I am a man of few interests outside of sports, it seems. Just about everything I do other than being an All-American dad and husband seems to relate in some way, shape, or form to the wonderful world of sports. I have no regrets nor apologies for this truth, just thankful that I found a living where that makes some sense.
However, somewhere very high on my list of hobbies that do not involve sports (usually) would be watching documentaries. Pretty crazy, right? Documentaries to me are simply the non-fiction department in your bookstore, and they simply remind me that real life is better than 90% of stories that are imagined and created.
What you are about to read is my 3rd list of "Bob's approved documentaries". These are not all 5 stars out of 5, but rather documentaries I have seen since last time I did a list that I deem to be worth your time. I watch quite a few more than these, but the following 24 docs passed my test for keeping me properly entertained for 90 minutes to 2 hours.
Please note: There are no 30 for 30's, HBO Sports documentaries or any other sports films, really, on this list. I may do sports docs at another time, but I didn't want to include them on this list, because there are already 2 dozen films on here.
Also, Please note: I don't have a "Top 10" of all-time list. Again, maybe somewhere down the road, but I don't know how to compare drastically different films and ideas against each other real well. Maybe later.
List #1 from August, 2008 is here: I love documentaries, Part 1. That list includes 25 films.
List #2 from March, 2010 is here: I love documentaries, Part 2. And that list includes 14 more.
So, add in these 24 and you now have 63 films to watch next time you are looking for a good documentary. Many of them are available right now for instant streaming on Netflix or iTunes, so I don't want to hear you are bored again.
The New List - Docs I have seen in the last 24 months that I really like (in no particular order):
Good Hair (2009) - Chris Rock explores the wonders of African-American hairstyles.
Taxi To The Dark Side (2007) - An in-depth look at the torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, focusing on an innocent taxi driver in Afghanistan who was tortured and killed in 2002.
Superheroes (2011) - A journey inside the world of real life caped crusaders. From all over America, these self-proclaimed crime fighters, don masks, homemade costumes and elaborate utility belts in an attempt to bring justice to evildoers everywhere.
God Grew Tired of Us (2006) - Four boys from Sudan embark on a journey to America after years of wandering Sub-Saharan Africa in search of safety.
The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005) - Daniel Johnston, manic-depressive genius singer/songwriter/artist is revealed in this portrait of madness, creativity and love.
Inside Job (2010) - Takes a closer look at what brought about the financial meltdown.
Catfish (2010) - Filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost document a story involving Ariel's brother, Nev, a 24-year-old New York-based photographer, and Abby, from rural Michigan who contacts Nev via Facebook, asking for permission to make a painting from one of his photographs.
Food, Inc (2008) - An unflattering look inside America's corporate controlled food industry.
Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010) - The story of how an eccentric French shop keeper and amateur film maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner.
WalMart: The High Price of Low Cost (2005) - A look at the impact of the retail giant on local communities.
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008) - A filmmaker decides to memorialize a murdered friend when his friend's ex-girlfriend announces she is expecting his son.
The Cove (2009) - Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health.
Deep Water (2006) - A documentary about the disastrous 1968 round-the-world yacht race.
The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia (2009) - A year in the life of the White family, well known for Jesco White, the star of the "Dancing Outlaw" documentary.
Pearl Jam 20 (2011) - A documentary on the band Pearl Jam that marks their 20th anniversary in the year 2011.
Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest (2011) - Michael Rapaport documents the inner workings and behind the scenes drama that follows this innovative and influential band to this day.
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010) - A documentary on the life and career of Joan Rivers, made as the comedienne turns 75 years old.
Restrepo (2010) - A year with one platoon in the deadliest valley in Afghanistan.
Page One: Inside the NY Times (2011) - Unprecedented access to the New York Times newsroom yields a complex view of the transformation of a media landscape fraught with both peril and opportunity.
Senna (2010) - A documentary on Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the F1 world championship three times before his death at age 34.
Dig (2004) - A documentary on the once-promising American rock bands The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols, and the friendship/rivalry between their respective founders, Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor.
Waste Land (2010) - A social documentary based around the lives of garbage pickers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as a man by the name of Vik Muniz creates art out of recycled material.
Tyson (2008) - A mixture of original interviews and archival footage and photographs sheds light on the life experiences of Mike Tyson.
The Thin Blue Line (1988) - A film that successfully argued that a man was wrongly convicted for murder by a corrupt justice system in Dallas County, Texas.
That should hold you for a few days.
Saturday, February 04, 2012
Friday, February 03, 2012
Super Bowl 46 Prediction Time
It used to be cliche in this wonderful country of ours to work a nice punch-line in about the absurdly non-competitive Super Bowls that would occur year after year. No matter how close the match-up appeared on paper, for many years, the match-up on the field never lived up to the hype. Not even a little bit.
From Super Bowl 21 through Super Bowl 30 (representing the 1986-1995 seasons), the margin for victory of the Super Bowl was at an all-time high 19.9 points per game. Perhaps that has something to do with the age right before full-fledged free agency and salary caps. Perhaps it has more to do with some legendary teams in San Francisco and Dallas that may be unmatched in their talent and depth. But, for whatever reason, the Super Bowls back then were far more about commercials, half-time shows, and late night talk show monolouges using the final score for a laugh.
Even before that, the Super Bowl was not a place for great drama. The decade before that (Super Bowls 11-20) had a margin of 17 points per game, and the first decade of Super Bowls (1-10) gave us games with a 13 point per game difference. There was some theater along the way, but really, not too much in the big scheme of things.
But, along with the rest of professional football, this last decade has given us something that we have never seen before - consistently competitive and generally entertaining Super Bowls. From Super Bowl 36-45, we have had an average margin of victory at an all-time low of 8 points per game. In fact, aside from Super Bowl 37, when Rich Gannon threw 5 interceptions to the eager Tampa Bay defenders, the Super Bowl has had 9 games separated by just 59 points.
Of the 12 Super Bowls to be decided by less than a Touchdown, we have seen 6 of them in the last 10 years. This, like the low seeds advancing to the Super Bowl after not winning their own division in some cases is another characteristic of this age of professional football. It would seem to speak of the parity and perceived randomness of success, but then that would not properly credit the New England Patriots for what they have done in this decade.
They will be playing in their 5th Super Bowl in 11 years on Sunday, with a chance to win their 4th Super Bowl, which would tie them for 4th all-time with Green Bay, despite not having any Super Bowl victories before the year 2001. They will play in their 7th Super Bowl overall, now just trailing the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers for all-time appearances.
