My meaningless thoughts on the game...

[Yakuza Rich]

- I'm officially on the GROZ bandwagon. I think overall, he's probably about the 16th best D-Coordinator in the NFL right now. We could do worse, but we could do better. The one thing I notice about this team is that we very rarely have a pass rusher go unblocked. Teams know when we are going to blitz, who is blitzing, and where they are blitzing. He's not the worst D-Coordinator out there, but every season Dallas does things or brings people in to improve the pass rush and every season it's just not there. At best are pass rush is decent. Overall it's so-so. And every year there's some excuse or even worse, no excuse for it and I think the common denominator is that Zimmer can't coach a defense that can get a good consistent pass rush. He's still a decent D-Coordinator, but he'll never be a very good D-Coordinator until he figures that out. We need better.

- This just in, Tony Romo can really play. Notice how the O-Line is playing much better now? Even his 2 sacks were coverage sacks.

- I didn't have too much of a problem with the last face mask call. That's usually getting called when the helmet gets turned like that. The refereeing got off to a horrendous start, but started to come around. Washington should've never been in position to get that ball anyway.

- Good to see the board isn't blaming Vandy. The bar I was at was livid at him for some reason. Also didn't help that FOX kept panning shots of him afterwards. Not sure how you block somebody and kick the ball at the same time.

- I like Matt McBriar and all, but sometime before I die I would like to see him pin the opponent inside their own 5 yard line.

- That was the first true, legit goal line stand I've seen from Dallas in a long time.

- While I like how Dallas uses so many multiple formations and their beautiful designs of their passing patterns, it seems like there's an inordinate amount of time the opposing defenses know exactly what play we are going to run. The safety comes to mind and usually when we bootleg too.

- Seems like opposing offenses try to run towards the strongside (Spears and Ellis) on normal running plays and use their misdirection or trick plays to run towards the weakside (Canty and Ware) since Ware tends to overcommit at times to runs the opposite side.

- Are nickel package blitzes suck.

- I like Bradie James and all, but I do wish we had something more dynamic at ILB. Ayodele has to play a role that doesn't lend way to needing a dynamic player at that spot, but Bradie just doesn't seem to be playing at the same pace as he was last year. Just a step too slow.


- Overall, I've got a pretty good idea of what this team is about. Talent wise and coaching, they are pretty good. Unfortunately, they seem to shoot themselves in the foot at least 5 times a game. Sometimes they can overcome that, sometimes they can't. I think every team in the league shoots themselves in the foot to a certain extent, but the legit good teams are able to overcome that. I'm starting to believe more and more of that is due to our lack of a pass rush as DeMarcus Ware can't do it all. A better pass rush would probably lead to some more turnovers, especially in games like this. I think the other part is that the defense is decent at forcing turnovers, but not really good at it (and part of that is due to the pass rush as well).

Dallas was up 19-12 when Owens dropped that TD pass and I couldn't help but think to myself "I've smelled this skunk before." And then Roy drops a surefire INT and I couldn't help but think we were losing this game. Even when Vanderjagt was attempting the 35 yarder, which I was confident he would make, I kept thinking about something not being right that Dallas would win despite those 2 huge "shot in the foot" type of plays by Owens and Roy.

Still, part of me is a bit happy since Romo really impressed me quite a bit and I think the O-Line was vastly underrated as they had to play with Bledsoe's ineptitude. So now we've got a 26 year old QB and outside of Rivera, a pretty young and somewhat promising O-Line. But we still manage to lose these games where we outgained the opponent, had a better time of possession, a turnover advantage and had a 35 yarder to win the game.

So I've got a whole lot of mixed emotions on this one. But I promised myself that as long as Dallas went 5-4 in the first 9 games, I would contend that they have a solid chance of making the playoffs. Albeit we could've really used that one.



YAKUZA

[BlueStar22]

Nice post. If Parcells does come back year, I believe there are sure to be a few shakeups on the coaches staff. Who do you think doesn't make it back? I think Zimmer goes, Sparano goes, Haley goes, the special teams coach goes.

[Billy Bullocks]

Our early schedule was definately mroe difficult than the latter portion, on paper.

I thought we would be 2-1 after the roadtrip (pre roadtrip). After last week, 3-0 looked very real.

[ddh33]

I always look forward to your thoughts.

I couldn't agree with you more about Zimmer. Some here act like he's the worst in the business. Clearly, he's not. No, he's pretty good, and that's it. But that's the problem. This defense has better than "pretty good" talent. Instead, the defense never seems to be that dominant defense that it ought to be. And please be advised, I'm not using the word dominant in an '85 Bears sense. The defense should be better...

After two games, Tony Romo is the best thing to happen to Dallas in a while.

