BAT;2828316 said:
I really enjoy our dialogues 41gy, and for the record, I am not a Newman basher. I like him as a player. I just feel he needs to perform better in big games for him to get to the next level, to become a great player. That said, I still listed him in my top 5 all time great Cowboy corners. Just not top 2.
We are just going to have to agree to disagree b/c I do not think covering TO (or Steve Smith) as the be all and end all. And while he is excellent covering the slot, it is not enough. IMO, Newman is steady, not spectacular. He needs to put the team on his back and win the big games. The great ones do that.
Walls, Pup, Renfro, Green, Deion and Newman all have at least one important thing in common. Every single one of them played for a championship caliber team.
*Renfro & Green were on the original Doomsday. With an offense consisting of Meredith (then Morten) at QB, Perkins at RB, Hayes at WR.
*Walls played w/Doomsday II. On offense he had the likes of Staubach (then Danny White), Dorsett, Drew Pearson, Rayfield Wright, Tony Hill.
*Pup played on the 90's dynasty teams (D was ranked 1st more times than any other Cowboys' defense). On offense he had the Triplets (Aikman, Emmitt & Irvin).
*Newman is playing w/the best pass rushing defense in the league. The offense is the most prolific (in single season yards AND scoring) in Cowboys' history. Newman is on the team that sent the most Cowboys to a pro bowl in a single season.
As one of the best players on his defense, IMO Newman needs to step up. Its on his shoulders (just like it is on Ware's, Rat's & James'). Up to now he's been good, he need to take it another level if he wants to be great. Again, just my opinion.
I respect your opinion, but you have to respect the fact that
Eli Manning wouldn't even throw the ball at him in the 2007 playoff game.
Plus, Newman can't control a zone call that asks him to pass the
Giants' Steve Smith off to Roy Williams in the deep third right before the half. He can't control the Giants attacking
Henry at will with Amonte Toomer. He couldn't control a whole lot of things that day, much like
Romo.
I know you are not a Newman basher, Bat. Plus, I wasn't singling you out when I talked about having the opportunity to defend Newman's resume. I was talking partly about the media.
You did have him in the top 5. I would list him at number 2.
Newman has played very well in "big games". Any CB can have an off play or game. If people watch the games and review some stats, you will see that. Newman has been one of the most
consistently outstanding cover CBs in the NFL, and he plays the short stuff and the run extremely well, too. He has been the master at eliminating the deep throws and big plays (see his YPA over his career).
I think some people have unrealistic expectations. No CB is perfect in this era of the NFL. I don't care who you are. If you play long enough, you will get beat. The great ones can forget about it and move on. Newman can give up one catch in a game and some people freak out. They fail to understand that
Peyton Manning and
Marvin Harrison are Hall of Famers, for example. That was a perfect throw. Newman was all over Harrison. Harrison may have gotten a micro-half step on him but still. The ball was thrown where Harrison could dive forward and catch it, and that is what happened.
His team has been in the hunt lately, with the exception of 2004. He can't help it when
Drew Bledsoe throws
Champ Bailey gifts or
Lito Shepard.
Again, not putting Newman on
Santana Moss in 2005, after Moss burned Dallas deep, cost Dallas a playoff spot. That is how
valuable Newman is to the Cowboys. The
Pro Football Weekly survey, based on 2008, rated Newman at number
5. The guy is a top 5 CB, and he's definately in the top
2 if you throw out the zone CBs. It's easier playing in a heavier zone scheme. Newman has been assigned heavy man coverage duties through out his 6 year career.
Randy Moss can fly, and Newman did a very, very good job on him in 2007. Also, I think you underestimate his elite slot play. There is no sideline help, but there is a whole lot of space.
When you play within the division, that is a big game. I think every game is "big", especially with the competition in the
NFC East.
Newman has really come up Aces against the
Commanders during his career. He's the only Cowboy CB to shut down
Santana Moss, twice. He's taken care of
Plaxico Burress multiple times. He shut down
Terrell Owens, twice, when Owens was in Philadelphia.
Owens is a Hall of Fame caliber player. His size/speed ratio was really exceptional in his prime, and that is when Newman shut him down.
Every game in the NFL is a big game, and Dallas is on national TV all the time. I don't know how you can say that Newman "hasn't played well" in "big games". That just hasn't been the case, not even close, respectfully.
Newman has only had the opportunity to play in
three playoff games. He had a rough first one against
Steve Smith, one of the best WRs of any era, imo. He's quick and fast and would be a matchup problem for most CBs, in any era. However,
Newman has shut Steve Smith down
three times (
2003, 2005, and
2006).
Newman gave up
one 30 yard pass to a diving
Bobby Ingram in Seattle. Newman was playing him out of the slot, and the ball was thrown perfect.
