ESPN: Fixing the Cowboys: Pass rush and protection - Dallas Cowboys Forum

CCBoy · 01-19-2012

Fixing the Cowboys: Pass rush and protection
January, 19, 2012
By Todd Archer

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowbo...and-protection

IRVING, Texas -- I would like to thank my warmup acts -- Tim MacMahon, Calvin Watkins and Bryan Broaddus -- for their solutions on how to fix the Cowboys.

The salary cap will not be an issue. The Cowboys have said they will be able to do whatever they want in free agency, despite the dead money that lingers. By the time free agency begins, they could have around $20 million in room.

That’s plenty.

I’m looking at the four teams that are playing this weekend in the conference championship games as prime examples of how to structure your team.

Baltimore, New England, San Francisco and the New York Giants offer the Cowboys a blueprint of what works.

Anthony Spencer has been solid against the run but does not get to the quarterback enough.The NFL is not about running the ball and stopping the run anymore. Those are tired clichés. It’s protecting the passer, especially up the middle, and rushing the passer....

Cowboys&LakersFan · 01-19-2012

Mathis should be available. Indy is in rebuild mode so I doubt they resign him.

Doomsday101 · 01-19-2012

So protect the QB and be able to get after the opposing QB? Wow what a novel concept. Wish I would have said that. Oh Wait I have.

Interior offensive line play is huge. New England protects Tom Brady with Logan Mankins and Brian Waters. Baltimore does it with Ben Grubbs, who is also set to be a free agent, and Marshal Yanda. San Francisco has a first-rounder in Mike Iupati inside. The Giants have Chris Snee.

Too often last season Tony Romo was left dodging traffic up the middle, and quarterbacks just can’t survive there.

burmafrd · 01-19-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doomsday101

So protect the QB and be able to get after the opposing QB? Wow what a novel concept. Wish I would have said that. Oh Wait I have.

Interior offensive line play is huge. New England protects Tom Brady with Logan Mankins and Brian Waters. Baltimore does it with Ben Grubbs, who is also set to be a free agent, and Marshal Yanda. San Francisco has a first-rounder in Mike Iupati inside. The Giants have Chris Snee.

Too often last season Tony Romo was left dodging traffic up the middle, and quarterbacks just can’t survive there.

Tony rarely had a pocket to step up into; and Eli did. HUGE advantage.

We need to get to Eli and prevent Romo from being got to.

Doomsday101 · 01-19-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by burmafrd

Tony rarely had a pocket to step up into; and Eli did. HUGE advantage.

We need to get to Eli and prevent Romo from being got to.

No doubt. Frankly given the fact he had to get out of the pocket to survive it is pretty astounding numbers he put up on the season. I love to get him the protection so that he can step up in the pocket and be able to go to his 3rd or 4th read.

I'm not blind I see many of the playoff teams QB get that luxury and it matters. When defense can put pressure up the gut and get into the QB face even the top QB's in this league will struggle. Maybe that is the reason DC want to put pressure on Brees, Brady and Rodgers knowing that they can cause problems for them.

I know we have people who seem to think that these QB are out there doing it alone that is not the case it takes the big boys up front to allow those QB to make those plays

Outlaw Heroes · 01-19-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd Archer

Next up is the offensive line.

This is where MacMahon got something right in targeting New Orleans guard Carl Nicks in free agency. He must’ve been reading the blog last week when I made the suggestion.

Or you both must've been reading what has been posted at CZ for the past several weeks, during which it has been an ongoing topic of discussion.

CCBoy · 01-19-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Outlaw Heroes

Or you both must've been reading what has been posted at CZ for the past several weeks, during which it has been an ongoing topic of discussion.

Just being realistic, and carrying on the discussion part...

If I were New Orleans, with a smart coach in Payton, would I be letting half of a dominant interior guard matched pair leaving just after missing out at making it to the NFC Championship game? I wouldn't. And would invest much on the defensive side through the draft as well. Building at a point beyond where Dallas is now starting.

As to Balitmore allowing a superior level guard bounding out to free agency. They are at the AFC Championship level. Despite wanting to feel like a kid waking up on Christmas morning and rushing to see the presents at the foot of your tree, do I think they want to fall back to depending upon Andre Gurode for a guard?

Now, projecting forward, to draft time. Dallas could have an opportunity to draft a quality, but once in a decade Guard possibly. How many other teams will be seeing that as well? It's not like other teams of recent history, haven't rushed right past Dallas to grab offensive linemen that the Cowboys were obviously targeting. Just that a lineman is being projected where Dallas will be sitting, doesn't mean he will in fact be there as well.

I'm like the next fan, myself, I like looking at the old Sears Catalog and dreaming before Christmas, but it still boils down to what is there and Dallas pays for in the draft, or negotiates at increased levels of cap hits in free agency.

To improve, it's not like going out to the local Market and taking off a shelf, but cash on the barrel head with supply limited for quality and top priced items even yet.

That puts importance at getting quality, and not just quantity when it's time to grab parts. A large part of team directions now, involve predicting what a specific player will do within that team's scheme and applications. We all know that...and so should teams.

Just interjecting, as many have, that a fan's moderation in view, is sometimes beneficial as well. Change, even for the Cowboys, comes at a price for each one. To make a splurge in free agency, and to strain a cap picture for any individual year, doesn't ensure success. Look at Philadelphia's 'dream team' this past year. Even a group of 'cherry picked' players has to work back into a team picture of play. That itself takes time to integrate.

Just as Dallas had to adjust to a newly implanted Rob Ryan defensive scheme, the Eagles had an offensive coordinator becoming the defensive coordinator and new pieces to their unit as well. The lockout affected much of changes coming into it last season.

I'm just trying to say that we as fans need some patience in what is coming into the future for the Cowboys. They will have to be targeting players pretty carefully in this off season.

With the talent already on the Giants and Philadelphia, to be co-equal, this time around, Dallas will have to identify what will make their own team better when it reaches the field. Not in just filling slots.

When they figure out what will significantly improve their schemes, and project out for a significant time to warrant change, they this time, they will have to be aggressive to add particular pieces...and not just shaking things about for a different picture.

Trades have gone out of vogue, but even at a price, one gets a piece that he wants. Jon Kitna became a Cowboy this way, and served well for the three years he was with Dallas. Trades around the draft, targeting players and not slots, have paid off well for Dallas in the past. And being aggressive in free agency has paid off in the offensive line, and targeted for a particular skillset on defense.

It appears that some fans need to grab their boxers strategicly, and show some restraint...but at the same time, it's time for Dallas to make some dramatic moves and gather the ingredients for both Jason Garrett and Rob Ryan to make the plates served at Restaurant Cowboys.