Basically, I agree with you on everything else, but that last comment is one I want to echo. This team still has a good shot at doing something. They've got to quit committing football suicide with the penalties though.

[Yakuza Rich]

Nice post. If Parcells does come back year, I believe there are sure to be a few shakeups on the coaches staff. Who do you think doesn't make it back? I think Zimmer goes, Sparano goes, Haley goes, the special teams coach goes.

I don't think Haley goes anywhere. For the most part, the receivers aren't the problem (except when Owens drops TD passes). Haley has developed Crayton, a 7th round pick and Sam Hurd looks like he has some upside as well. Haley probably isn't on top of any other team's lists for O-Coordinator and he's done a relatively decent job.

I'm still on the fence on Sporano. He did an excellent job with the TE's in his first year. Last year the O-Line was horrendous, but they were banged up. this year the O-Line has made a lot of strides and is a good run blocking team. I think continuity is very important for the O-Line, so I'm leaning towards keeping Sporano.

Zimmer will probably stay. I don't think he'll get a job elsewhere. I repeat ad nauseam how important sacks are and how strongly they correlate to winning in the NFL. A lot of people place the blame on Dallas focusing on stopping the run first, but that doesn't take into account how poorly Dallas blitzes teams. It's been that way since 2001. We've improved the talent, utilized a different scheme and have an offense that can score points and force opponents to throw the ball. Yet the defense still cannot provide a good pass rush. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what's the problem.


YAKUZA

[Gaede]

I remember seeing us line up for the 'all-out' Zimmer blitz a couple of times and I just muttered in anger...

Anytime we choose to blitz its always with everybody right down the middle. the result? people run in to eachother and fall down--easy 15 yard completion

[tyke1doe]

Good thoughts.

This defense has to start getting pressure on the quarterback, or it won't help us advance in the playoffs, if we get there.

Romo is very encouraging.

But the penalties are a killer. We've got to get that under control.

On to Arizona.

[BlueStar22]

I don't think Haley goes anywhere. For the most part, the receivers aren't the problem (except when Owens drops TD passes). Haley has developed Crayton, a 7th round pick and Sam Hurd looks like he has some upside as well. Haley probably isn't on top of any other team's lists for O-Coordinator and he's done a relatively decent job.

I'm still on the fence on Sporano. He did an excellent job with the TE's in his first year. Last year the O-Line was horrendous, but they were banged up. this year the O-Line has made a lot of strides and is a good run blocking team. I think continuity is very important for the O-Line, so I'm leaning towards keeping Sporano.

Zimmer will probably stay. I don't think he'll get a job elsewhere. I repeat ad nauseam how important sacks are and how strongly they correlate to winning in the NFL. A lot of people place the blame on Dallas focusing on stopping the run first, but that doesn't take into account how poorly Dallas blitzes teams. It's been that way since 2001. We've improved the talent, utilized a different scheme and have an offense that can score points and force opponents to throw the ball. Yet the defense still cannot provide a good pass rush. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what's the problem.


YAKUZA

so you think Zimmer is re-signed since is contract is up after the year.

[Yakuza Rich]

I remember seeing us line up for the 'all-out' Zimmer blitz a couple of times and I just muttered in anger...

Anytime we choose to blitz its always with everybody right down the middle. the result? people run in to eachother and fall down--easy 15 yard completion

I'd garner that most blitzes are up the middle since it's the shortest path to the QB. Problem is that we show the blitz up the middle LONG before the ball is snapped. The opposing O-Line can then pick out who is blitzing. And since we stunt only about 2-3 times a game, they know exactly where those blitzers are going.

Go to a bar and watch multiple games on different TD's. I see a ton of teams getting to the QB when they blitz because somebody goes unblocked because the O-Line doesn't recognize the blitz or gets confused. Then watch Dallas play and recall the last time a Dallas pass rusher had a free shot at the QB.



YAKUZA

[Yakuza Rich]

so you think Zimmer is re-signed since is contract is up after the year.

Probably. Parcells likes him. If Parcells happens to retire (I don't think he will), the new coach will probably want to keep the assistants around since they know the players pretty well.


