The 'Pretty Good Defense' Cowboys don’t deserve a nickname yet, so is 'good' enough?
By MAC ENGEL
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
IRVING — Linebacker Bradie James never said they were going to be Doomsday III. The Monsters of the Midway. The Steel Curtain. The Purple People Eaters. Or the 2000 Ravens.
No one on the Cowboys said they were going to be anything. Other people threw around the lofty names.
Certainly coach Bill Parcells has no such expectations for a defense that starts five first-round picks and a sixth first-rounder who plays. He doesn’t see one of the great all-time celebrity defenses. It’s more like the… 1998 New York Jets.
The Jets, who finished 12-4 in 1998, had a very good defense, but it was a defense that needed its offense. They allowed 293.7 yards and 16.6 points per game with 36 sacks, 21 interceptions and nine fumble recoveries.
“We have a chance to be a pretty good defense. Pretty good,” Parcells said. “I don’t know if we have a chance to be great. I don’t know if we have enough catalytic players to be great. I’m not sure. I mean, dynamic guys. We’ll see.”
Thus far, a defense that was projected to be one of the best in the NFL has been good. It has been nickel-and-dimed. It has been dominant. And it has been burned.
“We just need to be consistent,” defensive end Marcus Spears said.
“Up and down,” Parcells said.
“Inconsistent,” cornerback Aaron Glenn said.
If the Cowboys are going to be as good as they designed defensively, playing well Monday against the New York Giants is a good place to start. What lies ahead are road games and some of the NFL’s best offensive players.
“Everybody has been talking about, ‘potentially, we have all this talent,’” James said. “We have to find a way to put some wins together so when we come back home we’ll be in a better mood and we’ll know who we are.”
Who they are right now, statistically, is the sixth-best defense in the NFL. No. 1 against the run, too.
But — and the Cowboys admit this themselves — the numbers are asterisk-laden. It’s what the Cowboys do against the good offenses. And the good offenses are coming. The fantasy football players are coming.
Eli Manning and Tiki Barber. Steve Smith. Anquan Boldin. Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister. Michael Vick. Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison. Donovan McNabb (again).
“This is as good a week to measure yourself how good you can be,” Glenn said. “If you look at this stretch of game coming up, there are some pretty good offenses. This week is an important week for the defense to really show what we can do.”
This is what they have done: Beat up Tennessee quarterback Vince Young in his debut as a starter. Beat up Washington minus Clinton Portis and made Mark Brunell look older than he really is, which is old. And slapped around the Houston Texans.
“We beat Houston … cool,” James said. “I’m going to be real with myself, and on defense, we have to be real.”
That means acknowledging that against the “good offenses” the Cowboys are 0-2. They were unable to come up with vital stops in a Week 1 loss against Jacksonville. And although the offense coughed up five turnovers, the loss against Philadelphia in Week 5 might have been avoidable had the defense not yielded three plays for 187 yards, two of which were touchdowns and the other set up another.
“They didn’t run the ball on us; they didn’t trickle the ball down the field on us. It was three plays that allowed them to win,” linebacker Greg Ellis said.
What Parcells sees — and he’s either being honest or trying to jab his players — is a dearth of “catalytic” players who create turnovers and demand double-teams on every snap. The Cowboys rank 15th in turnovers forced and are tied for 14th in sacks.
Terence Newman is a shutdown corner. Roy Williams is a big hitter. Anthony Henry is a ballhawk. Ellis has been arguably the team MVP with 2.5 sacks, an interception and two forced fumbles. Jason Ferguson is a big reason why the run defense is solid.
But 2005 first-round picks Marcus Spears and DeMarcus Ware haven’t made a consistent impact. Neither has second-year pro Chris Canty. Parcells calls Ware raw.
Some of the pieces look good. Sometimes the package looks great. But it’s a defense that might not be capable of going it alone and winning games by itself.
“It’s good that it’s still early,” linebacker Akin Ayodele said. “For us, we’ve seen the good. We’ve seen the bad. We know what we’re capable of doing.”
According to the coach, what they are capable of doing is closer to the 1998 Jets, not the 1985 Bears.
