JPostSam
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julius jones ended up being an important part of the offense at the end of the game -- because he was finally given the opportunity to do so.
he finished with 112 yards, and about 80 of them came in fourth quarter. if parcells had put in barber then, like he had been doing during the regular season, jones might have had 40 yards and barber another 40. certainly, with only about 35 yards in the first half, he didn't look like a great back. (but we had shaun alexander bottled up even a little better at that point, so what does that say about judging a back by a single half of football?)
staying with jones was an investment, and a good one. you saw how the runs that jones had early in the game paid off late, as the seattle defense got tired. julius, who was fired up over something ken hamelin said -- but had been hitting the hole pretty hard early in the game, too -- started breaking through for longer and longer runs.
you see a running back make strong runs at the end of the game on decisive drives (and that last one sure SHOULD HAVE BEEN decisive!), and you say that he's a good back. well, jj is a good back, he just hadn't been given the opportunity to finish games and reap the benefits of his work early in games. if you give him the chance, jones can do that a lot for you.
(emmitt smith got a lot of yards late inthe game, after a whole lot of two yarders and three yarders. then, in the fourth quarter, you saw those turning into four yarders and six yarders.)
...and, before i get flamed, let me say this: no, i am not down on barber, and i don't want him to not get the ball. i'm just saying that jones needs opportunities, because he'll bust more big runs the more chances he gets. i think barber is what parcells calls him, a change of pace guy. he provides toughness and spark. but he doesn't give you a whole lot of long runs. (how many 20+ yarders does he have, and how many does jj have?)
i think the two-back system has been good for dallas this season... for the most part. but i also think that fans' opinion of jones has been skewed by the fact that he isn't even given an opportunity in the red zone, or on third downs, or late in the game. last night, he showed that he can make an impact in all those situations. and i think that fans' opinion of barber has been inflated by the fact that he got a lot of opportunities in the red zone, on third downs and at the ends of ball games.
he finished with 112 yards, and about 80 of them came in fourth quarter. if parcells had put in barber then, like he had been doing during the regular season, jones might have had 40 yards and barber another 40. certainly, with only about 35 yards in the first half, he didn't look like a great back. (but we had shaun alexander bottled up even a little better at that point, so what does that say about judging a back by a single half of football?)
staying with jones was an investment, and a good one. you saw how the runs that jones had early in the game paid off late, as the seattle defense got tired. julius, who was fired up over something ken hamelin said -- but had been hitting the hole pretty hard early in the game, too -- started breaking through for longer and longer runs.
you see a running back make strong runs at the end of the game on decisive drives (and that last one sure SHOULD HAVE BEEN decisive!), and you say that he's a good back. well, jj is a good back, he just hadn't been given the opportunity to finish games and reap the benefits of his work early in games. if you give him the chance, jones can do that a lot for you.
(emmitt smith got a lot of yards late inthe game, after a whole lot of two yarders and three yarders. then, in the fourth quarter, you saw those turning into four yarders and six yarders.)
...and, before i get flamed, let me say this: no, i am not down on barber, and i don't want him to not get the ball. i'm just saying that jones needs opportunities, because he'll bust more big runs the more chances he gets. i think barber is what parcells calls him, a change of pace guy. he provides toughness and spark. but he doesn't give you a whole lot of long runs. (how many 20+ yarders does he have, and how many does jj have?)
i think the two-back system has been good for dallas this season... for the most part. but i also think that fans' opinion of jones has been skewed by the fact that he isn't even given an opportunity in the red zone, or on third downs, or late in the game. last night, he showed that he can make an impact in all those situations. and i think that fans' opinion of barber has been inflated by the fact that he got a lot of opportunities in the red zone, on third downs and at the ends of ball games.