The Patriots are a testament to this age that excellence can still be discovered, but the theme of finding a franchise QB to lead you there is consistent with any age of football. Finding him in the 6th round is the exception, but his quality is at the top as Brady finds his way to his 5th Super Bowl with a chance to win his 4th, putting him in a neighborhood where only Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw have previously resided.
Meanwhile, the Giants perhaps are that poster-boy for this era. Win a Super Bowl in 2007 as a low seed that got on a roll, go dormant for 3 seasons without a single playoff victory, and then get on a roll with a low seed again in 2011 all the way to the Super Bowl. Somehow, in a year where they were swept by Washington, beaten at home by Seattle, and beaten at home by the Eagles with Vince Young for his only win of the season, they find themselves ready to win their 4th Super Bowl in franchise history - albeit in 4 different decades.
The Giants story, from their head coach to their quarterback appear to be a reminder that you can never be quick to judge a competitor at the highest level with a small sample size. Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning have a chance to be multiple-time Super Bowl winners, therefore giving them both a distinct copy point when their careers are measured for historical honors. Whether they pass the eyeball test in October or not is rendered rather irrelevant if they can win another Lombardi Trophy. Eli has already won more playoff road games than any QB in NFL History, so it is becoming increasingly difficult to not give him his due.
To add to the compelling nature of this contest, we have the boxing adage that "styles make fights". It seems that the Giants defense plays the proper style to uniquely give the Patriots offensive machine some discomfort. Whether we use their meeting in Super Bowl 42 or their meeting in Foxboro in November as a reference point, it seems clear that Brady was unable to find a real rhythm in either situation, thus keeping the game close throughout. Then, late in each game, Manning was able to put together high-impact drives to win both games in dramatic fashion. The Patriots are a team that finds its way into the 30s on the scoreboard routinely, and yet, in those two meetings against the Giants, they have not exceeded 20 points. Again, we must beware of the small sample size, but you can understand the reason for concern. Rob Gronkowski's ankle situation provides even more as the Giants have used a fair amount of bracket coverage on the tight ends to force Brady's throws to the outside of the field, and this should be made easier.
In looking at the contest from the other side, it is easy to be drawn to Vince Wilfork as a potential game breaker on the Patriots line. He destroyed a good portion of the Ravens' game plan in the AFC Championship Game, and with help from the rest of that line that varies from the 3-4 to the 4-3 from week to week, if they can make a real push and collapse the pocket around Eli, they should have a decent chance. But, the concern here would be knowing that the Giants have a QB-slot receiver combo in Manning and Victor Cruz that should force New England to dig deep down that defensive back depth chart and if Julian Edelman is trying to cover the slot again, Eli will play pitch and catch.
In the end, when forced to close my eyes and try to imagine how Super Bowl 46 plays out, I will play the percentages of turnovers deciding the outcome of this game. Many people forget, Asante Samuel dropped a rather easy Eli Manning interception with a bit over a minute to play in Super Bowl 42 that would have won the game for the Patriots. In some ways, it could remind someone of the 49ers dropped interception late in the NFC Championship Game 2 weeks ago. Like Brett Favre, Eli will throw a pass or two up for grabs and if you can pick it off, you will win. On the other hand, Brady has thrown 1 pick in 156 Super Bowl passes and therefore often doesn't flirt with disaster.
The team that wins the turnover battle in the Super Bowl is 33-4 with the only exceptions being Super Bowl 5, 14, 23, and 40. I think this will control the game and I trust Brady more.
So, expect it to be close and expect to be decided with a turnover in the 4th Quarter. High Drama in Super Bowl 46, with the prediction here of PATRIOTS 24, GIANTS 20.
Should be an outstanding way to finish another memorable season. And then I guess we have other sports to hold us over until we re-rack in August.
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Cowboys Email Bag with Pat Kirwan
For this week's Cowboys Email Bag, I thought we could start with a discussion on the radio show (The Bob and Dan Show, Sportsradio 1310 The Ticket in Dallas, 12p-3p M-F) from Wednesday's show when we had a visit with NFL analyst Pat Kirwan about the Cowboys present situation. Kirwan is veteran front office executive and coach, as well as a noted author of one of the most helpful football books I have ever seen called "Take Your Eyes Off the Ball".
In visiting with him about the Cowboys defensive situation, and the success that Wade Phillips had in Houston after his scheme and plan did not work as well in Dallas at the end.
"We always talk about the 3-4 outside linebackers when talking with Bill Cowher, and he wants to start with his defensive ends. Go Study the tapes. Aaron Smith sets up a lot of things. He's so good that he forces the tackle to go with him into the B-gap and then the outside rusher is on a back. The guys that build (The 3-4 schemes) will tell you to start right there (with the defensive ends). Not with the outside linebackers. They are the finishing touch - we are going to set it up so that they are going to be on backs a lot, and when that happens, you are going to win."
"Most guys treat Dallas as if they are a 4-3 defense. They don't believe DeMarcus is ever going to drop and they don't believe the other guy is that much of a threat, so they look at you as if you are what we call a "4-3 Under". If you stop the film right after the snap, the Cowboys look just like a 4-3 under defense all of the time."
"I think if you were playing a true 3-4, then Ratliff should not be a nose tackle. He should be out, just like Vince Wilfork, who is playing more as a 5-technique quite a bit now and I think Haloti Ngata got everybody creatively thinking about how to do it. But as long as you are playing basically a 4-3 defense and Ratliff is basically a 1-gap player, he's ok there."
Kirwan was then asked about the wisdom of ever dropping Ware into coverage. Why would you ever drop your best rusher into pass defense?
"You better do it once in a while, because if you don't, they will just call him the end in the protection schemes and the tackle is always going to turn to him. And the guard will always turn to the "5-technique" and the back will always be on the (inside) linebacker."
The conversation was a lot of what we have discussed in this space and other Cowboys spots for quite some time, but I never considered it quite like he put it. The rest of the league schemes against the Cowboys as if they were a 4-3 defense all along. And maybe, to some extent, the Cowboys coach as if they are a 4-3 defense, based on the way they use Ratliff inside. If almost every successful 3-4 in football uses their nose tackle as a 2-gapping, 330-pound speed bump, but the Cowboys still use a penetrating 1-gapper like Ratliff, are they secretly conceding that they see their talent in this way as well? It would explain their stubbornness about moving Ratliff out to end, which conventional wisdom would seem to point towards.
Surely, the key to getting the 3-4 to actually mimic what Pittsburgh, Baltimore, San Francisco, New England (for years), New York Jets, and Green Bay have used, would be to actually attempt to find your versions of some of their key parts. And I don't know how you can possibly do that with such a differing player right in the middle of the scheme.