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
IRVING — Linebacker Bradie James never said they were going to be Doomsday III. The Monsters of the Midway. The Steel Curtain. The Purple People Eaters. Or the 2000 Ravens.
No one on the Cowboys said they were going to be anything. Other people threw around the lofty names.
Certainly coach Bill Parcells has no such expectations for a defense that starts five first-round picks and a sixth first-rounder who plays. He doesn’t see one of the great all-time celebrity defenses. It’s more like the… 1998 New York Jets.
The Jets, who finished 12-4 in 1998, had a very good defense, but it was a defense that needed its offense. They allowed 293.7 yards and 16.6 points per game with 36 sacks, 21 interceptions and nine fumble recoveries.
“We have a chance to be a pretty good defense. Pretty good,” Parcells said. “I don’t know if we have a chance to be great. I don’t know if we have enough catalytic players to be great. I’m not sure. I mean, dynamic guys. We’ll see.”
Thus far, a defense that was projected to be one of the best in the NFL has been good. It has been nickel-and-dimed. It has been dominant. And it has been burned.
“We just need to be consistent,” defensive end Marcus Spears said.
“Up and down,” Parcells said.
“Inconsistent,” cornerback Aaron Glenn said.
If the Cowboys are going to be as good as they designed defensively, playing well Monday against the New York Giants is a good place to start. What lies ahead are road games and some of the NFL’s best offensive players.
“Everybody has been talking about, ‘potentially, we have all this talent,’” James said. “We have to find a way to put some wins together so when we come back home we’ll be in a better mood and we’ll know who we are.”
Who they are right now, statistically, is the sixth-best defense in the NFL. No. 1 against the run, too.
But — and the Cowboys admit this themselves — the numbers are asterisk-laden. It’s what the Cowboys do against the good offenses. And the good offenses are coming. The fantasy football players are coming.
Eli Manning and Tiki Barber. Steve Smith. Anquan Boldin. Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister. Michael Vick. Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison. Donovan McNabb (again).
“This is as good a week to measure yourself how good you can be,” Glenn said. “If you look at this stretch of game coming up, there are some pretty good offenses. This week is an important week for the defense to really show what we can do.”
This is what they have done: Beat up Tennessee quarterback Vince Young in his debut as a starter. Beat up Washington minus Clinton Portis and made Mark Brunell look older than he really is, which is old. And slapped around the Houston Texans.
“We beat Houston … cool,” James said. “I’m going to be real with myself, and on defense, we have to be real.”
That means acknowledging that against the “good offenses” the Cowboys are 0-2. They were unable to come up with vital stops in a Week 1 loss against Jacksonville. And although the offense coughed up five turnovers, the loss against Philadelphia in Week 5 might have been avoidable had the defense not yielded three plays for 187 yards, two of which were touchdowns and the other set up another.
“They didn’t run the ball on us; they didn’t trickle the ball down the field on us. It was three plays that allowed them to win,” linebacker Greg Ellis said.
What Parcells sees — and he’s either being honest or trying to jab his players — is a dearth of “catalytic” players who create turnovers and demand double-teams on every snap. The Cowboys rank 15th in turnovers forced and are tied for 14th in sacks.
Terence Newman is a shutdown corner. Roy Williams is a big hitter. Anthony Henry is a ballhawk. Ellis has been arguably the team MVP with 2.5 sacks, an interception and two forced fumbles. Jason Ferguson is a big reason why the run defense is solid.
But 2005 first-round picks Marcus Spears and DeMarcus Ware haven’t made a consistent impact. Neither has second-year pro Chris Canty. Parcells calls Ware raw.
Some of the pieces look good. Sometimes the package looks great. But it’s a defense that might not be capable of going it alone and winning games by itself.
“It’s good that it’s still early,” linebacker Akin Ayodele said. “For us, we’ve seen the good. We’ve seen the bad. We know what we’re capable of doing.”
According to the coach, what they are capable of doing is closer to the 1998 Jets, not the 1985 Bears.
posted by The Gryphon at 9:29 AM
<< Home