fortdick
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First, let me say I blame Wade Phillips for the two big runs the Ravens pulled off in the 4th quarter. Whatever defense was called didn't work the first time, so why come back to it the second time?
That being said, I don't blame Wade for the sub par season the cowboys had this year. It was the injuries, folks. Too many games were decided by the absence of a player or players to make the key stops, or gain the needed yards. If it had only made a two win difference, we wouldn't be complaining about not making the playoffs and would be reveling in a consecutive NFC East championship.
Losing Newman for as much time as we did really hurt this defense. With Newman not in there, we had to play conservatively. I blame the Washington loss to Newman's injury, even though he tried to play through it. When you have a corner that can man up on any team's best receiver and not have to pull the safety over to help, it allows a defense to play much more aggressively.
Of course losing Roy Williams (38) was a blessing in some people's eyes, but I have to wonder if the Ravens would have made those two runs with him in there. He may be suspect in coverage, but no more than Keith Davis, and he definately can play run support.
Anthony Spencer's injury is more telling as the season goes on. Ellis is just a shadow of his former self and Spencer is starting to have more and more impact on the field. Could he have made a difference in the games he missed? I think so.
The Kosier injury was big. Proctor is seviceable, but on a championship team, serviceable is not enough. A lot of folks around here talked badly about Kosier, but I think his absence has demonstrated more than anything how effective he is. Holland never really got a chance to show what he could do, so I do not really consider him as a critical injury, but still, he may have been better than Proctor.
Losing Felix Jones and then Marion Barber are huge losses. Although Choice has proved to be more than capable, there is no change of pace and we lack the explosiveness, or the WOW factor, that Felix brought. Plus, both Jones and Barber seems to be much better receivers.
Losing McBriar hurt us a lot more than we think. Against the Ravens, or even the Steelers, field position was critical. Not having our Pro Bowl punter hurt us in both games. He could have made a huge difference in both games.
Finally, Romo being hurt was a moajor catastrophie. Could we have won the Cardinal game if he hadn't got hurt? I think it was a very good chance he would have driven for a field goal. Could we have beaten the Rams with Romo? Most certainly! The Giants? Maybe, maybe not. Even against the Ravens you have to suspect his back wasn't right. I think that the back injury is more the cause of his poor first half performance rather than some mythical inability to win in December.
So in my estimation injuries cost us at least two losses, maybe three.
Washington - Newman injury
Arizona - Romo
St. Louis - Romo, Jones
Possible losses that we could have won if not for injuries:
Steelers - Barber, Jones, Kosier, McBriar
Ravens - Romo, Barber, Jones, Kosier, McBriar, Williams (38)
Say of those five losses, two were wins without injuries. Our record would be 11-4 right now and we would be on the Giants heels. 11-5 or 12-4 would match most of our predictions before the season started. And almost everyone of us made those predictions with the caveat, "barring injuries."
edit: I don't consider stupidity an injury, so Pacman is not an issue.
That being said, I don't blame Wade for the sub par season the cowboys had this year. It was the injuries, folks. Too many games were decided by the absence of a player or players to make the key stops, or gain the needed yards. If it had only made a two win difference, we wouldn't be complaining about not making the playoffs and would be reveling in a consecutive NFC East championship.
Losing Newman for as much time as we did really hurt this defense. With Newman not in there, we had to play conservatively. I blame the Washington loss to Newman's injury, even though he tried to play through it. When you have a corner that can man up on any team's best receiver and not have to pull the safety over to help, it allows a defense to play much more aggressively.
Of course losing Roy Williams (38) was a blessing in some people's eyes, but I have to wonder if the Ravens would have made those two runs with him in there. He may be suspect in coverage, but no more than Keith Davis, and he definately can play run support.
Anthony Spencer's injury is more telling as the season goes on. Ellis is just a shadow of his former self and Spencer is starting to have more and more impact on the field. Could he have made a difference in the games he missed? I think so.
The Kosier injury was big. Proctor is seviceable, but on a championship team, serviceable is not enough. A lot of folks around here talked badly about Kosier, but I think his absence has demonstrated more than anything how effective he is. Holland never really got a chance to show what he could do, so I do not really consider him as a critical injury, but still, he may have been better than Proctor.
Losing Felix Jones and then Marion Barber are huge losses. Although Choice has proved to be more than capable, there is no change of pace and we lack the explosiveness, or the WOW factor, that Felix brought. Plus, both Jones and Barber seems to be much better receivers.
Losing McBriar hurt us a lot more than we think. Against the Ravens, or even the Steelers, field position was critical. Not having our Pro Bowl punter hurt us in both games. He could have made a huge difference in both games.
Finally, Romo being hurt was a moajor catastrophie. Could we have won the Cardinal game if he hadn't got hurt? I think it was a very good chance he would have driven for a field goal. Could we have beaten the Rams with Romo? Most certainly! The Giants? Maybe, maybe not. Even against the Ravens you have to suspect his back wasn't right. I think that the back injury is more the cause of his poor first half performance rather than some mythical inability to win in December.
So in my estimation injuries cost us at least two losses, maybe three.
Washington - Newman injury
Arizona - Romo
St. Louis - Romo, Jones
Possible losses that we could have won if not for injuries:
Steelers - Barber, Jones, Kosier, McBriar
Ravens - Romo, Barber, Jones, Kosier, McBriar, Williams (38)
Say of those five losses, two were wins without injuries. Our record would be 11-4 right now and we would be on the Giants heels. 11-5 or 12-4 would match most of our predictions before the season started. And almost everyone of us made those predictions with the caveat, "barring injuries."
edit: I don't consider stupidity an injury, so Pacman is not an issue.
