I think Greg Ellis is playing almost as well as Ware

[Stautner]

Ellis played well at the start but I did not see much of him till later in the game.

Same goes for Ware.

Then again, that only mirrors the entire team - few people stood out in the middle of the game.

 

[ravidubey]

I only saw one stunt last night and it generated pressure (actually a penalty on Ware, but that's beside the point). Did we stunt much after that?

 

[Stautner]

I only saw one stunt last night and it generated pressure (actually a penalty on Ware, but that's beside the point). Did we stunt much after that?

I remember seeing at least one more, but I don't really have a feel for whether we did much more of it. Frankly, the only time it really is obvious to fans is when it leaves a defender with a clear and unobstructed rushing lane. Most times it kind of gets lost in the mass of bodies clogging the line of scrimmage.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Not only is Ellis doing a good job getting pressure at his new position, but it's almost impossible to run right against him. Ellis was always a good run stopping DE, and now TEs and FBs don't have much of a chance blocking him.

 

[Stautner]

I agree that Ellis will improve because of being more comfortable....but for a LB......Ellis is slow......a few times the Washington RB just ran around him in open space.....Ellis is not quick enough to play the flat....more teams will see this and expose it......

Ellis strength is stopping the run and rushing the passer when he is put as a DL.

BTW.....I also think Carpenter is too slow for OLB and I believe that is one of the reason he was moved inside.

I agree with your comments about Ellis. I had a poster fight me tooth and nail last week for making similar comments about Ellis. The guy even ranted about how playing OLB would be almost the same for Ellis as playing DE. Obviously when rushing the passer that is true, but when falling back in coverage that is blatently not true. Coverage is the area where Ellis has a long way to go and some physical limitations.

As for Carpenter, I disagree about his speed. He is supposed to be able to run a 4.6 40 - plenty of speed to play OLB.

I'm really not sure what prompted the move to ILB. He did play some ILB in college, but I suspect the move now has more to do with the Cowboys personnel than anything. Perhaps Ayodele is the biggest LB question mark in Parcells mind - after all he also is making a transition from OLB. Maybe Parcells just sees something in Carpenter that he thinks translates better to ILB than OLB or he just doesn't like our depth on the inside as much as on the outside. It's really hard to say.

I did notice Carpenter playing a lot in passing situattions last night. Maybe Parcells likes to have Carpenter's speed in the game in passing situations but doesn't want to have to take out Ware or Ellis - his 2 primary pass rushers - to get Carpenter in the game. I certainly would expect that Carpenter has more range in passing situations than Ayodele.

 

[Gaede]

Ellis looked awesome yesterday. I only saw the second half though, so I don't know how he did when the game was still close

He had a sweet sweet sack in the third or fourth quarter where he just leveled Brunell, but it was called back by a penalty. I can't remember seeing Ellis make such a big hit. He looked angry, even!

 

[Stautner]

Ellis looked awesome yesterday. I only saw the second half though, so I don't know how he did when the game was still close

He had a sweet sweet sack in the third or fourth quarter where he just leveled Brunell, but it was called back by a penalty. I can't remember seeing Ellis make such a big hit. He looked angry, even!

Frankly, he may find rushing the passer to be more to his liking as an OLB. He can adjust his angles more, he sometimes gets blocked by a RB rather than a huge OT, he sometimes gets a running start rather than just from a set position in a 3 point stance.

He did look a little out of place in coverage a few times in the first half though.

 

[mmohican29]

I'll say this. Shawne Merriman is a high motor effort player with a ton of ability. But believe it or not: Ware is... and will be... the better football player.. And you can take any stats you have currently and throw them out the window.

I pointed out to my brother (a huge Niner fan) how the Cowboys use Ware and how the Niners will use Lawson. Everytime DeMarcus approaches the line of scrimmage he MUST be accounted for, no exceptions.

When he and Ellis flopped ends it took the entire Skins O-Line by surprise because of the speed at which he did this resulting in one false start, and one Brunell bail out incompetion. The man literally sprinted from one end to the other and you could see the indecision of the LT at the snap. He took a false step and DeMarcus was by him. My brother even said "jeeeshus is he fast".

