Cowboys defense rises, not soap opera offense
Submitted by SHNS on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 14:11.
By NICK GHOLSON
Scripps Howard News Service
This was supposed to be a column about the Dallas Cowboys offensive soap opera that has been playing at Valley Ranch all week.
Would T.O. and Tony kiss and make up?
Could T.O. and Witten just be friends?
Would Marion Barber forgive Jerry Jones?
Would Jerry just shut up?
But in the end, none of this really mattered.
The Cowboys did not implode before NBC's bright lights.
Their defense would not allow it.
For the second straight week, DeMarcus Ware and friends smothered a division champion's offense. Only this time, they got enough offensive help to walk away a winner.
I've been watching the Dallas Cowboys play football for 49 years. I don't remember two better back-to-back defensive games than what I saw a week ago in Pittsburgh and again here Sunday night in a 20-8 win over the New York Giants.
This is the kind of stuff that gets a team into the playoffs and lets them stay there awhile once they get there.
Eli Manning knows that. He saw his defense take a big step in the postseason a year ago and take the Giants all the way to the Super Bowl.
He saw that same kind of defense Sunday night. Only problem was, he saw most of it flat on his back.
The Cowboys harassed the reigning Super Bowl MVP from start to finish, sacking him eight times and causing him to throw two interceptions to Terence Newman.
"I think they had only been sacked 15 times before this game and we had four of those in the first game," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips pointed out.
Ware is the most dominating defensive player in the NFL. Now he gets a chance to show it again in a prime time matchup next Saturday night against Ray Lewis and the Ravens. The over-and-under may be 30.
If the Ravens were watching Sunday, they witnessed a Ray Lewis-type performance as Ware sacked Manning three times all by himself, made six tackles and forced two fumbles.
He now has 19 sacks this year. Only one Cowboy has ever had more in a season Harvey Martin with 23 back in the 1977 Super Bowl championship season.
But this is no one-man show.
Greg Ellis, an 11-year veteran who made the switch from defensive end to linebacker, had two sacks against the Giants, raising his season total to 12, just a half a sack short of his best a year ago.
"We have a good rush. I think somebody is going to recognize it sooner or later," Phillips said. " We have a real strong rush team led by DeMarcus Ware, but we have a lot of other guys who can put pressure on them.
Phillips came here with a defensive reputation and said he would take a more active role before the Tampa Bay game in late October.
It must be working. The Cowboys have been solid on defense the past five games.
Phillips pointed out that in those games no back has run for 100 yards on his team and that run defense set up all the sacks.
"We kept them from running the ball early, and I think that kind of established the tone for the game," he said.
When this one ended, Eli Manning headed to the whirlpool. Obviously nobody here was too impressed with his Super Bowl ring.
Jason Witten, Terrell Owens and Tony Romo stopped in front of the TV camera to kiss and make up.
Could this be a new reality show on NBC or a 2008 re-make of Three's Company?
But if anybody deserved a big kiss for this win it was DeMarcus Ware. And maybe a few of his defensive buddies.
(Nick Gholson is sports editor of the Wichita Falls Times Record News in Texas.)
By NICK GHOLSON
Scripps Howard News Service
This was supposed to be a column about the Dallas Cowboys offensive soap opera that has been playing at Valley Ranch all week.
Would T.O. and Tony kiss and make up?
Could T.O. and Witten just be friends?
Would Marion Barber forgive Jerry Jones?
Would Jerry just shut up?
But in the end, none of this really mattered.
The Cowboys did not implode before NBC's bright lights.
Their defense would not allow it.
For the second straight week, DeMarcus Ware and friends smothered a division champion's offense. Only this time, they got enough offensive help to walk away a winner.
I've been watching the Dallas Cowboys play football for 49 years. I don't remember two better back-to-back defensive games than what I saw a week ago in Pittsburgh and again here Sunday night in a 20-8 win over the New York Giants.
This is the kind of stuff that gets a team into the playoffs and lets them stay there awhile once they get there.
Eli Manning knows that. He saw his defense take a big step in the postseason a year ago and take the Giants all the way to the Super Bowl.
He saw that same kind of defense Sunday night. Only problem was, he saw most of it flat on his back.
The Cowboys harassed the reigning Super Bowl MVP from start to finish, sacking him eight times and causing him to throw two interceptions to Terence Newman.
"I think they had only been sacked 15 times before this game and we had four of those in the first game," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips pointed out.
Ware is the most dominating defensive player in the NFL. Now he gets a chance to show it again in a prime time matchup next Saturday night against Ray Lewis and the Ravens. The over-and-under may be 30.
If the Ravens were watching Sunday, they witnessed a Ray Lewis-type performance as Ware sacked Manning three times all by himself, made six tackles and forced two fumbles.
He now has 19 sacks this year. Only one Cowboy has ever had more in a season Harvey Martin with 23 back in the 1977 Super Bowl championship season.
But this is no one-man show.
Greg Ellis, an 11-year veteran who made the switch from defensive end to linebacker, had two sacks against the Giants, raising his season total to 12, just a half a sack short of his best a year ago.
"We have a good rush. I think somebody is going to recognize it sooner or later," Phillips said. " We have a real strong rush team led by DeMarcus Ware, but we have a lot of other guys who can put pressure on them.
Phillips came here with a defensive reputation and said he would take a more active role before the Tampa Bay game in late October.
It must be working. The Cowboys have been solid on defense the past five games.
Phillips pointed out that in those games no back has run for 100 yards on his team and that run defense set up all the sacks.
"We kept them from running the ball early, and I think that kind of established the tone for the game," he said.
When this one ended, Eli Manning headed to the whirlpool. Obviously nobody here was too impressed with his Super Bowl ring.
Jason Witten, Terrell Owens and Tony Romo stopped in front of the TV camera to kiss and make up.
Could this be a new reality show on NBC or a 2008 re-make of Three's Company?
But if anybody deserved a big kiss for this win it was DeMarcus Ware. And maybe a few of his defensive buddies.
(Nick Gholson is sports editor of the Wichita Falls Times Record News in Texas.)
posted by The Gryphon at 6:01 PM
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