YAKUZA

[dirt]

something that may be off base but, as a U of Michigan fan, in the past I could help but wonder at the similarities between the Cowboys d and the Wolves D. Prior to this year, despite the quality of athletes on the field, the defense was a cautious bend but dont break type--What struck me as similar, and i would complain about it to anyone in the room, was the pass rush. Pass rush was pretty much engage the man in front of you, contain and bull rush. Much the same as what the Cowboys do now. Blitzing was predictable and ineffective. Then they hire Ron English to coach the defense and he brings an attacking defense with an attitude. If you follow college football, you can see the amazing difference. Same athletes, but now let loose to make plays. It just seems that our d plays cautiously without that attitude. Ware is our only pass rush threat. Ellis can get pressure depending on the match up but is painfull to watch in space. You watch other teams that time and disguise blitzes and wonder why our blitzes always get picked up. Roy Williams should be used to maximize his strengths--use him as a weapon. Our middle blitzes never get through . I envy the Steelers and their defense. You cant tell me they have better personnel, but it is used effectively. Zimmer must be replaced with someone from the 3-4 attacking defense mentality. Cause havoc and become feared. Bill seemingly has fixed the offense with a radical move to Romo, now do something for the defense

[Bleu Star]

My meaningless thoughts on the game...

Excellent post. I agree with everything you said. I honestly believed we would go 6-3 because I was fooled by our defense into believing so. 5-4 coming home isn't so bad and I did see a lot of good things out there (namely Romo and MB3).

MB3 needs more PT.

[Clove]

I said it before the game and I'll say it again. Romo can take us to the Super Bowl, but he won't. This team goes as far as the defense will allow them, and this defense with the staff behind it , is useless.

[Billy Bullocks]

I defended Zimmer, but he is not creative. I thought he did an admirable job in 2003.

First of all, he isn't a 3-4 guy. He doesn't seem to understand the whole point is to mask the rush.

I trusted BP because I think he knows how to run a defense, and you would think his endorsement of Zimmer was a good thing. Im starting to doubt this staff a little bit.

[Yakuza Rich]

I defended Zimmer, but he is not creative. I thought he did an admirable job in 2003.

First of all, he isn't a 3-4 guy. He doesn't seem to understand the whole point is to mask the rush.
.

He simply doesn't know how to mask the pass rush period. Hasn't since he's been the D-Coordinator when we were using the Cover 2 scheme. And we mostly blitz out of the nickel package, where we still don't disguise the blitz well.

It isn't a 3-4 thing. Any defense needs to be able to disguise their blitz well. Ours doesn't. And after years of improving the talent on defense, changing schemes, etc. we still cannot disguise the blitz effectively. And for me, Zimmer is the final denominator.



YAKUZA

[CrazyCowboy]

This just in, Tony Romo can really play. Notice how the O-Line is playing much better now? Even his 2 sacks were coverage sacks.

one word

AWESOME!

[Cbz40]

Our Blitz.....how many times have we seen it. Our blitzers rush in and they bounce backwards.....They remind of the steel ball in a pinball machine they just keep bouncing off the bumpers. Disguise a Blitz????? I would die of a heartattack if we ever did it.

Thanks for the post.....I always look forward to them.

[Clove]

Our Blitz.....how many times have we seen it. Our blitzers rush in and they bounce backwards.....They remind of the steel ball in a pinball machine they just keep bouncing off the bumpers. Disguise a Blitz????? I would die of a heartattack if we ever did it.

Thanks for the post.....I always look forward to them.Maybe if we blitzed more often, we would actually have a feel for it. That disturbs me as well.

[BlueStar22]

Parcells needs to put in a call to Belichick since Zimmer doesn't seem to know what he's doing. Hell Zimmer needs to put in a call to Belichick and some of the other 3-4 gurus. I thought Parcells was this great defensive coach but it appears what we've known all along, Belichick was the genius. I just find it hard to believe that Parcells leaves Zimmer on his own when it comes to schemes and decisions.

[SacredStar]

Dallas was up 19-12 when Owens dropped that TD pass and I couldn't help but think to myself "I've smelled this skunk before.




YAKUZA

Owens said after the game that he owes the team for that drop, and he knows he let the team down.

Hopefully, he makes amends with more stellar play in the future.

[Cbz40]

Maybe if we blitzed more often, we would actually have a feel for it. That disturbs me as well.

Ummmmmm you may be on to something. You do something often enough it's bound to stick after a time.

How about trying a few different blitz schemes, How about blitzes when they aren't expecting one, ...... I know you live by the blitz you die by the blitz.....same old same old. Dadgummit attack.

[Jimz31]

I'ce been pretty silent on Zimmer for the last couple of years, but I've gotta get on thet GROZ bandwagon as well.

When we blitz, it is EASILY recognized and picked up. You can't get anymore base than our defense. Yeah, they are pretty good against the run, but when it comes to the pass and putting pressure on the passer? Give me a break. Tottaly worthless.

[Yakuza Rich]

Ever since the Eagles game (sans the Houston game) we have blitzed pretty regularly by NFL standards.

I harken back to 2002 when we added Roy from the draft, Kevin Hardy, Glover, etc and the defense was to be feared. We blitzed and we stunk at it. A friend of my who serves as a defensive scout for a D-1 college. His answer to Dallas' defensive blitzing problems came in a few parts. Some of it had to do with the players we had back then. But according to him the disguising of the blitz was abysmal.