If you think about how many false starts DeMarcus Ware causes in ballgames and equate them with a negative play... think about the yardage lost over the course of a season. This is the "hidden yardage" that BP preaches. It's almost like a sack in itself, except you don't lose the down. His pressure will create sacks for other DL, so it's not about the states. But I also believe those will come for him as well. He is quickly learning all necessary nuances of playin ROLB in a 3-4 D and has been the sole cause of I believe 4 negative run plays to his side in two games.

Ware is just getting warmed up folks. Wow.

 

[aquavita]

Yeah that time Ware sprinted around the defensive line and just time his rush perfectly with the snap was freaking insane. He had the whole Commanders line panicked.

 

[goshan]

Ware looked tired to me.
He didn't get a lot of pressure in the 2nd half.

Ware is a better all around LB than he is a pass rusher right now.
His only sack came when the RB tried to block him.

I think Ware played a good game and has great potential. But he is overrated by Cowboys fans right now.

He didn't get double-teamed in the 2nd half but still couldn't get to the QB.

 

[Yeagermeister]

I could swear that Ellis was getting held by Jansen A LOT toward the end of the game and it wasn't getting called. There was at least one play where it was VERY clear that Ellis' jersey was getting yanked (down around the ribs on his right side), yet no call...

He may think its more difficult, but IMO, he's playing the best ball I've seen him play

It's because he was running through the attempted holds

 

[WoodysGirl]

I like how they meet at the QB. If they keep it up it will start to remind me of the bet that Too Tall and Too mean had one year (Bet a case of beer, who would get more scaks), 4-3 bookends racing to the QB.

When will Ellis come out and actually say this was a good thing after all ?

Actually he has... in quite a few articles. He's stated he's getting comfortable everyday.

Not sure what more he's supposed to day.

Both guys played pretty well yesterday. Looking forward to them doing it more often.

 

[jackrussell]

Last nite....Washington used a vanilla offence....run....run...pass......
JMHO

The game play by play would say differently. Perhaps you're confusing it with another game?

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/playbyplay/NFL_20060917_WAS@DAL

 

[btcutter]

Ware looked tired to me.
He didn't get a lot of pressure in the 2nd half.

Ware is a better all around LB than he is a pass rusher right now.
His only sack came when the RB tried to block him.

I think Ware played a good game and has great potential. But he is overrated by Cowboys fans right now.

He didn't get double-teamed in the 2nd half but still couldn't get to the QB.

He gets tired because our DC keeps dropping him into coverage and chasing WR and RB in open space. Let our best pass rusher do his thing from different angles of the line and take advantage of his speed!

 

[jterrell]

What is clear is that BP knows best.

He really does.

Ellis playing a 3-4 OLB was fresh for the end of that game and abusing Jansen as nickel DE.

When he played 4-3 De all game and battled OTs on run plays he was tried and would have been leaning on guys with no burst.

Ellis looks really good out there. Very much like Willie McGinest.

 

[Q_the_man]

Ware looked tired to me.
He didn't get a lot of pressure in the 2nd half.

Ware is a better all around LB than he is a pass rusher right now.
His only sack came when the RB tried to block him.

I think Ware played a good game and has great potential. But he is overrated by Cowboys fans right now.

He didn't get double-teamed in the 2nd half but still couldn't get to the QB.

On the flip side he was playing a lefty QB who saw him coming 90% of the times, if brunell were right handed, Ware could of had 3 sacks easy......

 

[Jarv]

Actually he has... in quite a few articles. He's stated he's getting comfortable everyday.

Not sure what more he's supposed to day.

Both guys played pretty well yesterday. Looking forward to them doing it more often.

I have seen where he has said he is more comfortable...but thats it. Of course WG's reads more articles in day than I read in a week ...Very possible that I missed something else.

Hope you don't think I'm complaining about Ellis, I'm still glad we took him over Moss...Always been a standup guy. Even with all of his trade talk, notice His teamates voted him captain. Just goes to show you what they think of him.

 

[Chuck 54]

he's better than ware in the pass rush...not as good in coverage.

 

[Concord]

I wasn't excited about moving Ellis to OLB...But I'll give credit where credit is due and Ellis has played very well so far.

 

[tyke1doe]

On the flip side he was playing a lefty QB who saw him coming 90% of the times, if brunell were right handed, Ware could of had 3 sacks easy......

Didn't the bogus helmet-to-helmet penalty on Ware negate one of his sacks, or did Brunell get the ball off in time?