Brian Baldinger

[Seven]

Anyone else see his segment on NFLN? I thought he had some good points bolstered by some video.


There were times when both Rat and Tank were on their knees blocking. I couldn't believe I saw that. Ratliff was shown blocking with his head down facing the ground from the waist up. Rat and Tank not being able to break the double team. Baldinger said: "There's no sin in a double team, but is is a sin to not beat a double team".



Showed several shots of poor tackling "attempts" I call them. He said: "You can't tackle anyone laying on the ground" yet there they were.


He called the DL "Velcro" and had some footage for proof. He said they can't get off of blocks. From what I saw, He was dead nuts.


I actually sat there afterward..............dumbfounded. Here we have pro-football players performing at a high school level. And I'm being generous here. My God. Do we not even know how to compete fundamentally?


I've got my thoughts and there along the lines of Adam and Crayton displaying there punt catching abilities.....................

 

[ajk23az]

From DMN:

October 24, 2008
Brian Baldinger blames Cowboys' defensive woes on ... Jay Ratliff?!
8:56 PM Fri, Oct 24, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips

The NFL Network's Brian Baldinger, best known around these parts for being a bench-warming offensive lineman for some '80s Cowboys clubs, weighed in on what's wrong with the Dallas defense. He pointed the finger at the nose tackles.

"The Cowboys have two on the roster, but neither of them know how to play the position," Baldinger said. "You cannot play the position with your head down. You have to be able to beat the double-team. You have got to stay on your feet, nose tackles cannot play on the ground."

He might have a point when it comes to backup Tank Johnson, who hasn't done a whole lot other than force a fumble against the Bengals. But Jay Ratliff has been the Cowboys' best defensive player other than DeMarcus Ware this season.

Maybe Baldinger based his analysis on the Rams game. Pretty much every Dallas defensive starter other than Ware was awful in St. Louis. But Ratliff played at close to a Pro Bowl level through six games. It's ridiculous to pin the Cowboys' problems on him.

At least Baldinger did spread the bashing across the board a bit.

"Right now, the guys are like Velcro, just sticking to the opponent's blocks," Baldinger said. "What happened to the idea of running through ballcarriers, finishing the play? It seems to be lost with the Dallas defenders. What is it with leaving your feet, diving at the feet of running backs? The suffer from this throughout, in every phase of their defense."

 

[lane]

i can't stand baldinger..never have.

that dude wears more makeup than tammy faye baker.

 

[Seven]

From DMN:

October 24, 2008
Brian Baldinger blames Cowboys' defensive woes on ... Jay Ratliff?!
8:56 PM Fri, Oct 24, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips

The NFL Network's Brian Baldinger, best known around these parts for being a bench-warming offensive lineman for some '80s Cowboys clubs, weighed in on what's wrong with the Dallas defense. He pointed the finger at the nose tackles.

"The Cowboys have two on the roster, but neither of them know how to play the position," Baldinger said. "You cannot play the position with your head down. You have to be able to beat the double-team. You have got to stay on your feet, nose tackles cannot play on the ground."

He might have a point when it comes to backup Tank Johnson, who hasn't done a whole lot other than force a fumble against the Bengals. But Jay Ratliff has been the Cowboys' best defensive player other than DeMarcus Ware this season.

Maybe Baldinger based his analysis on the Rams game. Pretty much every Dallas defensive starter other than Ware was awful in St. Louis. But Ratliff played at close to a Pro Bowl level through six games. It's ridiculous to pin the Cowboys' problems on him.

At least Baldinger did spread the bashing across the board a bit.

"Right now, the guys are like Velcro, just sticking to the opponent's blocks," Baldinger said. "What happened to the idea of running through ballcarriers, finishing the play? It seems to be lost with the Dallas defenders. What is it with leaving your feet, diving at the feet of running backs? The suffer from this throughout, in every phase of their defense."

Thanks for posting this. I really wasn't sure if I'd start a thread because I stewed on it for awhile and wasn't positive in my accuracy. As for Baldinger,
He did the segment in a Yoga theme because he said the issues are beyond what the coaches can fix. It's on the players. There's more he said then what is available via DMN. Jay had some major issues. I remember the sideline shots after the first defensive series and it looked to me there were several folks talking "at" Rat.