In 2003, we appeared to be better at it. In 2004 we regressed. In 2005 we seemed okay at best. This year we look like 2002 all over again.


YAKUZA

[wileedog]

Maybe if we blitzed more often, we would actually have a feel for it. That disturbs me as well.

I honestly don't think we should be blitzing more. Especially given our secondary play.

We do need to blitz better when we do though. Somebody needs to take a serious look at our blitz schemes.

[wileedog]

I'ce been pretty silent on Zimmer for the last couple of years, but I've gotta get on thet GROZ bandwagon as well.

Same here, I haven't said much one way or the other. But it is getting ridiculous.

I will say I never understood why we switched to a 3-4 and didn't get a 3-4 DC. Zimmer isn't so awesome that he should be held on to no matter what in that circumstance.

[Star4Ever]

With the talent we have on the line at at the LB position, we should be able to put much more pressure on the QB without blitzing. Our schemes are terrible. We don't use Ware and Ellis correctly most of the time and we rarely ever seem to use any stunts, loops, etc.

[Yakuza Rich]

Our defensive coordinator needs to have moxie.



YAKUZA

[Zimmy Lives]

- I'm officially on the GROZ bandwagon. I think overall, he's probably about the 16th best D-Coordinator in the NFL right now. We could do worse, but we could do better. The one thing I notice about this team is that we very rarely have a pass rusher go unblocked. Teams know when we are going to blitz, who is blitzing, and where they are blitzing. He's not the worst D-Coordinator out there, but every season Dallas does things or brings people in to improve the pass rush and every season it's just not there. At best are pass rush is decent. Overall it's so-so. And every year there's some excuse or even worse, no excuse for it and I think the common denominator is that Zimmer can't coach a defense that can get a good consistent pass rush. He's still a decent D-Coordinator, but he'll never be a very good D-Coordinator until he figures that out. We need better.

- This just in, Tony Romo can really play. Notice how the O-Line is playing much better now? Even his 2 sacks were coverage sacks.

- I didn't have too much of a problem with the last face mask call. That's usually getting called when the helmet gets turned like that. The refereeing got off to a horrendous start, but started to come around. Washington should've never been in position to get that ball anyway.

- Good to see the board isn't blaming Vandy. The bar I was at was livid at him for some reason. Also didn't help that FOX kept panning shots of him afterwards. Not sure how you block somebody and kick the ball at the same time.

- I like Matt McBriar and all, but sometime before I die I would like to see him pin the opponent inside their own 5 yard line.

- That was the first true, legit goal line stand I've seen from Dallas in a long time.

- While I like how Dallas uses so many multiple formations and their beautiful designs of their passing patterns, it seems like there's an inordinate amount of time the opposing defenses know exactly what play we are going to run. The safety comes to mind and usually when we bootleg too.

- Seems like opposing offenses try to run towards the strongside (Spears and Ellis) on normal running plays and use their misdirection or trick plays to run towards the weakside (Canty and Ware) since Ware tends to overcommit at times to runs the opposite side.

- Are nickel package blitzes suck.

- I like Bradie James and all, but I do wish we had something more dynamic at ILB. Ayodele has to play a role that doesn't lend way to needing a dynamic player at that spot, but Bradie just doesn't seem to be playing at the same pace as he was last year. Just a step too slow.


- Overall, I've got a pretty good idea of what this team is about. Talent wise and coaching, they are pretty good. Unfortunately, they seem to shoot themselves in the foot at least 5 times a game. Sometimes they can overcome that, sometimes they can't. I think every team in the league shoots themselves in the foot to a certain extent, but the legit good teams are able to overcome that. I'm starting to believe more and more of that is due to our lack of a pass rush as DeMarcus Ware can't do it all. A better pass rush would probably lead to some more turnovers, especially in games like this. I think the other part is that the defense is decent at forcing turnovers, but not really good at it (and part of that is due to the pass rush as well).

Dallas was up 19-12 when Owens dropped that TD pass and I couldn't help but think to myself "I've smelled this skunk before." And then Roy drops a surefire INT and I couldn't help but think we were losing this game. Even when Vanderjagt was attempting the 35 yarder, which I was confident he would make, I kept thinking about something not being right that Dallas would win despite those 2 huge "shot in the foot" type of plays by Owens and Roy.

Still, part of me is a bit happy since Romo really impressed me quite a bit and I think the O-Line was vastly underrated as they had to play with Bledsoe's ineptitude. So now we've got a 26 year old QB and outside of Rivera, a pretty young and somewhat promising O-Line. But we still manage to lose these games where we outgained the opponent, had a better time of possession, a turnover advantage and had a 35 yarder to win the game.

