theogt
Surrealist
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Parts are always moving
Maybe the most intriguing development to emerge from the Ranch over the last couple weeks is the evolution of a defense.
What seems to be happening is the coaching staff getting a very firm grasp on its personnel, and the players getting comfortable enough in the new scheme for the coaches to expand exponentially on it. And that's why during the Packers win, there was a massive amount of substituting (so much so that it led to a couple penalties).
Now, in a collective sense, this group has achieved the malleability to make adjustments to just about anything possible. Of course, it takes swallowing pride for it all to work, since players must accept roles, and the guys on the team have found a way to swallow hard.
"It's a lot easier when you're winning, I understand that," said coach Wade Phillips. "One begets the other. If you're not winning, they're gonna be talking -- 'Well, how come I'm not playing.' I think they see it when you win, what the results are. And that's what you're all playing for, to win. They want to be a part of it."
So what do you have? A versatile defense that can do a myriad of things.
On the defensive line, every player who dresses for the game -- usually six of them -- has a role on the defense, besides just providing depth. At linebacker, Kevin Burnett is a regular in the nickel, and Anthony Spencer's a dangerous pass-rushing weapon that can come off the bench. In the secondary, fourth corner Nate Jones is getting on the field defensively, third safety Patrick Watkins is like Barnett, a nickel regular, and Keith Davis has come on in some sub packages the last two games.
Count 'em up, and you have a total of nine backups seeing a good amount of snaps on defense. That means there are 20 players in the mix.
This dynamic has allowed a myriad of looks. Aside from the standard goal-line and base 3-4, you can see these fronts as sub packages: 3-3, 3-2, 4-1 and 4-2. And with versatile lineman/linebacker hybrids like Greg Ellis, DeMarcus Ware and Spencer, the coaches have moved players around pre-snap to keep the offense from identifying the front and rushers-vs.-cover men.
Meanwhile, in the secondary, you can see it in the safety alignments. They've played with a single-high safety over three corners, split safeties, three safeties (in a quarter look), and the old high-low look. That's allowed the team to seamlessly switch between coverages, based on the personnel on the field, and adjust to offensive formations.
It's all still a work in progress. Some of the substitution issues are evidence of that.
But in the long run, as the challenges from offense become stiffer, the Cowboys should be more and more ready to deal with whatever is thrown at them.
"Part of it is them learning the techniques, or us trying to fit the techniques that they can do well," Phillips said. "I feel more and more comfortable, certainly, with our defensive team. The things we play well, we're playing them over and over and getting better at those things. And the things we've added, we've added personnel groups for three wides, for four wides, we've played dime, we've play Cowboy, we've played single, we've played base.
"We're getting enough things that we can give the offense some problems when they try to change things. I feel more and more comfortable with it."
Posted by Albert Breer http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/standing/icons/email.gif at 8:09 PM (E-mail this entry)
Maybe the most intriguing development to emerge from the Ranch over the last couple weeks is the evolution of a defense.
What seems to be happening is the coaching staff getting a very firm grasp on its personnel, and the players getting comfortable enough in the new scheme for the coaches to expand exponentially on it. And that's why during the Packers win, there was a massive amount of substituting (so much so that it led to a couple penalties).
Now, in a collective sense, this group has achieved the malleability to make adjustments to just about anything possible. Of course, it takes swallowing pride for it all to work, since players must accept roles, and the guys on the team have found a way to swallow hard.
"It's a lot easier when you're winning, I understand that," said coach Wade Phillips. "One begets the other. If you're not winning, they're gonna be talking -- 'Well, how come I'm not playing.' I think they see it when you win, what the results are. And that's what you're all playing for, to win. They want to be a part of it."
So what do you have? A versatile defense that can do a myriad of things.
On the defensive line, every player who dresses for the game -- usually six of them -- has a role on the defense, besides just providing depth. At linebacker, Kevin Burnett is a regular in the nickel, and Anthony Spencer's a dangerous pass-rushing weapon that can come off the bench. In the secondary, fourth corner Nate Jones is getting on the field defensively, third safety Patrick Watkins is like Barnett, a nickel regular, and Keith Davis has come on in some sub packages the last two games.
Count 'em up, and you have a total of nine backups seeing a good amount of snaps on defense. That means there are 20 players in the mix.
This dynamic has allowed a myriad of looks. Aside from the standard goal-line and base 3-4, you can see these fronts as sub packages: 3-3, 3-2, 4-1 and 4-2. And with versatile lineman/linebacker hybrids like Greg Ellis, DeMarcus Ware and Spencer, the coaches have moved players around pre-snap to keep the offense from identifying the front and rushers-vs.-cover men.
Meanwhile, in the secondary, you can see it in the safety alignments. They've played with a single-high safety over three corners, split safeties, three safeties (in a quarter look), and the old high-low look. That's allowed the team to seamlessly switch between coverages, based on the personnel on the field, and adjust to offensive formations.
It's all still a work in progress. Some of the substitution issues are evidence of that.
But in the long run, as the challenges from offense become stiffer, the Cowboys should be more and more ready to deal with whatever is thrown at them.
"Part of it is them learning the techniques, or us trying to fit the techniques that they can do well," Phillips said. "I feel more and more comfortable, certainly, with our defensive team. The things we play well, we're playing them over and over and getting better at those things. And the things we've added, we've added personnel groups for three wides, for four wides, we've played dime, we've play Cowboy, we've played single, we've played base.
"We're getting enough things that we can give the offense some problems when they try to change things. I feel more and more comfortable with it."
Posted by Albert Breer http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/standing/icons/email.gif at 8:09 PM (E-mail this entry)
It's funny (strange, not haha) when people don't take into account the greater picture but instead choose to only focus on a single piece of the puzzle.
)