A 2-gapping speed bump occupies a center and guard on every play and makes the running plays on the inside practically impossible. But with Ratliff, as good as he is at penetrating, there are times where the guards can take an initial push on him, but then easily slide clean on to the inside linebackers and get 2 different guys on run plays. It just makes the scheme completely different.
And as Kirwan pointed out in the pass rush, Pittsburgh gets their success initially with some lack of certainty in the protection schemes on how to deal with the pass rush. When the DE (5-techniques) are lined up directly over a tackle and then dive for the B-gap (the space between the tackle and guard), then the tackle can either let him go or stay with him. Either way, it is a split second decision that he must get right. If he let's him go, then the guard has to be on the same page and not worried about anything to his inside. If he stays with him, then the outside linebacker is 1-on-1 with the linebacker, a matchup that the defense wins way more than it loses.
Here are a few emails, including the first one about the topic above:
Is there any way for you to expound upon what Pat was just talking about when he was describing our defense at the snap as a 4-3 Under defense? If you could do something on your blog, that would be very informative, but really just a run down of what that means in how the offense blocks our alignment.
P1 Tim in Austin
Sure, Tim. To explain the 4-3 under/4-3 over defenses at a very, basic and primitive level, just think of it as putting your strength as a defense on either the strong side (side of the tight end) or weak side (opposite the tight end). I certainly don't claim to be a coach, but at least at the most basic level, the defensive ends stay over the tackles and the defensive tackles are either on the strong side guard and the weak side A-gap (gap between the center and guard) for the over, or they shift to the weak side guard and the strong side A-Gap for the under. The linebackers then take the gaps that are left over, and this is where we discuss the concepts of "gap integrity" when plugging up the running game.
So, from a Cowboys perspective, Ware is always on the weak side, Spencer is always on the strong-side with the tight end. Therefore, you can see how some people who look at the Cowboys and their tendencies would simply treat the Cowboys defense as a 4-3 under, declare Ratliff as a player who is working one of the gaps on either side of the center and that Ware should be treated as simply a 4-3 DE in most cases.
We are only talking very slight differences here, and the Cowboys run a 4-3 defense on 3rd downs already, with Ratliff and Hatcher as DTs and Spencer and Ware as DEs. But, for those of us who go on and on about the Cowboys not actually doing what the league is doing with the 3-4 scheme, it generally comes down to 2 things: 1) do they run the inside the same way (no, they have a 290 pound 1-gapping NT) and do they cause protection confusion and get their LBs matched up on RBs often enough (no, they have DEs who provide no threat to a protection scheme, so the tackles always stay on Ware and Spencer).
Hey, Bob-
Why don't you think the Cowboys need to sign a defensive back in free agency? It seems that you are constantly campaigning for linemen, while the rest of the Cowboys media is talking about Brent Grimes and Cortland Finnegan.
Why do you feel this way?
James
Well, allow me to be clear here. I do think the Cowboys have personnel issues in their secondary. However, I do think that the problems - many of which are referenced above - are more significant on the DL and OL. I think the secondary would look way improved if the opposing QB did not have all day to throw. The old saying is, "Pressure gets picks, coverage gets sacks". It is not always true, but if I had JJ Watt or my other pipe dream, Calais Campbell added to my DL, I think you would see that Orlando Scandrick and Mike Jenkins would look way better.
The question is not about finding Terence Newman's replacement. He needs replacing, and the Cowboys need a top corner badly. The question posed to me is where I am putting my top priorities as I enter the off-season. And, I remain clear not this, I hope.
Priority #1 is an interior stud on the OL like Carl Nicks or perhaps drafting a Peter Konz type.
Priority #2 is to find a DE or NT that can finally help Ratliff and Ware construct the type of defensive front that could take over a game like the Giants have routinely found.
Then, Priority #3 is to improve my secondary. I badly need a corner and a safety, but I think we saw that Abram Elam was decent and I did not lose games because of Elam this year. I did lose games because my lines were average to below average. I have to get that fixed.
So, I am taking a corner in the draft or sniffing around the DBs in free agency, but if I have a voice in the war-room (and I don't), then I am pounding the table for big players who can change a game at the line of scrimmage.
In visiting with him about the Cowboys defensive situation, and the success that Wade Phillips had in Houston after his scheme and plan did not work as well in Dallas at the end.
"We always talk about the 3-4 outside linebackers when talking with Bill Cowher, and he wants to start with his defensive ends. Go Study the tapes. Aaron Smith sets up a lot of things. He's so good that he forces the tackle to go with him into the B-gap and then the outside rusher is on a back. The guys that build (The 3-4 schemes) will tell you to start right there (with the defensive ends). Not with the outside linebackers. They are the finishing touch - we are going to set it up so that they are going to be on backs a lot, and when that happens, you are going to win."
"Most guys treat Dallas as if they are a 4-3 defense. They don't believe DeMarcus is ever going to drop and they don't believe the other guy is that much of a threat, so they look at you as if you are what we call a "4-3 Under". If you stop the film right after the snap, the Cowboys look just like a 4-3 under defense all of the time."
"I think if you were playing a true 3-4, then Ratliff should not be a nose tackle. He should be out, just like Vince Wilfork, who is playing more as a 5-technique quite a bit now and I think Haloti Ngata got everybody creatively thinking about how to do it. But as long as you are playing basically a 4-3 defense and Ratliff is basically a 1-gap player, he's ok there."
Kirwan was then asked about the wisdom of ever dropping Ware into coverage. Why would you ever drop your best rusher into pass defense?
"You better do it once in a while, because if you don't, they will just call him the end in the protection schemes and the tackle is always going to turn to him. And the guard will always turn to the "5-technique" and the back will always be on the (inside) linebacker."
The conversation was a lot of what we have discussed in this space and other Cowboys spots for quite some time, but I never considered it quite like he put it. The rest of the league schemes against the Cowboys as if they were a 4-3 defense all along. And maybe, to some extent, the Cowboys coach as if they are a 4-3 defense, based on the way they use Ratliff inside. If almost every successful 3-4 in football uses their nose tackle as a 2-gapping, 330-pound speed bump, but the Cowboys still use a penetrating 1-gapper like Ratliff, are they secretly conceding that they see their talent in this way as well? It would explain their stubbornness about moving Ratliff out to end, which conventional wisdom would seem to point towards.
Surely, the key to getting the 3-4 to actually mimic what Pittsburgh, Baltimore, San Francisco, New England (for years), New York Jets, and Green Bay have used, would be to actually attempt to find your versions of some of their key parts. And I don't know how you can possibly do that with such a differing player right in the middle of the scheme.