So I've got a whole lot of mixed emotions on this one. But I promised myself that as long as Dallas went 5-4 in the first 9 games, I would contend that they have a solid chance of making the playoffs. Albeit we could've really used that one.



YAKUZA

I think you missed the most obvious fact: There isn't a single game-changing player on defense. Zimmer will look like a god when they do add one to the defense. Ware is good but, so far, he does not come close to LT.

Another observation of mine is that these guys don't play too smart. Just an observation.

[VACowboy]

Good stuff Rich, as always.

And I agree completely about Zimmer.

[Star4Ever]

Our defense plays far too conservatively. They need to be unleashed and allowed to play more aggressively. This bend but don't break **** does nothing but get you beat.

[diehard2294]

we dont blitz well because we rarely do it,so how good can they be. We show it way to early:

McBriar was terrible kicking those 2 punts, that got in the endzone. Hey he gets a mulligan because he's a stud

yes the goaline stop was huge,but then we proceed to give the ball right back with a safety: talk about a mood swing:

continue to give up too many big defensive plays, and tell me where this great defense is we were supposed to have

overall just sloppy / undisiplined play/ I'm getting used to it:banghead:

[HowAboutThemCowboys]

-
- Good to see the board isn't blaming Vandy. The bar I was at was livid at him for some reason. Also didn't help that FOX kept panning shots of him afterwards. Not sure how you block somebody and kick the ball at the same time.



YAKUZA

I disagree........from the replay of the kick that I saw, it looked like the kick was three feet off the ground like he was kicking a 60 yarder.

[Yakuza Rich]

I think you missed the most obvious fact: There isn't a single game-changing player on defense. Zimmer will look like a god when they do add one to the defense.

Here's the thing. Just about every year they say that and every year the pass rush never comes near expectations. In 2002 it was the additions of Glover and Hardy. In 2004 it was Marcellus Wiley. In 2005 it was Ware, the change to the 3-4, Henry and Aaron Glenn. This year it was Ellis moving to OLB, Ware being groomed, Ayodele and better FS play.

And every year they fail to meet expectations when it comes to the pass rush.

I think we actually have 3 game changers on defense....Ware, Newman, and Roy. Problem is that teams can gameplan for Ware. We don't even come close to using Roy like Polamalu/Adrian Wilson/John Lynch/and other SS's are used and since we don't get much pressure on the QB, Newman doesn't get many INT opportunities.



YAKUZA

[BlueStar22]

yes the goaline stop was huge,but then we proceed to give the ball right back with a safety: talk about a mood swing:a safety that should've been challenged but someone one upstairs said the knee was down.

[2much2soon]

- I like Bradie James and all, but I do wish we had something more dynamic at ILB. Ayodele has to play a role that doesn't lend way to needing a dynamic player at that spot, but Bradie just doesn't seem to be playing at the same pace as he was last year. Just a step too slow.

I posted somewhere on here about James and Ayodele's numbers. They are not impressive.
I think it was 1 forced fumble, 1 int, and 1 sack between them. At least 2 dropped ints by James. Also not that great of tackle numbers compared to other 3-4 ILBs.
These guys aren't killing the team, but they are not helping a great deal either.
I think these guys have to start making more plays for this defense to be as good as it can be.

[Yakuza Rich]

I posted somewhere on here about James and Ayodele's numbers. They are not impressive.
I think it was 1 forced fumble, 1 int, and 1 sack between them. At least 2 dropped ints by James. Also not that great of tackle numbers compared to other 3-4 ILBs.
These guys aren't killing the team, but they are not helping a great deal either.
I think these guys have to start making more plays for this defense to be as good as it can be.

Ayodele's job is primarily to take on blockers, particularly the guards and the center. He's not going to rack up a lot of impressive stats, but his job is important. Overall, he's been playing pretty well lately and seems more comfortable with the defense.

Bradie just looks a bit slow to me. Not really sharp in coverage and not very stout on run out on the perimeter.



YAKUZA

[InmanRoshi]

Its my understanding that Bradie plays the Mike position (Ted Johnson) and Ayodele plays the Mac (Tedi Bruschi).

This team has a bad combination of unathletic linebackers and safeties who lack range. As a result, the middle of the field is wide open for our opponents when we're in cover 2. Carpenter not being able to contribute really hurts, as we could really use an upgrade in athletic ability over Ayodele ... who plays well going downhill but can not play backwards to save his life.

[Yakuza Rich]

Its my understanding that Bradie plays the Mike position (Ted Johnson) and Ayodele plays the Mac (Tedi Bruschi).


