Cowboys' Defense Has to Prove It's Good Enough
Publication Source Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas)
Publication Date 2006-12-23
IRVING, Texas _ Every NFC team with legit Super Bowl aspirations has a big "but". . . and we're talking Beyonce-sized, in a few cases.
New Orleans has Brees, Bush and a healthy dose of karma, but much like Dallas in 2003, a big chance of thudding back to Earth at any moment.
Philly has momentum, but hardly any real receivers.
Chicago has home field and a salty defense, but Rex Grossman? Enough said.
Of course, for everybody residing somewhere outside the rah-rah, happy-happy world of Cowboys Nation and for a few inside, Dallas' defense is viewed as its Grossman.
"You hurt me," linebacker Bradie James said when broached with this theory. "That hurts to say we are not holding our end up."
Welcome to life when you give up 70 points in your past two games and 90 in less than 20 days. Almost everybody is calling this Cowboys defense an Achilles' heel on an otherwise legit contender to play in Miami. And anybody who isn't is just playing nice, which is why Cowboys cornerback Aaron Glenn called a players-only meeting.
He was afraid his teammates were eating the cheese _ the nasty, moldy, you-guys-stink kind fed to underachievers. Just about everybody has had a turn being roasted, by opposing players and popular opinion, for not being nearly as good as advertised.
Roy Willy, Mike Zimmer, everybody.
What Glenn, James and Jason Ferguson combined to deliver was a pretty basic message to all of them.
"We are not as bad as everybody says or as bad as we have looked"
I'm not so sure, but I admire Glenn for doing something. They will not win a lot of games playing defense like they have.
Normally, I am not a huge a fan of the players-only meeting. They are usually just a sign that something is really screwed up and, "duh", everybody knew that after watching Sean Payton and his Saints absolutely dismantle Zimmer and Co. And if what New Orleans did was not a red flag, watching an oft-maligned passer in Michael Vick do a spot-on Aikman impersonation for 2 { quarters against them was.
So why bother meeting if the only thing on the agenda was the obvious?
Glenn delivered the football version of "We need to talk ... " because he thought things were not better left unsaid, lest it lead to finger-pointing.
It is OK if media types point out that coverage problems are due, in part, to a lackluster pass rush. It is not cool if the defensive backs think it. So Glenn let everybody talk, then he talked.
He told his teammates they do not have to have a No. 1-ranked defense to win a Super Bowl. The defense just cannot be why the Cowboys lose games.
Call it the bus-driver theory for defense.
Do not tell Coach Parcells about this philosophy. He typically has collected his championship rings thanks to nasty defenses and bus-driver QBs.
What he has going with Tony Romo and his almost magical season seems to suggest, for Dallas to be in Miami, it is on the offense.
"All good championship teams have reasonably good defenses," Parcells said.
So does Parcells wonder if what he has this season qualifies as reasonably good?
Don't give me a dirty look, Cowboys fans. You know you were wondering, too.
"No," he said. "Because you are just talking about recent events, and we don't know that is really going to be the case as we finish up here. I think we can play a little bit better on defense than what we have played lately."
Glenn was taking no chances. He is one of the quiet guys, a guy who has hung around by simply working his undersized tail off. Guys listen to him. Ditto for James and Ferguson.
What they wanted the Williamses and Carpenters and Watkins to know is they are not cool with being Grossman.
"This unit does not want to be the side that lets this team down," James said. "Ninety points. I can't say anything to make everybody think we are a great D."
Parcells believes they can be. So does Owner Jones.
What is different is Jerry does not much care about the whys, only the whens. Did I mention that I love his attitude?
"There are all kinds of explanations, but in my role, I'm not supposed to be sympathetic as to why. It's happened," Owner Jones said. "... I expect us, as a defense, to play like a top defense in the league over the next four or five games. I think we're capable of that. A little humble pie for quality athletes isn't a bad thing. It challenges you, and I think we have the type of athletes with the type of character who will respond."
Glenn is one. James and Ferguson make three.
Who eventually joins them is ultimately what will determine the size of the Cowboys' "but."
