Buck Harvey: Roy oh Roy — Why Dallas is in trouble
Web Posted: 12/31/2006 11:43 PM CST
Express-News
IRVING — Roy Williams likes the other Roy Williams, even as they continue to run into each other. Detroit's Roy even seemed to admire the latest punishment Dallas' Roy gave him Sunday.
After the game, sitting at his locker, Detroit's Roy playfully pushed up an ear lobe to show how he felt after Dallas' Roy had leveled him. "I was thinking, 'Did he hit me so hard my brain is hanging out?'"
Detroit's Roy also likes the team that Dallas' Roy plays for. Growing up in West Texas before starring for the University of Texas, Williams says he's always been a Cowboys fan. That's why Williams likes to think the Cowboys have "a shot" next weekend in Seattle, when few others give them one.
But Williams also knows the Lions did to the Dallas secondary what the three previous teams did. Williams scored twice, once by the skin of his toes, and a remarkable teammate, Mike Furrey, ended with 11 catches.
So what's wrong with a Dallas defense that has given up an average of 33 points in its last four games?
"It starts up front," said Williams.
It may start there, but that's not the final destination. Dallas' Roy, for example, whiffed an interception that his namesake would have caught with his size 16 feet.
The Dallas coaches dropped a few things, too, since the Cowboys were baffled every time the Lions dared to slip a back past the line for a short pass. The end of the first half said something about coaching, too.
Then, it was clear the Lions would run one play with eight seconds left before settling for a field goal, and where might that end-zone lob go? Perhaps to Williams, whose freakish ability in Austin is still legendary?
The Cowboys countered by putting 5-foot-9 Aaron Glenn on Williams without help. No wonder Bill Parcells looked so gloomy afterward; no one on his staff saw that touchdown coming.
And then there's Terence Newman, a younger, taller version of Glenn. His punt return nullified an earlier muff, but nothing else he did canceled out being beaten for the go-ahead touchdown.
But Detroit's Williams says that isn't the problem, and he should know, since he was running through the Dallas secondary. Besides, he's big on analysis this season.
Earlier this season, he announced the Lions would beat the Bears and, after they lost badly, Williams didn't back down. "We will win the (next) game," he said, "and I don't care who it's against." Then the Lions lost again.
He makes no predictions now, except to say he will be loyal. He watched the Alamo Bowl, too, with his family in a Dallas hotel, and he says he yelled at the TV for his Longhorns.
So when asked if the Cowboys can come out of this, Williams searched for an excuse. "Everyone steps up in the playoffs," and then he caught himself and smiled. "I don't know myself. I've just heard that."
Then Williams settled on a more tangible issue. The Cowboys sacked Jon Kitna five times, with three by DeMarcus Ware, and that suggests they were putting pressure on Kitna.
In truth? Kitna, who had been sacked more than any NFL quarterback coming into this game, had time to throw when he needed time, and a play that Parcells pointed to later underlines that.
Then, on third-and-10 on the game-winning drive, Kitna waited for Detroit's Roy to run deep down the middle, and even another hit by Dallas' Roy couldn't stop the first down.
"You can put Champ Bailey back there, the best corners," Williams said. "And they can't stop an NFL quarterback who has time to throw."
They couldn't stop a Detroit offense that had averaged just 17 points a game. Either it's about personnel, or they are caught between Parcells' 3-4 and Mike Zimmer's 4-3.
Either way, they now meet a system smart enough to get to the Super Bowl just a year ago, and there's little reason to think the Cowboys can reverse themselves, especially in a short week with a long plane ride.
Roy Williams saw it firsthand. Roy Williams is in trouble.
If we can get this fixed.....I dont see how.
