Dallas #1 in DVOA rankings
DVOA ratings: Cowboys are a contender
Aaron Schatz / FootballOutsiders.com
Posted: 1 hour ago
So much for Baltimore's reign atop our ratings.
All four AFC division leaders putt up underwhelming numbers in Week 13, and the Rex Grossman offensive black hole in Chicago is holding back the Bears. That means that a close win over a good Giants team is enough to move the Dallas Cowboys up to the top of the DVOA ratings by a fraction of a fraction.
In our book, Pro Football Prospectus 2006, we were very skeptical of the Cowboys' chances to make the playoffs this year. Everyone was excited about the Terrell Owens signing, but this didn't cover up the holes on the rest of the team. There were three particular problems: the defensive line, the offensive line, and the quarterback.
Well, it turns out we were right — Terrell Owens really hasn't been that much better than Keyshawn Johnson was last year. Out of nowhere, he's dropping balls left and right. But the Cowboys have put together a Super Bowl contender by fixing two of their three problems and pasting over the other one.
The defensive line is much better this year. Jason Ferguson is a super run-stopper again after a slightly down 2005, and the young players have improved and grown, particularly DeMarcus Ware.
And Drew Bledsoe's age-related decline was actually a good thing for the Cowboys, because he declined so much that Bill Parcells finally pulled him from the lineup. And that let the Cowboys stumble into Tony Romo. Nobody — nobody — had any clue that this undrafted second-stringer whose 2005 resumé consisted of nothing but kneel-downs would suddenly become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. (Honestly, anybody who says they saw this coming is lying.)
I still don't think the offensive line is very good, but it has at least improved in run blocking, and it's much less of a problem in pass blocking because Romo is so much more mobile than Bledsoe.
However, with all that praise of the Cowboys comes this caveat: The numbers are still very close, and the top four teams are almost in a four-way tie. The Patriots and Colts aren't that far away, and neither are the Jaguars on alternate Tuesdays when the moon is in Capricorn and whatever else needs to happen for the Jaguars to play well is happening.
Aaron Schatz / FootballOutsiders.com
Posted: 1 hour ago
So much for Baltimore's reign atop our ratings.
All four AFC division leaders putt up underwhelming numbers in Week 13, and the Rex Grossman offensive black hole in Chicago is holding back the Bears. That means that a close win over a good Giants team is enough to move the Dallas Cowboys up to the top of the DVOA ratings by a fraction of a fraction.
In our book, Pro Football Prospectus 2006, we were very skeptical of the Cowboys' chances to make the playoffs this year. Everyone was excited about the Terrell Owens signing, but this didn't cover up the holes on the rest of the team. There were three particular problems: the defensive line, the offensive line, and the quarterback.
Well, it turns out we were right — Terrell Owens really hasn't been that much better than Keyshawn Johnson was last year. Out of nowhere, he's dropping balls left and right. But the Cowboys have put together a Super Bowl contender by fixing two of their three problems and pasting over the other one.
The defensive line is much better this year. Jason Ferguson is a super run-stopper again after a slightly down 2005, and the young players have improved and grown, particularly DeMarcus Ware.
And Drew Bledsoe's age-related decline was actually a good thing for the Cowboys, because he declined so much that Bill Parcells finally pulled him from the lineup. And that let the Cowboys stumble into Tony Romo. Nobody — nobody — had any clue that this undrafted second-stringer whose 2005 resumé consisted of nothing but kneel-downs would suddenly become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. (Honestly, anybody who says they saw this coming is lying.)
I still don't think the offensive line is very good, but it has at least improved in run blocking, and it's much less of a problem in pass blocking because Romo is so much more mobile than Bledsoe.
However, with all that praise of the Cowboys comes this caveat: The numbers are still very close, and the top four teams are almost in a four-way tie. The Patriots and Colts aren't that far away, and neither are the Jaguars on alternate Tuesdays when the moon is in Capricorn and whatever else needs to happen for the Jaguars to play well is happening.
posted by The Gryphon at 8:42 PM
<< Home