It's actually the other way around. Ayodele plays "Ted Johnson's" position and Bradie plays "Bruschi's" spot.



YAKUZA

[big dog cowboy]

- I'm officially on the GROZ bandwagon.
I think there is room for one more.

[Zimmy Lives]

Here's the thing. Just about every year they say that and every year the pass rush never comes near expectations. In 2002 it was the additions of Glover and Hardy. In 2004 it was Marcellus Wiley. In 2005 it was Ware, the change to the 3-4, Henry and Aaron Glenn. This year it was Ellis moving to OLB, Ware being groomed, Ayodele and better FS play.

And every year they fail to meet expectations when it comes to the pass rush.

YAKUZA

IMO, the one key ingredient to making this defense dominant is the addition of one game-changing DT. Don't you know that Jerry and Parcells were hoping that either Spears or Canty would be that player. One of those guys needs to step up or else this defense will continue to be good but not dominant.

[big dog cowboy]

IMO, the one key ingredient to making this defense dominant is the addition of one game-changing DT. Don't you know that Jerry and Parcells were hoping that either Spears or Canty would be that player. One of those guys needs to step up or else this defense will continue to be good but not dominant.
Ferg has done a decent job. That isn't the problem IMHO. The ability to generate and kind of consistent pass is the problem.

[Clove]

I pray for the day we roll out a scheme like the Patriots roll out. They are constantly in the quarterbacks face, and you can't tell me that we don't have the personell to do this.

Please please oh great Football spirits, please bring us a Patriots coordiator from the defensive side of the ball, and have him train our coordinators how to call a blitz package.

[jrumann59]

a safety that should've been challenged but someone one upstairs said the knee was down.

Is a safety like a TD, the ball has to be in the endzone when the knees go down or is it if your knees are in the endzone it makes no difference where the ball is? If its the 1st one then it should have been challenged, if it was the seconfd then it was good call.

With the penalties and at least 1 dropped pass for a TD the team left easily 14 points on the field and the Skins found them and took them for themselves.

[Joe_Fan]

- I'm officially on the GROZ bandwagon. I think overall, he's probably about the 16th best D-Coordinator in the NFL right now. We could do worse, but we could do better. The one thing I notice about this team is that we very rarely have a pass rusher go unblocked. Teams know when we are going to blitz, who is blitzing, and where they are blitzing. He's not the worst D-Coordinator out there, but every season Dallas does things or brings people in to improve the pass rush and every season it's just not there. At best are pass rush is decent. Overall it's so-so. And every year there's some excuse or even worse, no excuse for it and I think the common denominator is that Zimmer can't coach a defense that can get a good consistent pass rush. He's still a decent D-Coordinator, but he'll never be a very good D-Coordinator until he figures that out. We need better.
It's because we don't put a true emphasis on generating a pass rush.

Our defensive scheme isn't designed to put up sacks I mean Marcus Spears said it best during an interview last week. It's just not a priority.

[Kobal]

Man, I really hate this team sometime. :bang2: :o:

:star:

[Joe_Fan]

Nice post. If Parcells does come back year, I believe there are sure to be a few shakeups on the coaches staff. Who do you think doesn't make it back? I think Zimmer goes, Sparano goes, Haley goes, the special teams coach goes.I sure hope that you're right.

I'd love to see all of those individuals go.

[Joe_Fan]

Excellent post. I agree with everything you said. I honestly believed we would go 6-3 because I was fooled by our defense into believing so. 5-4 coming home isn't so bad and I did see a lot of good things out there (namely Romo and MB3).

MB3 needs more PT.
I'd feel much better going into the Indy game 6-3 instead of 5-4.. because well, yeah..

[Joe_Fan]

I think you missed the most obvious fact: There isn't a single game-changing player on defense. Zimmer will look like a god when they do add one to the defense. Ware is good but, so far, he does not come close to LT.

Another observation of mine is that these guys don't play too smart. Just an observation.Oh, we have those players.. it's just that those players aren't allowed to do what they do best due to his scheme.

I get sick and tired of all this defending of Zimmer and whining about how if he had this player or that player.. or if he had more talent he'd do this or that..

He has plenty of talent and still the same results as when we had a bunch of no name players.

It gets to a point where if you're constantly bringing in more and more players and getting the same result then it's time for a change.. and I'm not talking about changing the players.

But then again given your user name I'd expect nothing more from a Zimmer apologist than more excuses.

[Zimmy Lives]

Oh, we have those players.. it's just that those players aren't allowed to do what they do best due to his scheme.



We have those players? Where are they? So far, I have not seen anything beyond acceptable. There are some good players on defense but that's it.