As for this comment: "Maybe Baldinger based his analysis on the Rams game. Pretty much every Dallas defensive starter other than Ware was awful in St. Louis". You could insert any opponents team name and this would be true.

 

[goshan]

Nose tackle is about consistently holding up blockers and occupying the middle.
I agree Ratliff makes some plays but I don't know if he has played well consistently at the nose.
He may very well have, but I would need to look at some film.

 

[cowboyjoe]

i saw that too and posted about it on the board underneath nfl network;

i even asked hostile and he said that this can be corrected, so i tend to believe what he said;

my main thinking on this is that now we will see if what wade said is true, that he made some changes, now we will see in this game coming up.

no more excuses, its time for the cowboys, the coaches to stand up and play, period and be accountable

 

[MONT17]

I have every game on DVD including the preseason and if Baldinger would have said this a month or two ago he would have been called a Chicken little who knows nothing about football. As we wait 4 the tiger to change its stripes!

 

[sonnyboy]

i can't stand baldinger..never have.

that dude wears more makeup than tammy faye baker.

LOL Ya he does. But not outside the studio. I've seen him a few times at the Route 73 Starbucks in Marlton a few miles from NFL films in Mount Laurel NJ.

 

[notherbob]

The serious question we need to answer is whether or not football is interferring with and taking too much time away from the Dallas Cowboys choir practice?

 

[TNCowboy]

He's mostly right. Our guys do a lot of diving at piles. We don't have a lot of guys who are willing to really pop somebody.

Ratliff has made a lot of plays, but there's been a lot of times when teams have been able to run right up the gut on us. Ratliff will beat people with his quickness, but he's also going to get manhandled sometimes. He's just not big enough.

We need a big horse to in the middle so we can move Ratliff outside.

 

[Rack]

i can't stand baldinger..never have.

that dude wears more makeup than tammy faye baker.

And he was spot on with his analysis of the cowboys. He may have been a bit too harsh on Ratliff, but he's not completely wrong there either. Ratliff is playing out of position and he will struggle at NG at times.


Baldinger was right. The interior D is struggling, they don't get off the blocks, and the tackling has been terrible.


I don't care how much makeup he wears, he was right.

 

[gimmesix]

There were times when both Rat and Tank were on their knees blocking. I couldn't believe I saw that. Ratliff was shown blocking with his head down facing the ground from the waist up. Rat and Tank not being able to break the double team. Baldinger said: "There's no sin in a double team, but is is a sin to not beat a double team".

Wade has said several times that Ratliff is a different kind of nose tackle, one that wins his battles with quickness instead of raw power.

With that, we have to take the good and the bad. When he splits the seam or slips the center, he's a force. When he gets locked onto, he doesn't have the power to overcome the linemen.

I prefer a nose tackle who wins with power over quickness, but Ratliff's play hasn't been a problem for Dallas. He makes more good plays than bad ones and we don't get hurt often by runs up the middle.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

Ratliff is a beast, as usual "so called experts" are wrong...

 

[CF74]

Not everyone is a Manster or a Lilly. Fighting off the double team takes raw strength, tenacity, and size. If we had Rat and Tank in the tackle position together it would be a different story. I'm not saying to switch to the 4-3 but I'd like to see both of them in there when we run the nickel/dime packages.
Ellis-Rat-Tank-Ware coming in at the same time would be unstoppable, followed by Zack attack. Aye way!!!:starspin

 

[Seven]

He's mostly right. Our guys do a lot of diving at piles. We don't have a lot of guys who are willing to really pop somebody.

Ratliff has made a lot of plays, but there's been a lot of times when teams have been able to run right up the gut on us. Ratliff will beat people with his quickness, but he's also going to get manhandled sometimes. He's just not big enough.

We need a big horse to in the middle so we can move Ratliff outside.

It's the mano-e-mano tackles consistently whiffed.

 

[Seven]

Ratliff is a beast, as usual "so called experts" are wrong...

You'll never fill the bandwagon with that statement. Jay and Tank have been called out and deservedly so, IMO. They have to find a way to use their abilities effectively. So far...................nada.