith caught 12 passes for 218 yards in a playoff win over Chicago last week, some thought he should won the award. The Cowboys shut down Alexander and Smith. So if Seattle coach Mike Holmgren and Carolina coach John Fox are doing their due diligence, then they popped in DVDs and studied how the Cowboys' defense made two of the NFL's best players nonfactors. Alexander, who led the NFL with 1,880 yards rushing and 28 touchdowns, managed 61 yards on 21 carries with a long of 11 against Dallas. For perspective, consider Alexander led the NFL with 54 runs of 10 yards or more and averaged 5.1 yards per carry. The Cowboys stopped Alexander because they thought he was soft. They say he runs high and looks for the sideline more than running over a defender to pick up an extra yard. That's a nice way of saying they didn't respect him. They did respect left guard Steve Hutchinson and left tackle Walter Jones, but the Cowboys thought they could make Alexander lose his desire to run by hitting him hard and swarming to the ball. There have always been questions about Alexander's toughness, which is one reason the Seahawks have refused to give him the lucrative long-term deal he craves, even though he has been the league's most productive runner the last two seasons. It didn't help Alexander's reputation when he suffered a concussion in the first half of last week's NFC divisional playoff victory over Washington and missed the rest of the game. Alexander said he doesn't feel any pressure to turn in a better performance Sunday against Carolina in the NFC Championship Game. "Nobody could put more pressure on me than I put on myself," Alexander said Friday at a news conference. "I put extreme pressure on myself to perform and do something more amazing than I've already done every time I step on the field." Although the Cowboys didn't respect Alexander's game, they did respect Smith. Smith, who led the NFL in receptions (103) and yards (1,563), managed one catch for 18 yards against Dallas. Now, you can argue that he would've caught more passes, if he hadn't been ejected with about six minutes left in the third quarter. He did not do anything to suggest that the first 2 ½ quarters were an aberration. They respected him so much they deviated from their usual game plan and asked cornerback Terence Newman to shadow him. Dallas asked Newman to be physical with Smith at the line of scrimmage. They wanted him bumped, pushed and mauled as much as possible within the five-yard area that defensive backs are allowed to touch receivers. They also double covered him nearly every play. Most teams double Smith often, the Cowboys took it to an extreme. Even when they didn't double him, they had safeties Roy Williams or Keith Davis disguise their coverage until the ball was snapped. Most of the time, the safeties hold their faux position until just before the ball is snapped, so they're in the right spot when the play begins. Smith, who had nine 100-yard games, had 150 passes thrown to him this season. Against Dallas, quarterback Jake Delhomme threw him two passes. Drew Carter beat Dallas for a touchdown as did Ricky Proehl. The Cowboys didn't care. As long as Smith didn't do any damage they were happy. Dallas missed the playoffs, but the Cowboys hold the secret to winning the NFC and getting to the Super Bowl. Perhaps that provides coach Bill Parcells and owner Jerry Jones some solace. E-mail jjtaylor@dallasnews.com
09:37 PM CST on Friday, January 20, 2006
Jean-Jacques Taylor
SEATTLE – Seattle running back Shaun Alexander is the NFL's Most Valuable Player. After Carolina receiver Steve Smith caught 12 passes for 218 yards in a playoff win over Chicago last week, some thought he should won the award. The Cowboys shut down Alexander and Smith. So if Seattle coach Mike Holmgren and Carolina coach John Fox are doing their due diligence, then they popped in DVDs and studied how the Cowboys' defense made two of the NFL's best players nonfactors. Alexander, who led the NFL with 1,880 yards rushing and 28 touchdowns, managed 61 yards on 21 carries with a long of 11 against Dallas. For perspective, consider Alexander led the NFL with 54 runs of 10 yards or more and averaged 5.1 yards per carry. The Cowboys stopped Alexander because they thought he was soft. They say he runs high and looks for the sideline more than running over a defender to pick up an extra yard. That's a nice way of saying they didn't respect him. They did respect left guard Steve Hutchinson and left tackle Walter Jones, but the Cowboys thought they could make Alexander lose his desire to run by hitting him hard and swarming to the ball. There have always been questions about Alexander's toughness, which is one reason the Seahawks have refused to give him the lucrative long-term deal he craves, even though he has been the league's most productive runner the last two seasons. It didn't help Alexander's reputation when he suffered a concussion in the first half of last week's NFC divisional playoff victory over Washington and missed the rest of the game. Alexander said he doesn't feel any pressure to turn in a better performance Sunday against Carolina in the NFC Championship Game. "Nobody could put more pressure on me than I put on myself," Alexander said Friday at a news conference. "I put extreme pressure on myself to perform and do something more amazing than I've already done every time I step on the field." Although the Cowboys didn't respect Alexander's game, they did respect Smith. Smith, who led the NFL in receptions (103) and yards (1,563), managed one catch for 18 yards against Dallas. Now, you can argue that he would've caught more passes, if he hadn't been ejected with about six minutes left in the third quarter. He did not do anything to suggest that the first 2 ½ quarters were an aberration. They respected him so much they deviated from their usual game plan and asked cornerback Terence Newman to shadow him. Dallas asked Newman to be physical with Smith at the line of scrimmage. They wanted him bumped, pushed and mauled as much as possible within the five-yard area that defensive backs are allowed to touch receivers. They also double covered him nearly every play. Most teams double Smith often, the Cowboys took it to an extreme. Even when they didn't double him, they had safeties Roy Williams or Keith Davis disguise their coverage until the ball was snapped. Most of the time, the safeties hold their faux position until just before the ball is snapped, so they're in the right spot when the play begins. Smith, who had nine 100-yard games, had 150 passes thrown to him this season. Against Dallas, quarterback Jake Delhomme threw him two passes. Drew Carter beat Dallas for a touchdown as did Ricky Proehl. The Cowboys didn't care. As long as Smith didn't do any damage they were happy. Dallas missed the playoffs, but the Cowboys hold the secret to winning the NFC and getting to the Super Bowl. Perhaps that provides coach Bill Parcells and owner Jerry Jones some solace. E-mail jjtaylor@dallasnews.com
posted by The Gryphon at 10:17 AM
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