Giants face stronger Cowboys without Ellis/Bledsoe (weak links)

[Chuck 54]

I agree that we are a much better defense without Greg Ellis at SLB...however, we are a weaker defense without him altogether. He worked hard to make the transition and he was still our best or second best pass rusher. He was not our best option at LB, but our safest one.

Now that the younger guys are proving they can get the job done and fly around to the ball better than Ellis, I truly believe Ellis has seen his last work at LB.

Next season, Greg Ellis will likely be with another football team, but if he is with the Cowboys, he'll likely be back at DE, a part of the rotation, and likely pass rushing with Hatcher (DE) and Ratliff (DT) in passing situations...I don't know if he'll like being a part time player, but I don't see him ever starting at LB again.

I'll also add that Singleton may have gotten the worst rap by posters...he is playing much better in the 3-4 so far than most of us would have expected...he's a solid LB in any scheme, and we're lucky we still have him on our roster.

 

[dogunwo]

Last time the Giants faced the Cowboys Ellis and Bledsoe were the starters. Without these two players the Cowboys have done a Jeckyl-and Hyde transformation. Few will argue that Bledsoe was the weak link on offense. I'm beginning to come to grips with my suspicion that Ellis was a/(the?) weak link on defense, especially a 3-4 defense. He did alright. Don't get me wrong. But his injury forced the Cowboys to go to a true 3-4, not the 5-2 they had with Ellis. And it also forced the Cowboys to move Ware around which makes the offenses guess and audible. With Ellis in there, teams knew exactly where Ellis and Ware would be and everyone else. Ellis is one of my favorite Cowboys but the facts seem to be that the Cowboys are a better defense without him. I doubt he will be a Cowboy next year. As Parcells said about Ellis(before he switched to LB),"Every team in the league has a Greg Ellis at DE in the 4-3." Nothing special at this point in his career. And the injury now probably cements his departure.

The best base LB combo for the Cowboys imo is Burnett, Ayodele, James, and Ware, with Ware and Burnett able to switch sides at any time.

I agree with alot of what you are saying but dont underestimate Ellis vs. the run.

 

[theogt]

I agree that we are a much better defense without Greg Ellis at SLB...however, we are a weaker defense without him altogether. He worked hard to make the transition and he was still our best or second best pass rusher. He was not our best option at LB, but our safest one.

Now that the younger guys are proving they can get the job done and fly around to the ball better than Ellis, I truly believe Ellis has seen his last work at LB.

Next season, Greg Ellis will likely be with another football team, but if he is with the Cowboys, he'll likely be back at DE, a part of the rotation, and likely pass rushing with Hatcher (DE) and Ratliff (DT) in passing situations...I don't know if he'll like being a part time player, but I don't see him ever starting at LB again.

I'll also add that Singleton may have gotten the worst rap by posters...he is playing much better in the 3-4 so far than most of us would have expected...he's a solid LB in any scheme, and we're lucky we still have him on our roster.

Younger guys are proving they can get the job done? Like Al Singleton? Cause he's the one that's seeing the most time at LOLB. Other than him, we're seeing Ware over there.

 

[cowboyfan4life_mark]

My thoughts on todays game:

1) I just feel that we have even a better chance with this game than we did with the first. Mainly because of Romo.

2) With Ellis out, we don't seem to be missing him as much as I feared. I do want him to return next year and continue to pressure.

3) Even if the Giants are "pumped up", we still match up well with them.

 

[Chuck 54]

Younger guys are proving they can get the job done? Like Al Singleton? Cause he's the one that's seeing the most time at LOLB. Other than him, we're seeing Ware over there.

Singleton is the starter...Burnett and Carpenter are seeing more time with Ellis gone, and they are playing well and developing...and who do you think is playing on the right side when Ware moves to the left?

Ellis is out....Singleton, Burnett, and Carpenter are playing it by committee...and our defense is playing better. Ellis was a good pressure guy, but he was NOT playing very well at LB. He'll never play LB again.

 

[theogt]

Singleton is the starter...Burnett and Carpenter are seeing more time with Ellis gone, and they are playing well and developing...and who do you think is playing on the right side when Ware moves to the left?

Ellis is out....Singleton, Burnett, and Carpenter are playing it by committee...and our defense is playing better. Ellis was a good pressure guy, but he was NOT playing very well at LB. He'll never play LB again.

Carpenter isn't seeing much time at all. He saw a decent amount against the Colts, but his playing time was reduced against the Bucs until late 3rd/4th quarter in junk time. Burnett is seeing time at ROLB when Ware moves to LOLB. I don't recall Burnett playing LOLB, and I don't recall him doing much at ROLB so far. Still, he's not seeing sufficient playing time in the base defense to make a call one way or the other (good or bad).

The biggest "youth benefit" we've seen so far is having Hatcher play RDE in the nickel with Ware at LDE. Like I said earlier, Hatcher is the pick of the draft at this point.