A 2-gapping speed bump occupies a center and guard on every play and makes the running plays on the inside practically impossible. But with Ratliff, as good as he is at penetrating, there are times where the guards can take an initial push on him, but then easily slide clean on to the inside linebackers and get 2 different guys on run plays. It just makes the scheme completely different.
And as Kirwan pointed out in the pass rush, Pittsburgh gets their success initially with some lack of certainty in the protection schemes on how to deal with the pass rush. When the DE (5-techniques) are lined up directly over a tackle and then dive for the B-gap (the space between the tackle and guard), then the tackle can either let him go or stay with him. Either way, it is a split second decision that he must get right. If he let's him go, then the guard has to be on the same page and not worried about anything to his inside. If he stays with him, then the outside linebacker is 1-on-1 with the linebacker, a matchup that the defense wins way more than it loses.
Here are a few emails, including the first one about the topic above:
Is there any way for you to expound upon what Pat was just talking about when he was describing our defense at the snap as a 4-3 Under defense? If you could do something on your blog, that would be very informative, but really just a run down of what that means in how the offense blocks our alignment.
P1 Tim in Austin
Sure, Tim. To explain the 4-3 under/4-3 over defenses at a very, basic and primitive level, just think of it as putting your strength as a defense on either the strong side (side of the tight end) or weak side (opposite the tight end). I certainly don't claim to be a coach, but at least at the most basic level, the defensive ends stay over the tackles and the defensive tackles are either on the strong side guard and the weak side A-gap (gap between the center and guard) for the over, or they shift to the weak side guard and the strong side A-Gap for the under. The linebackers then take the gaps that are left over, and this is where we discuss the concepts of "gap integrity" when plugging up the running game.
So, from a Cowboys perspective, Ware is always on the weak side, Spencer is always on the strong-side with the tight end. Therefore, you can see how some people who look at the Cowboys and their tendencies would simply treat the Cowboys defense as a 4-3 under, declare Ratliff as a player who is working one of the gaps on either side of the center and that Ware should be treated as simply a 4-3 DE in most cases.
We are only talking very slight differences here, and the Cowboys run a 4-3 defense on 3rd downs already, with Ratliff and Hatcher as DTs and Spencer and Ware as DEs. But, for those of us who go on and on about the Cowboys not actually doing what the league is doing with the 3-4 scheme, it generally comes down to 2 things: 1) do they run the inside the same way (no, they have a 290 pound 1-gapping NT) and do they cause protection confusion and get their LBs matched up on RBs often enough (no, they have DEs who provide no threat to a protection scheme, so the tackles always stay on Ware and Spencer).
Hey, Bob-
Why don't you think the Cowboys need to sign a defensive back in free agency? It seems that you are constantly campaigning for linemen, while the rest of the Cowboys media is talking about Brent Grimes and Cortland Finnegan.
Why do you feel this way?
James
Well, allow me to be clear here. I do think the Cowboys have personnel issues in their secondary. However, I do think that the problems - many of which are referenced above - are more significant on the DL and OL. I think the secondary would look way improved if the opposing QB did not have all day to throw. The old saying is, "Pressure gets picks, coverage gets sacks". It is not always true, but if I had JJ Watt or my other pipe dream, Calais Campbell added to my DL, I think you would see that Orlando Scandrick and Mike Jenkins would look way better.
The question is not about finding Terence Newman's replacement. He needs replacing, and the Cowboys need a top corner badly. The question posed to me is where I am putting my top priorities as I enter the off-season. And, I remain clear not this, I hope.
Priority #1 is an interior stud on the OL like Carl Nicks or perhaps drafting a Peter Konz type.
Priority #2 is to find a DE or NT that can finally help Ratliff and Ware construct the type of defensive front that could take over a game like the Giants have routinely found.
Then, Priority #3 is to improve my secondary. I badly need a corner and a safety, but I think we saw that Abram Elam was decent and I did not lose games because of Elam this year. I did lose games because my lines were average to below average. I have to get that fixed.
So, I am taking a corner in the draft or sniffing around the DBs in free agency, but if I have a voice in the war-room (and I don't), then I am pounding the table for big players who can change a game at the line of scrimmage.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
How Long Must Drew Pearson Wait?
Coming to the Super Bowl every year is a real pleasure for a football junkie. It is a chance to see the meeting place of everyone who is anyone in the NFL historical archives mixing with the present day stars. It can be a bit much, but I never get tired of celebrating the greatest sport of them all one more week before we send it away on its offseason vacation for several months before it starts again in the late summer.
As everyone jokes, there is actually a game at the end of the long week (which we will get to soon enough), but along the way there are several items of business that must be conducted. Easily the most interesting item to me is the annual Hall of Fame selection meetings, where new players are selected to be enshrined in to the hallowed hall in Canton, Ohio.
This year, 15 finalists will be considered as well as 2 additional senior committee finalists. These 17 names will be broken down and carefully examined over the course of many hours on the day before Super Bowl 46. Those with local ties include Charles Haley, Tim Brown, and the legendary coach, Bill Parcells. It will be interesting to see if any or all of those 3 can run the gauntlet to the finish line, as the pro football HOF continues to pride itself on being a very difficult building to enter for a candidate.
But, every time I see another year come and go in the hall of fame selections, it makes me wonder about another Cowboys' great that I have a hard time understanding why he is absent from the yellow jacket club.
Up through 2005, there was a woeful under-representation of Dallas Cowboys in Canton. One of the most prolific franchises in the history of the sport had only 5 players who played the majority of their careers in Dallas. Bob Lilly, Roger Staubach, Randy White, Tony Dorsett, and Mel Renfro.
Then, in 2006, those many arguments of an "Anti-Cowboys Bias" began to melt away as 6 Cowboys were added in the next 6 seasons. Troy Aikman, Rayfield Wright, Michael Irvin, Bob Hayes, Emmitt Smith, and last season, Deion Sanders were all put into the Hall. 11 primary Cowboys now move the franchise way closer to being properly represented with Haley certainly soon behind and Larry Allen a short distance down the road.
There are certainly others who time is getting closer to forgetting, and one in particular that really bothers me: The absence of Drew Pearson.
Pearson's career speaks for itself if you have even the slightest grasp of NFL history. Hardly a NFL Films reel can be shown without Pearson's greatness spilling onto the screen. He made plays. Historic plays. Plays in historic games that will never be forgotten by those who witnessed them.
And yet, he has not been inducted. The Senior Committee could right this wrong down the road, so Drew must wait - like he did for the Cowboys Ring of Honor for so many years, but it is imperative for those of us in the media that feel this is a severe oversight to not let the issue die until he is in.