Publication Date 2006-12-23
IRVING, Texas _ Every NFC team with legit Super Bowl aspirations has a big "but". . . and we're talking Beyonce-sized, in a few cases.
New Orleans has Brees, Bush and a healthy dose of karma, but much like Dallas in 2003, a big chance of thudding back to Earth at any moment.
Philly has momentum, but hardly any real receivers.
Chicago has home field and a salty defense, but Rex Grossman? Enough said.
Of course, for everybody residing somewhere outside the rah-rah, happy-happy world of Cowboys Nation and for a few inside, Dallas' defense is viewed as its Grossman.
"You hurt me," linebacker Bradie James said when broached with this theory. "That hurts to say we are not holding our end up."
Welcome to life when you give up 70 points in your past two games and 90 in less than 20 days. Almost everybody is calling this Cowboys defense an Achilles' heel on an otherwise legit contender to play in Miami. And anybody who isn't is just playing nice, which is why Cowboys cornerback Aaron Glenn called a players-only meeting.
He was afraid his teammates were eating the cheese _ the nasty, moldy, you-guys-stink kind fed to underachievers. Just about everybody has had a turn being roasted, by opposing players and popular opinion, for not being nearly as good as advertised.
Roy Willy, Mike Zimmer, everybody.
What Glenn, James and Jason Ferguson combined to deliver was a pretty basic message to all of them.
"We are not as bad as everybody says or as bad as we have looked"
I'm not so sure, but I admire Glenn for doing something. They will not win a lot of games playing defense like they have.
Normally, I am not a huge a fan of the players-only meeting. They are usually just a sign that something is really screwed up and, "duh", everybody knew that after watching Sean Payton and his Saints absolutely dismantle Zimmer and Co. And if what New Orleans did was not a red flag, watching an oft-maligned passer in Michael Vick do a spot-on Aikman impersonation for 2 { quarters against them was.
So why bother meeting if the only thing on the agenda was the obvious?
Glenn delivered the football version of "We need to talk ... " because he thought things were not better left unsaid, lest it lead to finger-pointing.
It is OK if media types point out that coverage problems are due, in part, to a lackluster pass rush. It is not cool if the defensive backs think it. So Glenn let everybody talk, then he talked.
He told his teammates they do not have to have a No. 1-ranked defense to win a Super Bowl. The defense just cannot be why the Cowboys lose games.
Call it the bus-driver theory for defense.
Do not tell Coach Parcells about this philosophy. He typically has collected his championship rings thanks to nasty defenses and bus-driver QBs.
What he has going with Tony Romo and his almost magical season seems to suggest, for Dallas to be in Miami, it is on the offense.
"All good championship teams have reasonably good defenses," Parcells said.
So does Parcells wonder if what he has this season qualifies as reasonably good?
Don't give me a dirty look, Cowboys fans. You know you were wondering, too.
"No," he said. "Because you are just talking about recent events, and we don't know that is really going to be the case as we finish up here. I think we can play a little bit better on defense than what we have played lately."
Glenn was taking no chances. He is one of the quiet guys, a guy who has hung around by simply working his undersized tail off. Guys listen to him. Ditto for James and Ferguson.
What they wanted the Williamses and Carpenters and Watkins to know is they are not cool with being Grossman.
"This unit does not want to be the side that lets this team down," James said. "Ninety points. I can't say anything to make everybody think we are a great D."
Parcells believes they can be. So does Owner Jones.
What is different is Jerry does not much care about the whys, only the whens. Did I mention that I love his attitude?
"There are all kinds of explanations, but in my role, I'm not supposed to be sympathetic as to why. It's happened," Owner Jones said. "... I expect us, as a defense, to play like a top defense in the league over the next four or five games. I think we're capable of that. A little humble pie for quality athletes isn't a bad thing. It challenges you, and I think we have the type of athletes with the type of character who will respond."
Glenn is one. James and Ferguson make three.
Who eventually joins them is ultimately what will determine the size of the Cowboys' "but."
posted by The Gryphon at 8:37 AM
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