IMO, talent wins games. But since you are the pro football expert who has been studying the game since it's inception and are paid untold amounts of money by NFL coaches, I will bow down to your unlimited knowledge and agree that Dallas' scheme is what holding them back. :rolleyes:

[Yakuza Rich]

We have those players? Where are they? So far, I have not seen anything beyond acceptable. There are some good players on defense but that's it.

IMO, talent wins games. But since you are the pro football expert who has been studying the game since it's inception and are paid untold amounts of money by NFL coaches, I will bow down to your unlimited knowledge and agree that Dallas' scheme is what holding them back. :rolleyes:

New England does a far better job of getting to the QB. Is Roosevelt Colvin better than DeMarcus Ware? Is Banta-Cain better than Greg Ellis? Is Ty Warren and Vince Wilfork better at rushing the passer than Spears and Ferguson? Are any of the NE CB's nearly as good as Newman, Henry and Glenn?

Yet, they are still able to rush the passer much better than Dallas is able to. Why? Because their blitz disguise is pretty top notch. I watched last night's game and they were constantly disguising their blitz. They played a great QB who could kind of tell who was coming and who was dropping back in coverage on occasion. But, they sacked Peyton Manning 3 times....who had only been sacked 7 times in 7 games so far this season.

The lack of a good, consistent pass rush will always be Zimmer's Achilles Heel as a D-Coordinator. I'm just tired of having my favorite team be associated with it, year in and year out.


YAKUZA

[Zimmy Lives]

New England does a far better job of getting to the QB. Is Roosevelt Colvin better than DeMarcus Ware? Is Banta-Cain better than Greg Ellis? Is Ty Warren and Vince Wilfork better at rushing the passer than Spears and Ferguson? Are any of the NE CB's nearly as good as Newman, Henry and Glenn?

Yet, they are still able to rush the passer much better than Dallas is able to. Why? Because their blitz disguise is pretty top notch. I watched last night's game and they were constantly disguising their blitz. They played a great QB who could kind of tell who was coming and who was dropping back in coverage on occasion. But, they sacked Peyton Manning 3 times....who had only been sacked 7 times in 7 games so far this season.

The lack of a good, consistent pass rush will always be Zimmer's Achilles Heel as a D-Coordinator. I'm just tired of having my favorite team be associated with it, year in and year out.


YAKUZA

You keep talking about these guys as if they are perennial Pro Bowlers. The potential is there, especially for the young guys, but I will refuse to believe it is the scheme until they actually achieve personal success in terms of All-Pro and Pro Bowl recognition.

I said it before and I'll say it again, Terry Bradshaw didn't care what defense Dallas played in those memorable Super Bowls back in the 70s. All he knew is that he was staring across the line from Harvey Martin, Randy White, Larry Cole, and Ed Jones.

The scheme is only as good as the players executing it.

[Oh_Canada]

- I'm officially on the GROZ bandwagon. I think overall, he's probably about the 16th best D-Coordinator in the NFL right now. We could do worse, but we could do better. The one thing I notice about this team is that we very rarely have a pass rusher go unblocked. Teams know when we are going to blitz, who is blitzing, and where they are blitzing. He's not the worst D-Coordinator out there, but every season Dallas does things or brings people in to improve the pass rush and every season it's just not there. At best are pass rush is decent. Overall it's so-so. And every year there's some excuse or even worse, no excuse for it and I think the common denominator is that Zimmer can't coach a defense that can get a good consistent pass rush. He's still a decent D-Coordinator, but he'll never be a very good D-Coordinator until he figures that out. We need better.

- This just in, Tony Romo can really play. Notice how the O-Line is playing much better now? Even his 2 sacks were coverage sacks.

- I didn't have too much of a problem with the last face mask call. That's usually getting called when the helmet gets turned like that. The refereeing got off to a horrendous start, but started to come around. Washington should've never been in position to get that ball anyway.

- Good to see the board isn't blaming Vandy. The bar I was at was livid at him for some reason. Also didn't help that FOX kept panning shots of him afterwards. Not sure how you block somebody and kick the ball at the same time.

- I like Matt McBriar and all, but sometime before I die I would like to see him pin the opponent inside their own 5 yard line.

- That was the first true, legit goal line stand I've seen from Dallas in a long time.

- While I like how Dallas uses so many multiple formations and their beautiful designs of their passing patterns, it seems like there's an inordinate amount of time the opposing defenses know exactly what play we are going to run. The safety comes to mind and usually when we bootleg too.

- Seems like opposing offenses try to run towards the strongside (Spears and Ellis) on normal running plays and use their misdirection or trick plays to run towards the weakside (Canty and Ware) since Ware tends to overcommit at times to runs the opposite side.

- Are nickel package blitzes suck.