Hassleback probably couldn't make that throw twice in 10 tries, imo. Newman was hanging all over him, but Ingram was able to dive forward and make a great grab. The pass interference call on him in that 2006 game was terrible, and it sholdn't have been called. There was a goalline stand after that, but Dallas' offense couldn't get the ball out of there without turning it over.
The ball wasn't catchable, and Newman didn't impede that guy's progress with that little "soft" placement. That was a bush league call. I saw
Lito Shepherd and the
Giants CBs beating the crap out of guys down the field the next day, and no calls were made. The contact was unbelievable. Yet, they called that on Newman.
Deion Sanders' arm bar on
Micheal Irvin in 1994 was real pass interference.
That is one 30 yard catch in his last two playoff games. It's not like
Hassleback and
Manning were giving Newman very many opportunites to get interceptions.
That is hard to do when they don't even target you very much at all or at all in Manning's case. I don't know what else you want? Newman did force a turnover in that 2006 game. He has had picks on Thanksgiving. He recovered a fumble on Thanksgiving. The guy has given up 4 TDs since 2005, I think. He didn't give one up in
2005 and
2007. Plus, the 2006 Lions game, where I think two of them came, happened while Dallas was trying to
hide its safeties by playing them up and the CBs like safeties. The guys were lost and reacting slow.
Do you know why
Eli Manning didn't even bother looking at Newman in the 2007 Divisional Game?
It was because Newman took
Plaxico Burress out of the previous game in November. Burress'
1-5-0 can be traced directly back to
Newman.
Albert Breer wrote about Newman's play against Burress in that game. Buress is the same guy who torched poor
Al Harris and beat the
Patriots in the playoffs or
Super Bowl.
There might not be a
Jerry Rice or
Micheal Irvin, but the quality at WR and TE and depth is much better than when
Deion Sanders played, imo. Players are bigger, faster, and stronger, imo. Plus, the smaller, fast, quick guys like
Steve Smith or
Santana Moss are dangerous. (
Gary Clark was like that;
Andre Rison was one) Clark caught a lot of bombs, though. Those kind of guys can catch short passes and hurt you. There are very good WRs and TEs all over the NFL. I've listed many of them earlier. Newman's level of competition has been very challenging, and he's covered them all, big or small.
It has been the players around Newman, in the secondary, whom have been exposed at times (ex. Henry in 2007 divisional game, Dallas' safeties in Dec. of 2006, ect... Newman played very, very well in his last two playoff games. His first playoff game was a tough one, but he's shut down
Steve Smith three times (2003, 2005, and 2006) since that game like I mentioned above.
When you are CB, it's harder to "put the team on your back", especially when you can't control the amount of times a team throws the ball at you. CBs don't play with the ball in their hands on every single play. They live on islands unless they are camping in zone or sinking deep in cover 3 or cover 2 like
Asante Samuel has done during his career.
Samuel has been the guy who has played with the ball in front of him (not Newman like this ESPN.com writer stated) and has gambled by jumping out routes. Well, he has given up more deep and intermediate throws, too.
Players like
Romo,
Aikman,
Staubach,
Dorsett,
Emmitt,
Barber, and
Irvin play offense. It's much easier for them to "take over games".
Having said that,
Terence Newman sure helped win that second
Commanders game last year. The Cowboys don't win that game without him, and that is just one example. It may have been the best game of his career. It was certainly one of them.
Jim Zorn got cute, and Newman made him pay. That pick Newman had against
Hixon and
Manning last year came in Dallas territory. The Giants were threatening to make that game really, really tight. It was already tight. These are just two examples.
A great CB can get you some turnovers or prevent big plays or points or erase a top WR, but the defense's first job is to prevent points and get the the ball back to the offense. That can be a punt or a turnover. Again, Newman helps you win games, and he can do that by quietly shutting WRs down, or he can make plays when teams chose to test him. He has proven that during his career.
In 2007, Newman saved the second
Commanders game, saved the
Buffalo game, and took one to the house when the offense was letting a poor
Jets team hang around.
Newman didn't get a pick in the 2006 game where he shut down
Santana Moss in Dallas, but it was better than watching Moss toast
Aaron Glenn or players like
Jacques Reeves. Moss didn't get his TDs and yards; he got shut down and Dallas won. That is winning football. That is team football. It isn't about gambling for picks and getting on Sports Center. It's about winning. If a deep pass hits you on the butt and the other team has to punt, that is a positive.
Newman has kept points off the scoreboard by shutting WRs and TEs down or negating their production severely.
The defense can win games, but the offense has to score points and not give games away. The Cowboys' offense last year was a turn over machine, and the special teams were terrible.
