Cowboys' best defensive weapon might be their offense
By Gil LeBreton
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
IRVING -- My apologies to Jon Kitna.
The Lions quarterback was right. The Cowboys' defense didn't have a clue.
The only fine that Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman should get is for missing Sunday's game.
What do you mean, "He was there?" Never noticed him.
On the other hand, the Cowboys won. They stopped the Detroit Lions when they needed to stop them most. As of Monday, the Cowboys were the third-best team in the NFC at thwarting their opponents.
Or as head coach Wade Phillips put it, with a shrug, "The defense is 12-1."
Son of Bum is right. But now that quarterback Tony Romo has proved himself not to be mortal, we probably have identified the probable cause, should the Cowboys not make it to Super Bowl XLII.
It's the third-down pass defense. It's the fickle pass rush. It's Roy Williams. It's the linebackers. It's all of them.
And yet, look around the NFC. There are generous defenses aplenty. The Chicago Bears, last season's NFC champions, are allowing 355.1 yards a game.
For the four best teams in pro football -- the Patriots, Colts, Packers and Cowboys -- the best defense mostly has been to have a potent offense.
The Cowboys' most valuable defensive difference through 13 games? That's a no-brainer -- Tony Romo.
The head coach remains, however, a tad sensitive when the subject of his defense is brought up. He knows that he was hired specifically to fix the Cowboys' defense, not to fix Romo.
"It's my fault for not getting them ready to take away the running game," Phillips said Monday at Valley Ranch. "We had guys who were completely free, but they'd run right by the blocker. It wasn't like we missed tackles or they were running over us."
Kitna, whose big mouth painted a broad target on his head, was not sacked until the last play of the game and did not turn the ball over. His talk-show scouting report of last January held true.
"They just picked us apart back there," cornerback Newman said.
But Phillips offered a different spin.
"They beat Denver 44-7," Son of Bum said. "They're not a bad football team. They were playing for the playoffs.
"So it's not all us."
Phillips confessed that it caught him off guard that the Lions, ranked 30th (of 32 NFL teams) in rushing, chose to start the game by running right at the Cowboys. Detroit finished with 152 yards on the ground and gained 257 in total offense in the first half alone.
"It made it look like a running game that was running over us," Phillips said, "but it really wasn't."
If he knew the Lions were going to run so much, Phillips was trying to say, he would have had the Cowboys practice it more.
Surely, Bum's son knows defense. And though it's uncharted territory to be 12-1, Phillips doesn't have to manufacture challengeable apologies for his defensive unit.
"We've proven that we can play well on offense, defense and special teams," the head coach said.
"I think we've got a great offense. And we're good on defense. How many other teams are in the top 10 on offense and defense?"
Four other teams are -- New England, Indianapolis, Green Bay and Philadelphia.
And the head coach's point is...?
Quit worrying about the Cowboys' defense, Phillips seems to be saying. Pay no attention to the fact that the Cowboys recorded no sacks of Kitna until the last play, nor did they record any takeaways.
Phillips' side of the argument is that the Cowboys' defense has shown that it can pressure the quarterback (see Favre, Brett), and it's shown that it can keep the other team off the scoreboard.
The defense is 12-1, too, he again pointed out.
Bill Parcells, let me suggest, would have been in a most sour mood Monday after giving up 390 yards to Jon Kitna and almost losing the game. Phillips, meanwhile, seemed to have other things to worry about.
Cowboys fans had better hope he's right. It's December, after all, where all bets on the defenses count double.
Romo can't possibly continue to score 28 points or more every Sunday, can he? He can't keep finding JasonWitten 15 times. Or hit Patrick Crayton perfectly in stride on that 30-yard strike.
Or keep wielding the big eraser that so far has covered up nearly all of the Cowboys' defense's mistakes. Can he?
December will tell. But so far, Jon Kitna's been right.
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
IRVING -- My apologies to Jon Kitna.
The Lions quarterback was right. The Cowboys' defense didn't have a clue.
The only fine that Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman should get is for missing Sunday's game.
What do you mean, "He was there?" Never noticed him.
On the other hand, the Cowboys won. They stopped the Detroit Lions when they needed to stop them most. As of Monday, the Cowboys were the third-best team in the NFC at thwarting their opponents.
Or as head coach Wade Phillips put it, with a shrug, "The defense is 12-1."
Son of Bum is right. But now that quarterback Tony Romo has proved himself not to be mortal, we probably have identified the probable cause, should the Cowboys not make it to Super Bowl XLII.
It's the third-down pass defense. It's the fickle pass rush. It's Roy Williams. It's the linebackers. It's all of them.
And yet, look around the NFC. There are generous defenses aplenty. The Chicago Bears, last season's NFC champions, are allowing 355.1 yards a game.
For the four best teams in pro football -- the Patriots, Colts, Packers and Cowboys -- the best defense mostly has been to have a potent offense.
The Cowboys' most valuable defensive difference through 13 games? That's a no-brainer -- Tony Romo.
The head coach remains, however, a tad sensitive when the subject of his defense is brought up. He knows that he was hired specifically to fix the Cowboys' defense, not to fix Romo.
"It's my fault for not getting them ready to take away the running game," Phillips said Monday at Valley Ranch. "We had guys who were completely free, but they'd run right by the blocker. It wasn't like we missed tackles or they were running over us."
Kitna, whose big mouth painted a broad target on his head, was not sacked until the last play of the game and did not turn the ball over. His talk-show scouting report of last January held true.
"They just picked us apart back there," cornerback Newman said.
But Phillips offered a different spin.
"They beat Denver 44-7," Son of Bum said. "They're not a bad football team. They were playing for the playoffs.
"So it's not all us."
Phillips confessed that it caught him off guard that the Lions, ranked 30th (of 32 NFL teams) in rushing, chose to start the game by running right at the Cowboys. Detroit finished with 152 yards on the ground and gained 257 in total offense in the first half alone.
"It made it look like a running game that was running over us," Phillips said, "but it really wasn't."
If he knew the Lions were going to run so much, Phillips was trying to say, he would have had the Cowboys practice it more.
Surely, Bum's son knows defense. And though it's uncharted territory to be 12-1, Phillips doesn't have to manufacture challengeable apologies for his defensive unit.
"We've proven that we can play well on offense, defense and special teams," the head coach said.
"I think we've got a great offense. And we're good on defense. How many other teams are in the top 10 on offense and defense?"
Four other teams are -- New England, Indianapolis, Green Bay and Philadelphia.
And the head coach's point is...?
Quit worrying about the Cowboys' defense, Phillips seems to be saying. Pay no attention to the fact that the Cowboys recorded no sacks of Kitna until the last play, nor did they record any takeaways.
Phillips' side of the argument is that the Cowboys' defense has shown that it can pressure the quarterback (see Favre, Brett), and it's shown that it can keep the other team off the scoreboard.
The defense is 12-1, too, he again pointed out.
Bill Parcells, let me suggest, would have been in a most sour mood Monday after giving up 390 yards to Jon Kitna and almost losing the game. Phillips, meanwhile, seemed to have other things to worry about.
Cowboys fans had better hope he's right. It's December, after all, where all bets on the defenses count double.
Romo can't possibly continue to score 28 points or more every Sunday, can he? He can't keep finding JasonWitten 15 times. Or hit Patrick Crayton perfectly in stride on that 30-yard strike.
Or keep wielding the big eraser that so far has covered up nearly all of the Cowboys' defense's mistakes. Can he?
December will tell. But so far, Jon Kitna's been right.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:44 AM
<< Home