- I like Bradie James and all, but I do wish we had something more dynamic at ILB. Ayodele has to play a role that doesn't lend way to needing a dynamic player at that spot, but Bradie just doesn't seem to be playing at the same pace as he was last year. Just a step too slow.


- Overall, I've got a pretty good idea of what this team is about. Talent wise and coaching, they are pretty good. Unfortunately, they seem to shoot themselves in the foot at least 5 times a game. Sometimes they can overcome that, sometimes they can't. I think every team in the league shoots themselves in the foot to a certain extent, but the legit good teams are able to overcome that. I'm starting to believe more and more of that is due to our lack of a pass rush as DeMarcus Ware can't do it all. A better pass rush would probably lead to some more turnovers, especially in games like this. I think the other part is that the defense is decent at forcing turnovers, but not really good at it (and part of that is due to the pass rush as well).

Dallas was up 19-12 when Owens dropped that TD pass and I couldn't help but think to myself "I've smelled this skunk before." And then Roy drops a surefire INT and I couldn't help but think we were losing this game. Even when Vanderjagt was attempting the 35 yarder, which I was confident he would make, I kept thinking about something not being right that Dallas would win despite those 2 huge "shot in the foot" type of plays by Owens and Roy.

Still, part of me is a bit happy since Romo really impressed me quite a bit and I think the O-Line was vastly underrated as they had to play with Bledsoe's ineptitude. So now we've got a 26 year old QB and outside of Rivera, a pretty young and somewhat promising O-Line. But we still manage to lose these games where we outgained the opponent, had a better time of possession, a turnover advantage and had a 35 yarder to win the game.

So I've got a whole lot of mixed emotions on this one. But I promised myself that as long as Dallas went 5-4 in the first 9 games, I would contend that they have a solid chance of making the playoffs. Albeit we could've really used that one.



YAKUZA

Great post my friend!!
5-4 would be nice, but 6-3 would have been a whole lot better!!
Next week won't be any cakewalk either....the Cards always seem to get up for the Boys in the dessert.

[InmanRoshi]

New England does a far better job of getting to the QB. Is Roosevelt Colvin better than DeMarcus Ware? Is Banta-Cain better than Greg Ellis? Is Ty Warren and Vince Wilfork better at rushing the passer than Spears and Ferguson? Are any of the NE CB's nearly as good as Newman, Henry and Glenn?

Richard Seymour is worlds better at rushing the QB than Spears and Canty, and maybe the best defensive lineman in football. New England doesn't do anything exotic with their blitzes. They don't need to.

[Yakuza Rich]

Richard Seymour is worlds better at rushing the QB than Spears and Canty, and maybe the best defensive lineman in football. New England doesn't do anything exotic with their blitzes. They don't need to.

It's not about being exotic. It's about disguising the blitz. I could send 6 pass rushers w/2 that go straight up the middle that time their blitz well and it's hard for the O-Line to recognize and thus be effective. That's not exotic, that's just well disguised.

OTOH, I could throw a bunch of stunts on a 6 man blitz and use a CB to come in and a DE to zone blitz. But if it's not disguised well, it's counterproductive.

Seymour is great, but Ware is much better than Colvin. Warren and Wilfork are pretty much the same type of players as Fergy and Canty. Ellis is much better than Banta Cain. Bruschi and Vrabel have combined for a total of 1.5 sacks. Then you consider that the Dallas secondary, especially the CB's are better than NE's secondary.

So yeah, Seymour is great, but there's more talent condusive to having a better pass rush on Dallas' defense than New England's.

And watch last night's NE vs. Indy game, the Patriots were pretty exotic on defense.



YAKUZA

[Yakuza Rich]

You keep talking about these guys as if they are perennial Pro Bowlers.

Roy Williams is a perennial Pro Bowler. Newman is considered Pro Bowl material. Ware is considered to be a beast. And it's not just me and Cowboys fans saying it.

What I am saying is that the talent on this defense is much more condusive to generating a better pass rush than the talent on the Patriots, who do generate a good pass rush.


The scheme is only as good as the players executing it.

Schemes and playcalling are not about certainty, they are about probability. So for all of the talk of "scheming and playcalling being overrated", it loses sight of the fact that scheming and playcalling greatly help determine the player's chances of executing properly.


YAKUZA

[Zimmy Lives]

Schemes and playcalling are not about certainty, they are about probability. So for all of the talk of "scheming and playcalling being overrated", it loses sight of the fact that scheming and playcalling greatly help determine the player's chances of executing properly.


YAKUZA

Agreed. Talent + proper execution (of scheme) = success. Both are integral.

As for our differences concerning Zimmer, I respect your overall football opinions so we'll have to agree to disagree. :cool: