Pressure Point
Pressure Point
By Steve Cox, aka Ramhoss
Cowboys Central Staff Writer
DeMarcus Ware and Greg Ellis, consider your selves on notice. Officially un-official.
Chris Canty, Marcus Spears, and Bobby Carpenter, you too.
As a matter of fact, let’s just go ahead and issue a defense wide proclamation: We Need Sacks!
That’s right, sacks, and lots of them. The sack may be the best way to gauge the success of this defense. I say this because the sack is the gateway to having a great defense. Look at last seasons Super Bowlers, the Seahawks and Steelers. Both teams are among the elite in the league in sack production. They understand that when you get the sacks, you’ll get the interceptions, the fumbles, and the wins.
It has been said that it’s not actually the tackling of the quarterback, but the pressure that’s applied that makes the difference. While there is some truth to that, this team needs both. Dallas needs that pressure, sure. The opposing quarterback needs to bumped, tripped, and prodded into making poor decisions and releasing poor passes that the secondary can feast on. Heck, everybody and their Aunt Susan know that the more turnovers you force the better chance of winning you have.
The Cowboys need to take it a step further. They need to sling, slam, and jar the quarterback to ground. Make him eat turf. Ring his bell. Force that quarterback into those bad decisions and letting go of those awkward passes on third and twenty five.
Enter Mr. Ware and Mr. Ellis. The two best pass rushers the Cowboys will put on the field this season. They both need to come up big. And about eight yards behind the line of scrimmage. Last season the two combined for sixteen sacks. That’s pretty respectable, but not impressive.
Ware now has a year under his belt. He showed flashes as a rookie, but was also inconsistent. This year, he needs to show the world that Shawn Merriman is not the only stud second year linebacker roaming the field. He showed improvement last season as the year wore on in the unsung areas of the game, run support and pass coverage. That’s fantastic, but Ware needs to butter his bread with sacks.
Greg Ellis, say hello to linebacker. I know it’s strange and confusing. Look on the bright side, no more battles with 350 pound behemoths with faces not even a mother could love. No more of that. Now you get to man up with tight ends and backs, a dream come true for any defender. The coverage stuff is still scary, but it will come. Until that time, keep on harassing those pocket sitting pretty boys.
Ware and Ellis can’t accomplish this new goal alone. No, sir. They’ll need help from the entire front seven, and a dash of Roy Williams for extra flavor. If the defense as a unit can make the lives of quarterbacks miserable, those interceptions and fumbles will come. And so will the wins. The proof is in the pudding.
The last time Dallas sniffed post season success was way back in 1996. Coincidently, that was the last season that a Dallas defender corralled double digit sacks. Tony Tolbert was the gentleman’s name for those interested. That’s a long time ago, a whole decade. Three Presidential elections and nine Super Bowls have come and gone. Its high time Dallas bridged the gap.
So the notice has been posted, and word is out. Byron Leftwich, I hope you read it too. For safety’s sake.
By Steve Cox, aka Ramhoss
Cowboys Central Staff Writer
DeMarcus Ware and Greg Ellis, consider your selves on notice. Officially un-official.
Chris Canty, Marcus Spears, and Bobby Carpenter, you too.
As a matter of fact, let’s just go ahead and issue a defense wide proclamation: We Need Sacks!
That’s right, sacks, and lots of them. The sack may be the best way to gauge the success of this defense. I say this because the sack is the gateway to having a great defense. Look at last seasons Super Bowlers, the Seahawks and Steelers. Both teams are among the elite in the league in sack production. They understand that when you get the sacks, you’ll get the interceptions, the fumbles, and the wins.
It has been said that it’s not actually the tackling of the quarterback, but the pressure that’s applied that makes the difference. While there is some truth to that, this team needs both. Dallas needs that pressure, sure. The opposing quarterback needs to bumped, tripped, and prodded into making poor decisions and releasing poor passes that the secondary can feast on. Heck, everybody and their Aunt Susan know that the more turnovers you force the better chance of winning you have.
The Cowboys need to take it a step further. They need to sling, slam, and jar the quarterback to ground. Make him eat turf. Ring his bell. Force that quarterback into those bad decisions and letting go of those awkward passes on third and twenty five.
Enter Mr. Ware and Mr. Ellis. The two best pass rushers the Cowboys will put on the field this season. They both need to come up big. And about eight yards behind the line of scrimmage. Last season the two combined for sixteen sacks. That’s pretty respectable, but not impressive.
Ware now has a year under his belt. He showed flashes as a rookie, but was also inconsistent. This year, he needs to show the world that Shawn Merriman is not the only stud second year linebacker roaming the field. He showed improvement last season as the year wore on in the unsung areas of the game, run support and pass coverage. That’s fantastic, but Ware needs to butter his bread with sacks.
Greg Ellis, say hello to linebacker. I know it’s strange and confusing. Look on the bright side, no more battles with 350 pound behemoths with faces not even a mother could love. No more of that. Now you get to man up with tight ends and backs, a dream come true for any defender. The coverage stuff is still scary, but it will come. Until that time, keep on harassing those pocket sitting pretty boys.
Ware and Ellis can’t accomplish this new goal alone. No, sir. They’ll need help from the entire front seven, and a dash of Roy Williams for extra flavor. If the defense as a unit can make the lives of quarterbacks miserable, those interceptions and fumbles will come. And so will the wins. The proof is in the pudding.
The last time Dallas sniffed post season success was way back in 1996. Coincidently, that was the last season that a Dallas defender corralled double digit sacks. Tony Tolbert was the gentleman’s name for those interested. That’s a long time ago, a whole decade. Three Presidential elections and nine Super Bowls have come and gone. Its high time Dallas bridged the gap.
So the notice has been posted, and word is out. Byron Leftwich, I hope you read it too. For safety’s sake.
posted by The Gryphon at 2:48 PM
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