Many will tell you it is simply a raw numbers issue, and in fairness to those who may have that argument, his numbers are exceeded by several from his era. If it is simply a question of total receptions or yards, Charlie Joiner, Steve Largent, and James Lofton will have quite an advantage over Pearson. On the other hand, you can put all of their post season numbers together and Pearson could measure right up.
What makes Pearson a legend was simply knowing the league. Knowing the most dangerous receivers on the most dangerous teams and seeing that Drew Pearson was always a factor. 22 playoff games in his 11 seasons attests that he played in games that mattered when the world was watching. And the fact that you can picture many of his playoff moments of greatness right now as you read this suggest that this shouldn't be too complicated to consider.
And yet, here we sit. He is out, while those with similar resumes - Lynn Swann and John Stallworth are both in. It has been said a million times "to the victors go the spoils", and I get that. But, that would seem to suggest that the Cowboys never had their day. This isn't an Andre Reed (0 rings in 4 Super Bowls) vs Michael Irvin (3 rings in 3 tries) case. Reed never won the big game. Pearson was a part of Super Bowl 12's celebration. Reed belongs in the hall, too, but the fact that he will likely get in this week and Pearson may have to wait much longer is just not right to me.
If Jackie Smith makes the catch in the end zone or the Benny Barnes pass interference is called differently, is Pearson in and some guy in Pittsburgh is still petitioning to get Swann in the Hall? Is that how we measure decade long careers?
Swann is in the HOF for reasons that numbers cannot justify. Here are the 3 receivers from the two rivals of the 1970s:
| WR | Games | Recepts | Yards | TDs |
| Stallworth | 165 | 537 | 8723 | 63 |
| Swann | 115 | 336 | 5462 | 51 |
| Pearson | 156 | 489 | 7822 | 48 |
Quite comparable, right? Stallworth and Swann have both been inducted. Pearson is no longer even a finalist. The numbers will look quite pedestrian to those who are playing today. Tim Brown and Cris Carter dominate these numbers and Larry Fitzgerald and Calvin Johnson will have no problem blowing by them all. But this is about era-context. In 1977, Pearson led the NFL with 870 receiving yards. 870 yards in 2011 would have ranked Drew 35th in the NFL. Behind Michael Crabtree (874) and in front of Jeremy Maclin (859) and Laurent Robinson (858). The game is played quite differently today, so we must simply compare players to those in their era and in similar situations. That is why this 3-man comparison seems proper.
Here is the same chart, but just playoff numbers:
| WR | Games | Recepts | Yards | TDs |
| Stallworth | 17 | 57 | 1054 | 12 |
| Swann | 16 | 48 | 907 | 9 |
| Pearson | 22 | 67 | 1105 | 8 |
Again, I feel that Drew Pearson needs no defense with these numbers. Those guys were in - not because of their raw stats that Steve Largent could mock. Instead, they are in because they were who they were on teams that were outstanding. Nobody would take that away from the Steelers any more than someone would try to say Joe Namath doesn't belong in the HOF because he has thrown 47 more interceptions than touchdowns. The Hall is not just about numbers. It is about players that made the league what the league is today. Legends who made memories.
And yet, the guy who caught the original "Hail Mary", the guy who wore 88 as the #1 receiver for Roger Staubach, the guy who was a one-handed tackle from rendering "the Catch" meaningless is not in the Hall.
At some point, #88 will hopefully be no longer overlooked. But in a hall where Lynn Swann was recognized for being more than just a numbers account, I have to believe that it is a shame that Drew Pearson is not afforded the same respect.
Let's hope that gets fixed soon.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wondering About Beaubois
I really enjoy the sports debates that require note-taking so you can remember your own personal feelings at points in time. In 2009, you felt this way, but in 2010, you changed your mind and went the other direction. Then, last year, you realized you were right back in 2009 and went wayward in 2010. Sorry about that. But, now in 2012, you wonder if you were right back in 2010, after you were wrong in 2009 and before you were wrong again in 2011.
It all makes perfect sense, right? That is why very few of us should ever consider ourselves candidates for GM jobs.
There aren't many debates that change this often, but when they happen, you quickly realize that there are just some teams and athletes that we don't know enough about. And neither do the experts in the business that should know way more than media types.
Such is the case with Rodrigue Beaubois. Now, almost 24 years old, we are still trying to get a handle on the athletic wonder from Guadeloupe. Just 6'2 and well under 190 pounds, he is simply a player that is too electric to ignore and too inexperienced to fully trust with the ball in his hands. And yet, as a follower of Mavericks basketball, he is a perfect example of wanting to be extremely careful with a developmental player so that you don't do all the hard work so that his next employer can reap the benefits.
He is going through another one of those stretches recently that make you wonder if the sky is the limit. Since Jan 19th, he has been filling in for various absences from Jason Kidd and Delonte West and has been thrown into the teeth of some pretty competitive contests. During that 6 game stretch, he is averaging 24 minutes per game, with 12.5 points and an assist-to-turnover ratio of over 3 to 1. Most importantly, he is looking like he knows his place so much more since last spring, when the Mavericks threw him into the fire to see if he was "ready" to play a key role and hopefully replace much of the scoring lost when Caron Butler blew out his knee.
During that stretch he was lost. Offensively he did not see the game well and the drop off from a Jason Kidd-decision to a Beaubois-decision was too much for anyone to stomach. Further, when he had the ball, he did not often understand the difference between a shot and a good shot. He would try to split double teams on the pick and roll - a cardinal sin in the NBA - and find his way back to the bench. Defensively, he could dazzle with his ability to get steals and block shots, but he would often get switches wrong and frustrate his coaches.
By April, Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki met with Coach Rick Carlisle and asked him to pull the plug on the Beaubois experiment for now so that the team could round into shape for the playoff run and reinsert DeShawn Stevenson into the proceedings. It worked like a charm and a parade was planned about 60 days later. Beaubois never played a second in the playoffs last year, and the project that had so much upside that he had scored 40 in a night would have to be put on ice. During the summer, it was revealed that the foot-injury late in the summer of 2010 had ultimately slowed him down the entire 2010-11 season, long after he was cleared as "healthy". Screws in a player's foot can do that to a speedster.
So, following that stretch, many followers on the team lamented the fact that his trade value had dropped to point where it barely existed. This, just 12 months after people around the organization claimed that every call they received had been from the rest of the league trying to pry the young prospect out of the Mavericks organization. On draft night 2009, it appeared the rest of the league didn't know he existed and then within a few months, they all wanted him? And now his trade value went from through the roof to through the floor and the kid was still just 2 seasons into his career.
