Off-season moves make Dallas Cowboys more 'Wade Friendly’
By MAC ENGEL
The Star-Telegram
IRVING — An off-season that has been designated as "Romo Friendly" can now also be labeled "Wade Friendly."
Not only was Dallas head coach Wade Phillips not fired after a disappointing 9-7 finish last season, several of the moves made so far this year have been designed to make his job a little bit easier.
The most recent moves include a draft that was heavy on defense, especially linebackers.
The Cowboys now have 15 linebackers on their roster. Even if the number seems high, the way Phillips’ prefers to run his defense, that’s a desirable figure.
"We kept 10 one year at San Diego. It’s just keeping as many good players as you can," Phillips said. "You can do more things. Just a lot of linebackers in the game at the same time, especially with [DeMarcus] Ware. It gives you the chance with more matchups where we moved around a lot."
In his third season as Cowboys coach and first as the team’s full-time defensive coordinator, Phillips has the defensive side of the roster more suited to run his style of the 3-4 alignment. More movement up front and more man coverage on the back end should result in even more pressure on the quarterbacks.
If it works out the way he — and his boss — envision, the result should be one of the best defenses in the NFL, complete with the sacks he covets and the turnovers he wants and didn’t get last season.
Phillips is quick to mention the Cowboys led the NFL in sacks last season with 59. But there are no NFL Team Sack Champion Trophies, nor was there any correlation between sacks and wins.
The Cowboys defense ranked eighth overall last season, but their 22.8 points per game was 13th in the league. That’s the figure that needs to change — of the teams that ranked in the bottom 17 in points allowed per game, only one made the playoffs.
There should, however, be a correlation between sacks and turnovers. Last season, the Cowboys’ eight interceptions ranked 30th in the NFL.
"I hope we are progressing to be a top pass-rush team and pressure team to help us get more turnovers than we did. That’s an emphasis," Phillips said.
If that turnover figure improves, then so should the wins.
"We’ve come a long way pass defense- and pass rush-wise — leading the lead in sacks," Phillips said. "We are progressing the way I’d like our defense to progress. But we still need pass rushers."
The other area where the Cowboys changed significantly this off-season is in the secondary that will emphasize pass coverage more than run defense. By releasing safety Roy Williams, Phillips no longer has to try to accommodate a player who clearly was not suited for his scheme, nor well-matched for today’s pass-drunk NFL offenses. The addition of free agent Gerald Sensabaugh is an upgrade at safety as far as coverage.
These decisions are consistent with the rest of an off-season that has been decidedly "Wade Friendly:"
Cutting receiver Terrell Owens and Adam "Pacman" Jones; the moves at least gives Phillips the relief of not dealing with two large distractions. Phillips had no choice but to side with the notoriously touchy Owens on just about every subject or run the risk of losing his receiver. Now, Owens is Buffalo’s problem.
Although the move quickly flopped, the team tried to bring in Dan Reeves as an advisor.
Hiring Joe DeCamillis as the team’s special teams coordinator. Special teams was a weak area last season, and in the draft DeCamillis was given any assortment of players who were picked to play special teams. The team will also carry two kickers on the game-day roster in 2009.
By allowing former defensive coordinator Brian Stewart out of his contract, Phillips no longer has to go through the awkward charade of Stewart actually having power when it had been effectively stripped last October.
"The idea is — we’re sitting here with a new menu of sorts relative to players," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "I look at now. I just look at now."
Right now, this is a more "Wade Friendly" team.
The Star-Telegram
IRVING — An off-season that has been designated as "Romo Friendly" can now also be labeled "Wade Friendly."
Not only was Dallas head coach Wade Phillips not fired after a disappointing 9-7 finish last season, several of the moves made so far this year have been designed to make his job a little bit easier.
The most recent moves include a draft that was heavy on defense, especially linebackers.
The Cowboys now have 15 linebackers on their roster. Even if the number seems high, the way Phillips’ prefers to run his defense, that’s a desirable figure.
"We kept 10 one year at San Diego. It’s just keeping as many good players as you can," Phillips said. "You can do more things. Just a lot of linebackers in the game at the same time, especially with [DeMarcus] Ware. It gives you the chance with more matchups where we moved around a lot."
In his third season as Cowboys coach and first as the team’s full-time defensive coordinator, Phillips has the defensive side of the roster more suited to run his style of the 3-4 alignment. More movement up front and more man coverage on the back end should result in even more pressure on the quarterbacks.
If it works out the way he — and his boss — envision, the result should be one of the best defenses in the NFL, complete with the sacks he covets and the turnovers he wants and didn’t get last season.
Phillips is quick to mention the Cowboys led the NFL in sacks last season with 59. But there are no NFL Team Sack Champion Trophies, nor was there any correlation between sacks and wins.
The Cowboys defense ranked eighth overall last season, but their 22.8 points per game was 13th in the league. That’s the figure that needs to change — of the teams that ranked in the bottom 17 in points allowed per game, only one made the playoffs.
There should, however, be a correlation between sacks and turnovers. Last season, the Cowboys’ eight interceptions ranked 30th in the NFL.
"I hope we are progressing to be a top pass-rush team and pressure team to help us get more turnovers than we did. That’s an emphasis," Phillips said.
If that turnover figure improves, then so should the wins.
"We’ve come a long way pass defense- and pass rush-wise — leading the lead in sacks," Phillips said. "We are progressing the way I’d like our defense to progress. But we still need pass rushers."
The other area where the Cowboys changed significantly this off-season is in the secondary that will emphasize pass coverage more than run defense. By releasing safety Roy Williams, Phillips no longer has to try to accommodate a player who clearly was not suited for his scheme, nor well-matched for today’s pass-drunk NFL offenses. The addition of free agent Gerald Sensabaugh is an upgrade at safety as far as coverage.
These decisions are consistent with the rest of an off-season that has been decidedly "Wade Friendly:"
Cutting receiver Terrell Owens and Adam "Pacman" Jones; the moves at least gives Phillips the relief of not dealing with two large distractions. Phillips had no choice but to side with the notoriously touchy Owens on just about every subject or run the risk of losing his receiver. Now, Owens is Buffalo’s problem.
Although the move quickly flopped, the team tried to bring in Dan Reeves as an advisor.
Hiring Joe DeCamillis as the team’s special teams coordinator. Special teams was a weak area last season, and in the draft DeCamillis was given any assortment of players who were picked to play special teams. The team will also carry two kickers on the game-day roster in 2009.
By allowing former defensive coordinator Brian Stewart out of his contract, Phillips no longer has to go through the awkward charade of Stewart actually having power when it had been effectively stripped last October.
"The idea is — we’re sitting here with a new menu of sorts relative to players," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "I look at now. I just look at now."
Right now, this is a more "Wade Friendly" team.
posted by The Gryphon at 5:06 PM
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