Summer is in full bloom, and that means we are getting ever so close to the beginning of training camp. It is this time of year that has every football fan tied in knots, and I am no different.
While the Cowboys have yet to don anything but shorts and helmets the style of this team is beginning to take focus.
Every team in the NFL is good enough to win the Super Bowl! Or at least that is what they want us to believe. This years Dallas Cowboys are no different, at this moment many of us have very legitimate concerns about the receiver, quarterback, and O-line positions and basically the overall play of the offense.
Jerry Jones and Wade Phillips can tell us all day long that they have faith in the young receivers and that the offense is working hard and coming together, and blah, blah blah! We all know that the majority of that is just a bunch of crap to make us feel warm and fuzzy about the upcoming year!
Let me be clear about something, the offense in my opinion should be as good as and possibly better than last year’s team. I honestly feel and believe that Romo will be a better QB this year, and that Roy Williams can and will do a more than adequate job as the teams #1 receiver, and with the running game that the Boys have this should be enough to carry that side of the ball.
The offensive unit will always be the most glorified, it has all the stars, and scores all the TD’s, but I am here to tell you that if you are an offensive person, and like to see scores in the 40’s each week you are in for a rude awakening.
This is now a control and time of possession unit, we should no longer see play after play of three receivers all running 40 yard triple move routes (not saying we are not going to see these still, just not as many), instead we will see a lot of two tight end sets, short hooks, out routes, slants, and fades, but primarily large amounts of MBIII, Felix, and T-Choice.
There is something taking place on this team that everyone should start paying attention to, THE DEFENSE!!
Granted there has been very minimal contact so far so we cannot quite see the full picture yet, but all the early reports talk about how attacking, and pressure filled this unit is. Mickey Spagnola at DC.com had a great article up on Tuesday about this very thing. Here is my rookie attempt at designing a graphic that shows the alignment!
In his article he went into pretty in depth detail about how the defense was lined up at one point in the day, and I must tell you this type of scenario is going to cause major headaches for opposing offenses.
Everyday it seems I hear about the competitions taking place on the defensive side of the ball, and each and every one of these guys are pushing each other to be the best. This unit already has there competitive juices boiling over, and its FREAKING JUNE!
This unit is priming itself to have a major impact not only within the team, but they are looking to, in the immortal words of Ebby Calvin ‘Nuke” LaLoosh “Announce their presence with authority!”
We have all heard the old saying “where there is smoke there is usually fire!” all I can say is that the defense of the Dallas Cowboys has had a ton of smoke emitting from its smoke stack!
Not bad. I agree. The defense is looking to be a serious beast just based on the schemes and alignments being used in practices. Full contact will change things up a little because the speed of the game will change from it, but I think we’re all fairly confident that these guys aren’t afraid to hit. The rookies we don’t know about so much, but there’s enough vets to take care of that part.
I’m just glad to finally hear about Alan Ball and Courtney Brown doing something worthy of a roster spot. I hope that continues through the offseason.
3.4 yards. That’s the goal. If you want to avoid the dreaded 3 and out, averaging 3.4 yards per carry/pass moves the sticks on third down. If you want to keep your defense fresh, the baby step approach to offense is the most ideal. If you want to dominate the clock and control the game, then exhausting the run, the flats, and the intermediate seam is where your offense should live and die.
I’ve been saying it for years now: The scheme that T.O. demanded, handicapped this team as a whole. With age, T.O. is not ideal for the slant or the WR screen. He doesn’t have the wiggle or the strength to shed off potential tacklers, to be effective, used in that capacity. The only way he was effective is if he caught the ball in stride and had already reached max speed. But beyond that, truth be told, he was ineffective to say the least.
The addition by subtraction cliche truly does apply to the release of T.O. for two reasons: One, he won’t be campaigning for the ball and therefore, Romo, won’t have to second guess his initial reads on who should be open. In 07 and 08, his eye’s would look from T.O., to Witten, back to T.O., to the other eligible receiver, which resulted in way too much time spent in the pocket. Now, he can make his presnap read without prejudice and get the ball out quick like we all know he is capable of doing.
The second addition is the ability to get different talent on the field in different ways to keep the opposing defense quessing; think two TE sets, dual or all three RB’s at once, the Razorback, a HB in the slot…the list goes on and on. With T.O., it was though the Cowboy’s paid a T.O. tax to shut him up by forcing balls in his direction.
Of course, I didn’t begin this comment with the intention of dragging T.O. into another discussion, but it’s important to understand, despite losing his potential production as a receiver, the Cowboy’s have gained some from not having him don the Blue Star on the side of his head.
Now to the defense:
Believe it or not, even with the injury to Newman, the suspension to Pacman, the slowing and undersized Anthony Henry, subpar safety play, and rookies manning quite a few starting positions throughout the year, the Cowboys still managed to finish 5th in the league in pass defense. That’s right, I couldn’t believe it myself when I recently looked this up, but it’s true. Now, imagine: We’ve improved our Safety position through Free Agency and Draft – and let’s face it, it didn’t take much. Experience took a shot, but we improved in speed at CB. And if you consider that Mike Jenkins is better suited for man defense and that is a shift the Wade has already indicated we are moving to, it’s safe to assume that our CB position has improved. Then, at LB, another position responsible for coverage duty, once again we lost in experience, but speed was a definite upgrade. One could safely assume that this defense will be extremely stingy.
I honestly think our interdivisional foes, as well as the rest of the league and sport’s analyst currently underestimating our Cowboys, are in for a rude awakening.
Great insight Johnathan! I like the team better when everyone thinks they will suck!
Thanks bags. Sorry for rambling, I tend to do that. I, too, am glad that everyone thinks the Cowboy’s suck. Aside from the ideal mental state that it puts are team in, it gives us alot more to talk about in the offseason; particularly if you are like me and disagree with most of them. And I don’t think I’m being too unrealistic in my assessment of this team.
Not at all. I’ve actually want you to write for us so everyone can better see your thoughts on the team, you’re spot on in everything so far. We appreciate it.
Doran – I’d love to. I actually have a few pieces that I’ve submitted to other forums that might work if you are looking for material. Just let me know where to send them and I’ll let you be the judge. Just be warned, my post tend to run long, as I always have alot to say…
I tell you what, go ahead and use the contact form, which you can access here or up top, so we can get our email addresses to each other. Typically you’d just register and from there you have access to write posts. We’ve tried emailing you at the address you leave in your comments, but I guess it got caught in a spam filter. But contact us with the form and we’ll get you setup. Material is good, new stuff is good, however – we just like getting more fans involved.