Is it possible all of this knee-jerking has been this severe? Did he go from anonymous to untouchable to refuse in 18 months? And if he did, at what point should anyone be ready to call out his ultimate path? I am the first to admit that I have offered contradicting opinions of his game. At times, he seems fearless and ready for the big stage, pulling the veterans around him through a tough patch and making plays on each end of the court that save a game. Other nights, he looks like a player who hasn't been playing basketball very long, lacking instincts and simple decision making skills that only arrive upon playing the game for years and year.
In another life, it would have been incredibly fascinating what a few years of college basketball would have done for a player like Beaubois and his development. Short of that, one wonders if he had been snagged by a lottery team, where winning is not realistic or fully expected, if he would have developed these skills quite quickly playing 35 minutes a night in Milwaukee or Detroit.
But, again, last night, you saw that he is improving. Those days in the gym with Kidd, one of the great decision makers in history, have had an effect. He is on a team where winning is imperative and the time and patience to allow a kid to learn on the job is limited and heavily critiqued. But, seeing his difference-making plays on either end of the court make you fully appreciate what Donnie Nelson and Mark Cuban see. They see a player who has youth and physical tools that cannot be easily acquired, and if they ever move him along in the NBA player exchange, they want to be certain that they aren't sending away a future star.
Because when they make that decision, unlike those of us who simply observe and critique, they will not be able to change their opinion in a few months when they realize they are wrong.
There is nothing linear about his development and his play. Up and down, down and up. Dick Vitale used to describe his type as "Dow Jonesers", the type who bounce around like the stock market. Frustrating for a week, phenomenal for another week.
But, this latest stretch allows one to squint and see the possible future of the Mavericks, once the backcourt pillars, Kidd and Terry leave massive vacancies. And that is something that could happen before Beaubois turns 25.
So, Regis, before I give my final answer, I would like to keep watching.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Estimated Distance Left: 1 Mile
The other day, I drove my wife's car and found it in that familiar condition - with the fuel light on. So, I filled up the tank, but first took a picture and tweeted it to demonstrate my love for her.
Then, the P1's started responding.
Once -
Twice -
Three Times, a lady -
Girls.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Protecting Romo
Protecting the QB is the name of the game in the National Football League. If you are lucky enough to have an elite arm throwing the football for you, then you simply must give him time to distribute the football. This is an era where the rules of the sport greatly favor the offense in nearly every situation. These rules allow for a record number of yardage through the air from offenses around the league. And the only thing that can slow it down for even a second is getting a big pass rush going. That might explain the difference between the Cowboys who are today experiencing the end of the 4th week of their offseason, or the New York Giants who are packing for Super Bowl 46.
In those two head to head match-ups in December between the two teams that battled for the NFC East divisional crown, the Giants out-sacked the Cowboys, 9-2. In the 5 games to finish the season (post-Thanksgiving), the Cowboys were sacked 19 times (the 2nd most in the NFL) and the Giants allowed Eli Manning to be sacked just eight times. In fact, only 4 teams in the league allowed fewer sacks than the Giants after Dec 1 to finish the season. The playoffs have been a difficult proposition for the Giants, as they have allowed 8 sacks in 3 games and Eli took a beating in San Francisco. Meanwhile, their Super Bowl opponent, New England has allowed Tom Brady to be sacked just once. Much like Super Bowl 42, the winner of Super Bowl 46 might come down to pass protection again.
So, from a Dallas Cowboys perspective, let's examine 2011 on the basis of giving Tony Romo time to throw. Now, before we proceed, it should be clearly pointed out that sack totals allowed can be one of the more deceiving statistics available as a sole metric for pass protection. Sacks can be avoided easily if the goal is to avoid sacks. Quick releases, keeping players in to double in pass protection, and not even calling pass plays are 3 simple ways to avoid sacks. But, the name of the game for any offense is to put points up on the scoreboard, and this often requires a team to risk getting their QB hit. Which leads us to another reason sacks are faulty. Sacks are all-or-nothing stats, where "almost sacks" are not recorded. Pressures and QB hits are way too subjective and not universally recorded or recognized to be properly measured.
A QB's ability to move in the pocket is invaluable to pass protection, and Tony Romo is a natural in this category. He has kept numerous plays alive this season that were doomed from the start, but because he can move, spin, and slide in the pocket, he saves a lot of blame by avoiding a sack and then delivering a throw. But, usually, the pressure eventually busts pipes, and in December, the Cowboys conceded multiple sacks in every game, and 2 games in particular were a complete disaster; 5 sacks at Arizona and 6 sacks at New York.
Looking at the last decade of Cowboys' sack totals allowed, you see the numbers are actually quite manageable whenever Romo has been under center. This year was the worst season of his 6 years in terms of sacks allowed (39), but nowhere near as bad as 2005 when Drew Bledsoe was sacked 50 times or 2002 when Chad Hutchinson was sacked 34 times in just 9 games and the team suffered 54 sacks in the season. 2002 finished 2nd to only 1986 in Cowboys history for sacks allowed. In 1986, the team was sacked 60 times - Steve Pelluer alone, 47! So, by historical lows, 39 doesn't seem so bad.
Of the 39 sacks allowed, 28 were on the road (72%). This sort of home/road split is actually quite uncommon. And this goes back to my long-believed premise that Jason Garrett calls a completely different game plan on the road than he does at home.
Also, the sack totals by month were shocking: September 6, October 9, November 5, and December 19. It should be noted that September only contained 3 games and December had 5, but nevertheless, it is clear that the dam broke after Thanksgiving.
39 sacks-against ranks them tied for 14th in the NFL. St Louis was worst with 55, Buffalo best with 23. From a pass play percentage, they were sacked 6.4% of the time or once every 15.6 passes. New Orleans was the best at 3.5% and Miami was the worst at 10%.
Let's look at each offensive lineman in the department of pass protection and what led to sacks. Again, this is faulty research because we are not discussing pressures and other busts - only those that resulted in sacks. I broke down every sack allowed this season and attempted to find the fault in each play. This is sometimes very easy and other times it is a complete line collapse. We also used data from profootballfocus.com to further fill in some gaps.
So here is the individual pass protection numbers for the OL:
LT - Doug Free - 641 pass plays - 10 sacks: Free started the season very well coming off his new contract. In the first 4 weeks of the season, Free was not involved in hardly any situations that led to sacks. Andre Carter went around his edge in New England, as did James Hall of the Rams, and Trent Cole of the Eagles. There was one blitz awareness issue in the game at Washington that led to London Fletcher's sack, but otherwise a very strong month of November. But, in December, Free was just beaten over and over again (6 of his 10 sacks in December). In fairness to Free, Jason Pierre Paul was dominating the rest of the league, too, but against the Giants and JPP, Free was eaten alive. 4 sacks in 2 games just from the left tackle spot and Trent Cole got him again in Dallas. In all, I had Free as the primary blame in 10 sacks this season, but with 2 against Cole and 3 against Pierre-Paul (and 1 more against Chris Canty) meant that 6 of his 10 sacks allowed were against the Giants and Eagles. Free sees the toughest match-up nearly ever Sunday, so, I am not here to suggest he is doing a lousy job, but it does appear that he might be more of a right tackle in the long term.
