[Wood]

Originally Posted by Soth

I have been reading a few articles at blogging the boys. They are a lot more upbeat about the Ryan/Kiffin situation than I am, but they make some valid points. I would have posted the articles but it seems I am not allowed to post links (some post count rule I guess).

This is what they are discussing over there:

1. If you look at all the offensive/defensive rankings this season, the defense is in the bottom 15 range in a lot of categories. On the other hand, the offense is actually highly ranked in many categories. Our main issues offensively are turnovers (Romo?) and running game. Just by looking at the stats it makes a lot of sense to fire Ryan and retain Garrett. Obviously, this overlooks the injury problem.

[View Full Quote]2. We did not have a lot of other options at DC. Horton/Zimmer are under contract. Lovie wanted an HC job, etc. Kiffin was available and the team decided to pull the trigger. They could have waited, but it seems like the saw that as a more risky approach.

3. Kiffin was not successful at USC, but this may have been due to their lack of talent. The sanctions really hurt USC's ability to recruit talented defenders and this hurt Kiffin. Some posters are saying that the system was sound, but players simply lacked the talent to make plays.

4. Our corners will be a good fit for Kiffin’s system, specially Mo. You need corners that can redirect defenders and make plays on the ball, and they think Carr and Mo can do this (even if they are known as more of press/man coverage defenders).

5. Kiffin told Jerry/Jason that he thinks we have the players to run the system. He may be old, but he is qualified to make such a statement. He might also be trying to “sell” himself, so take this with a grain of salt.

This makes me feel a little better about the changes. I would have still preferred to see what Ryan could do in his third year with a healthy defense. But it is what it is.

I think its clear by now Dallas was not having success running 3-4. Mostly because they never found Wilfork to anchor it. I thought it was Dallas undoing that they never really went after anchoring DT in setting up that defense but spent most of their time adding talent on periphery and never truly addressing the need for anchor.