Spelling Doomsday for opponents?
By JIM REEVES
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Look, just to set the record straight from the get-go, I didn't bring this up. I won't say it wasn't what I was looking for when I made the call, but it didn't take much prodding to get it laid out right there on the table.
So blame Brad Sham, OK? He said it first.
"Doomsday III."
I can feel the shudder rippling through the halls of Valley Ranch even as I invoke the name. It's that sacred...or heretical, depending on which way you're looking at it.
But that's what some people who have watched this Cowboys defense coming together over the last couple of seasons are whispering.
"I'm thinking Doomsday III," Sham said Friday, the morning after the Cowboys' 10-10 overtime tie with Minnesota in (thank heavens) their final preseason game of the year.
Just like that, he said it. I won't say I didn't duck, half expecting the lightning strike that would disintegrate Brad into a gazillion little pieces to come right on down the phone line and find me, too.
Didn't happen though. He said it, I heard it, and we've both lived to tell about it.
So far.
"Based on all my years of coaching," the voice of the Cowboys said, couching his words so that everyone would know they're coming from someone who sits in the broadcast booth, not on Mount Olympus with Bill Parcells, "and keeping in mind that I know absolutely nothing about what I'm talking about, that's what I'm thinking."
Good grief. That good, huh?
If that doesn't set every Cowboys fan's fanny tingling, I'm not sure what will, beyond the return of Roger Staubach or Troy Aikman.
I wanted to recommend a cold compress and a handful of aspirin, anything to knock the fever down, but the fact is, Bradley may be right.
"Barring injury, I think they are just real solid," Sham said.
Until Thursday night, the first-team defense hadn't given up a touchdown in the preseason. That it came on a 98-yard drive by the Vikings didn't faze Sham a bit.
"What you have to remember is that you haven't seen their scheme yet," he said. "All you've seen is their individual players playing."
And that's looked pretty good.
Sham isn't alone out there in thinking this Cowboys defense can be scary good.
"Maybe not the Steelers of the '70s, Eagles of the '90s and not the '85 Bears," KTVT/Channel 11 sports anchor and former Cowboys quarterback Babe Laufenberg said. "But I think they can be pretty darn good. If they can stay healthy, I'd be surprised if it's not a top 10 defense."
Of course, if they're not the "Steel Curtain" or at least the '90s Eagles, then they're not even close to Doomsday I or even II, but everything's relative.
"I'm not saying it's going to be the '85 Bears, but in the 21st century and what the NFL is now, I think it'll be pretty good," Sham said. "They have a swagger developing and my expectation is that by the end of the year, they'll have quite a swagger."
It takes talented players to have a defense that earns a nickname that sticks through the ages, like Doomsday, or Steel Curtain, or Purple People Eaters.
Do the Cowboys of today have a Bob Lilly, who anchored the defensive line in the '70s, or a Randy White-Harvey Martin tandem, who helped revive the nickname in the late '70s and '80s?
Not yet. But this is a defense that certainly doesn't lack for talent. Great things are already expected of DeMarcus Ware and Marcus Spears, both in their second seasons. Same goes for Chris Canty, Bradie James and Kevin Burnett.
Throw in veterans such as Greg Ellis and Jason Ferguson, and a secondary with great cover corners and a safety in Roy Williams who hits like a Mack truck, and it's no wonder the sky's the limit.
"This is the main reason I think they're going to be that good, and it's based on talking to them over the course of the summer: They really like each other," said Sham, who is about to begin his 28th season in the Cowboys' booth. "They really like playing together and they have a lot of leaders. They don't rely on one guy to stand up in the room and take charge."
The one thing that has so far prevented this defense from already becoming known as one of the NFL's best is a lack of big-time playmakers and postseason exposure. The Cowboys had just 26 takeaways last season. Only New Orleans and Green Bay were worse. That has to change.
"You have to be able to make negative plays against the other team's offense," Laufenberg pointed out. "Last year, Seattle was not a great statistical defense [13], but they were first in the NFL in sacks; Pittsburgh was third.
"You have to make negative plays, either with sacks, tackles behind the line of scrimmage, fumbles or interceptions."
That's the key to greatness.
"They may not have anybody with 20 sacks," Sham said. "They may not have anybody with 15 interceptions. But I think they are very well coached.
"I think they are very intelligent and high-character people. They're all big and strong and fast. I don't know if they have a Bob Lilly or Randy White. But they have tremendous cohesion. That's what reminds me of those defenses they had with [Tom] Landry."
Doomsday III.
Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Look, just to set the record straight from the get-go, I didn't bring this up. I won't say it wasn't what I was looking for when I made the call, but it didn't take much prodding to get it laid out right there on the table.
So blame Brad Sham, OK? He said it first.
"Doomsday III."
I can feel the shudder rippling through the halls of Valley Ranch even as I invoke the name. It's that sacred...or heretical, depending on which way you're looking at it.
But that's what some people who have watched this Cowboys defense coming together over the last couple of seasons are whispering.
"I'm thinking Doomsday III," Sham said Friday, the morning after the Cowboys' 10-10 overtime tie with Minnesota in (thank heavens) their final preseason game of the year.
Just like that, he said it. I won't say I didn't duck, half expecting the lightning strike that would disintegrate Brad into a gazillion little pieces to come right on down the phone line and find me, too.
Didn't happen though. He said it, I heard it, and we've both lived to tell about it.
So far.
"Based on all my years of coaching," the voice of the Cowboys said, couching his words so that everyone would know they're coming from someone who sits in the broadcast booth, not on Mount Olympus with Bill Parcells, "and keeping in mind that I know absolutely nothing about what I'm talking about, that's what I'm thinking."
Good grief. That good, huh?
If that doesn't set every Cowboys fan's fanny tingling, I'm not sure what will, beyond the return of Roger Staubach or Troy Aikman.
I wanted to recommend a cold compress and a handful of aspirin, anything to knock the fever down, but the fact is, Bradley may be right.
"Barring injury, I think they are just real solid," Sham said.
Until Thursday night, the first-team defense hadn't given up a touchdown in the preseason. That it came on a 98-yard drive by the Vikings didn't faze Sham a bit.
"What you have to remember is that you haven't seen their scheme yet," he said. "All you've seen is their individual players playing."
And that's looked pretty good.
Sham isn't alone out there in thinking this Cowboys defense can be scary good.
"Maybe not the Steelers of the '70s, Eagles of the '90s and not the '85 Bears," KTVT/Channel 11 sports anchor and former Cowboys quarterback Babe Laufenberg said. "But I think they can be pretty darn good. If they can stay healthy, I'd be surprised if it's not a top 10 defense."
Of course, if they're not the "Steel Curtain" or at least the '90s Eagles, then they're not even close to Doomsday I or even II, but everything's relative.
"I'm not saying it's going to be the '85 Bears, but in the 21st century and what the NFL is now, I think it'll be pretty good," Sham said. "They have a swagger developing and my expectation is that by the end of the year, they'll have quite a swagger."
It takes talented players to have a defense that earns a nickname that sticks through the ages, like Doomsday, or Steel Curtain, or Purple People Eaters.
Do the Cowboys of today have a Bob Lilly, who anchored the defensive line in the '70s, or a Randy White-Harvey Martin tandem, who helped revive the nickname in the late '70s and '80s?
Not yet. But this is a defense that certainly doesn't lack for talent. Great things are already expected of DeMarcus Ware and Marcus Spears, both in their second seasons. Same goes for Chris Canty, Bradie James and Kevin Burnett.
Throw in veterans such as Greg Ellis and Jason Ferguson, and a secondary with great cover corners and a safety in Roy Williams who hits like a Mack truck, and it's no wonder the sky's the limit.
"This is the main reason I think they're going to be that good, and it's based on talking to them over the course of the summer: They really like each other," said Sham, who is about to begin his 28th season in the Cowboys' booth. "They really like playing together and they have a lot of leaders. They don't rely on one guy to stand up in the room and take charge."
The one thing that has so far prevented this defense from already becoming known as one of the NFL's best is a lack of big-time playmakers and postseason exposure. The Cowboys had just 26 takeaways last season. Only New Orleans and Green Bay were worse. That has to change.
"You have to be able to make negative plays against the other team's offense," Laufenberg pointed out. "Last year, Seattle was not a great statistical defense [13], but they were first in the NFL in sacks; Pittsburgh was third.
"You have to make negative plays, either with sacks, tackles behind the line of scrimmage, fumbles or interceptions."
That's the key to greatness.
"They may not have anybody with 20 sacks," Sham said. "They may not have anybody with 15 interceptions. But I think they are very well coached.
"I think they are very intelligent and high-character people. They're all big and strong and fast. I don't know if they have a Bob Lilly or Randy White. But they have tremendous cohesion. That's what reminds me of those defenses they had with [Tom] Landry."
Doomsday III.
Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
posted by The Gryphon at 11:24 AM
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