LG - Montrae Holland - 361 pass plays - 1 sack: Now, we must keep in mind that interior sacks are much less acceptable and much more easy to defend. However, Holland did a nice job in limited duty making sure he was not to blame for these breakdowns very often. He generally was helping in double teams and not left on an island very often. The one sack he conceded was in Week 14 against the Giants when Chris Canty beat him for a sack.
LG/C/RG - Kevin Kowalski - 82 pass plays - 2 sacks: Kowalski was thrown into duty on a number of occasions because of in-game injuries to the interior. He did a reasonable job until week 17 when he had to replace Kyle Kosier at RG and was tossed about like a rag doll on a few occasions, giving up a ask to Osi Umenyiora on a stunt to the inside and then Justin Tuck threw him on his way to getting to Romo to end the Cowboys season. He will need to improve his strength and anchor to survive.
C - Phil Costa - 601 pass plays - 3 sacks: On a play by play basis this season, the Cowboys center had immense issues in dealing with the bulls that he must block all season. However, in terms of actual sacks allowed, Gary Gibson beat him clean to get to Romo against the Rams, Chris Neild jacked him back into Romo at Washington, and Paris Lenon sprinted past him to nail Romo at Arizona. As December hit, there is no question that he was being targeted by inside blitzes, including the one that knocked Romo out on Christmas Eve. He is not always assignment-sound on who to block. This is an area where the Cowboys will need to either really develop him for next season or get a replacement because the amount of inside pressure against the Cowboys OL was a real hinderance when the season was on the line.
RG - Kyle Kosier - 618 pass plays - 4 sacks: Kosier had a disappointing year that many insiders blame on his deteriorating health, but regardless, he normally doesn't lose as many inside battles. His run blocking was actually a bigger concern, but in pass protection, he was bulled back by Ray McDonald for a rather easy sack in San Francisco, a blitzing Bart Scott got him in New York, another Osi stunt in Week 17 went past him, and Juqua Parker stunted past of the Eagles. You hope a healthy Kosier can be solid as a rock, but we seldom see a healthy Kosier survive an entire season. He has many miles on his tires and will give you everything he has, but it is a battle to stay on the field.
RT - Tyron Smith - 641 pass plays - 8 sacks: A world of expectations have been placed on Tyron Smith, and he took every single snap he could this season at right tackle. From day one, teams tried to confuse him with stunts and blitzes to make his rookie head spin. He also was victim to some old tricks with one pass rush move setting up another. He had Calvin Pace beat him in Week 1, Ryan Kerrigan in week 3. Willie Young bull rushed him on to his back to end the Lions game, Andre Carter went clean around his flank in game 5. Then Jason Babin used two inside spins to get him in Philadelphia and Trevor Laws stunted around him to get a 3rd in that forgettable night against the Eagles. But, here is the great news. Starting in the 2nd half of the year, as the rest of the line was crumbling, Tyron was figuring it out. Kerrigan got him again in Washington and Michael Bennett did get his flank in Tampa Bay, but that was it. All of the troubles against the Giants were not because of right tackle. In his first 7 games, Tyron game up 6 sacks. In his last 9 games, he only conceded 2. His upside is immense and he is only getting better.
As you can see, that only accounts for 28 of the 39 sacks. at least 4 more were caused by Romo holding the ball too long. Another 2 were blitz pickups by running backs, and a few more were too chaotic to blame any one man. Pass protection is something that must be done in concert as a unit or everything looks bad.
Overall, it is clear that Jason Garrett and Jerry Jones tried to limit this number by "the road game plan" which includes quick passes, lots of shotgun, and not allowing Romo to stand back there and look for wide receivers down the field. They knew that they could not trust the offensive line to give substantial time and that is why this is a major area of need to get deep into January next season.
There is some things to like, but overall, this will be the charge of Bill Callahan and Garrett with the players, and Jones and his war-room in the offseason. Figure out a way to better protect the QB, and this will lead to more opportunities down the field for the skill players.
In those two head to head match-ups in December between the two teams that battled for the NFC East divisional crown, the Giants out-sacked the Cowboys, 9-2. In the 5 games to finish the season (post-Thanksgiving), the Cowboys were sacked 19 times (the 2nd most in the NFL) and the Giants allowed Eli Manning to be sacked just eight times. In fact, only 4 teams in the league allowed fewer sacks than the Giants after Dec 1 to finish the season. The playoffs have been a difficult proposition for the Giants, as they have allowed 8 sacks in 3 games and Eli took a beating in San Francisco. Meanwhile, their Super Bowl opponent, New England has allowed Tom Brady to be sacked just once. Much like Super Bowl 42, the winner of Super Bowl 46 might come down to pass protection again.
So, from a Dallas Cowboys perspective, let's examine 2011 on the basis of giving Tony Romo time to throw. Now, before we proceed, it should be clearly pointed out that sack totals allowed can be one of the more deceiving statistics available as a sole metric for pass protection. Sacks can be avoided easily if the goal is to avoid sacks. Quick releases, keeping players in to double in pass protection, and not even calling pass plays are 3 simple ways to avoid sacks. But, the name of the game for any offense is to put points up on the scoreboard, and this often requires a team to risk getting their QB hit. Which leads us to another reason sacks are faulty. Sacks are all-or-nothing stats, where "almost sacks" are not recorded. Pressures and QB hits are way too subjective and not universally recorded or recognized to be properly measured.
A QB's ability to move in the pocket is invaluable to pass protection, and Tony Romo is a natural in this category. He has kept numerous plays alive this season that were doomed from the start, but because he can move, spin, and slide in the pocket, he saves a lot of blame by avoiding a sack and then delivering a throw. But, usually, the pressure eventually busts pipes, and in December, the Cowboys conceded multiple sacks in every game, and 2 games in particular were a complete disaster; 5 sacks at Arizona and 6 sacks at New York.
Looking at the last decade of Cowboys' sack totals allowed, you see the numbers are actually quite manageable whenever Romo has been under center. This year was the worst season of his 6 years in terms of sacks allowed (39), but nowhere near as bad as 2005 when Drew Bledsoe was sacked 50 times or 2002 when Chad Hutchinson was sacked 34 times in just 9 games and the team suffered 54 sacks in the season. 2002 finished 2nd to only 1986 in Cowboys history for sacks allowed. In 1986, the team was sacked 60 times - Steve Pelluer alone, 47! So, by historical lows, 39 doesn't seem so bad.
Of the 39 sacks allowed, 28 were on the road (72%). This sort of home/road split is actually quite uncommon. And this goes back to my long-believed premise that Jason Garrett calls a completely different game plan on the road than he does at home.
Also, the sack totals by month were shocking: September 6, October 9, November 5, and December 19. It should be noted that September only contained 3 games and December had 5, but nevertheless, it is clear that the dam broke after Thanksgiving.
39 sacks-against ranks them tied for 14th in the NFL. St Louis was worst with 55, Buffalo best with 23. From a pass play percentage, they were sacked 6.4% of the time or once every 15.6 passes. New Orleans was the best at 3.5% and Miami was the worst at 10%.
Let's look at each offensive lineman in the department of pass protection and what led to sacks. Again, this is faulty research because we are not discussing pressures and other busts - only those that resulted in sacks. I broke down every sack allowed this season and attempted to find the fault in each play. This is sometimes very easy and other times it is a complete line collapse. We also used data from profootballfocus.com to further fill in some gaps.
So here is the individual pass protection numbers for the OL:
LT - Doug Free - 641 pass plays - 10 sacks: Free started the season very well coming off his new contract. In the first 4 weeks of the season, Free was not involved in hardly any situations that led to sacks. Andre Carter went around his edge in New England, as did James Hall of the Rams, and Trent Cole of the Eagles. There was one blitz awareness issue in the game at Washington that led to London Fletcher's sack, but otherwise a very strong month of November. But, in December, Free was just beaten over and over again (6 of his 10 sacks in December). In fairness to Free, Jason Pierre Paul was dominating the rest of the league, too, but against the Giants and JPP, Free was eaten alive. 4 sacks in 2 games just from the left tackle spot and Trent Cole got him again in Dallas. In all, I had Free as the primary blame in 10 sacks this season, but with 2 against Cole and 3 against Pierre-Paul (and 1 more against Chris Canty) meant that 6 of his 10 sacks allowed were against the Giants and Eagles. Free sees the toughest match-up nearly ever Sunday, so, I am not here to suggest he is doing a lousy job, but it does appear that he might be more of a right tackle in the long term.
LG - Montrae Holland - 361 pass plays - 1 sack: Now, we must keep in mind that interior sacks are much less acceptable and much more easy to defend. However, Holland did a nice job in limited duty making sure he was not to blame for these breakdowns very often. He generally was helping in double teams and not left on an island very often. The one sack he conceded was in Week 14 against the Giants when Chris Canty beat him for a sack.
LG/C/RG - Kevin Kowalski - 82 pass plays - 2 sacks: Kowalski was thrown into duty on a number of occasions because of in-game injuries to the interior. He did a reasonable job until week 17 when he had to replace Kyle Kosier at RG and was tossed about like a rag doll on a few occasions, giving up a ask to Osi Umenyiora on a stunt to the inside and then Justin Tuck threw him on his way to getting to Romo to end the Cowboys season. He will need to improve his strength and anchor to survive.
C - Phil Costa - 601 pass plays - 3 sacks: On a play by play basis this season, the Cowboys center had immense issues in dealing with the bulls that he must block all season. However, in terms of actual sacks allowed, Gary Gibson beat him clean to get to Romo against the Rams, Chris Neild jacked him back into Romo at Washington, and Paris Lenon sprinted past him to nail Romo at Arizona. As December hit, there is no question that he was being targeted by inside blitzes, including the one that knocked Romo out on Christmas Eve. He is not always assignment-sound on who to block. This is an area where the Cowboys will need to either really develop him for next season or get a replacement because the amount of inside pressure against the Cowboys OL was a real hinderance when the season was on the line.
RG - Kyle Kosier - 618 pass plays - 4 sacks: Kosier had a disappointing year that many insiders blame on his deteriorating health, but regardless, he normally doesn't lose as many inside battles. His run blocking was actually a bigger concern, but in pass protection, he was bulled back by Ray McDonald for a rather easy sack in San Francisco, a blitzing Bart Scott got him in New York, another Osi stunt in Week 17 went past him, and Juqua Parker stunted past of the Eagles. You hope a healthy Kosier can be solid as a rock, but we seldom see a healthy Kosier survive an entire season. He has many miles on his tires and will give you everything he has, but it is a battle to stay on the field.
RT - Tyron Smith - 641 pass plays - 8 sacks: A world of expectations have been placed on Tyron Smith, and he took every single snap he could this season at right tackle. From day one, teams tried to confuse him with stunts and blitzes to make his rookie head spin. He also was victim to some old tricks with one pass rush move setting up another. He had Calvin Pace beat him in Week 1, Ryan Kerrigan in week 3. Willie Young bull rushed him on to his back to end the Lions game, Andre Carter went clean around his flank in game 5. Then Jason Babin used two inside spins to get him in Philadelphia and Trevor Laws stunted around him to get a 3rd in that forgettable night against the Eagles. But, here is the great news. Starting in the 2nd half of the year, as the rest of the line was crumbling, Tyron was figuring it out. Kerrigan got him again in Washington and Michael Bennett did get his flank in Tampa Bay, but that was it. All of the troubles against the Giants were not because of right tackle. In his first 7 games, Tyron game up 6 sacks. In his last 9 games, he only conceded 2. His upside is immense and he is only getting better.
As you can see, that only accounts for 28 of the 39 sacks. at least 4 more were caused by Romo holding the ball too long. Another 2 were blitz pickups by running backs, and a few more were too chaotic to blame any one man. Pass protection is something that must be done in concert as a unit or everything looks bad.
Overall, it is clear that Jason Garrett and Jerry Jones tried to limit this number by "the road game plan" which includes quick passes, lots of shotgun, and not allowing Romo to stand back there and look for wide receivers down the field. They knew that they could not trust the offensive line to give substantial time and that is why this is a major area of need to get deep into January next season.
There is some things to like, but overall, this will be the charge of Bill Callahan and Garrett with the players, and Jones and his war-room in the offseason. Figure out a way to better protect the QB, and this will lead to more opportunities down the field for the skill players.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Eyeing Calais Campbell
On draft day 2011, the Dallas Cowboys had a choice on their hands when they selected #9 overall. High on their board was a player they believed could play tackle for them for the next 10 years at a very high level, Tyron Smith from USC. But, just as high according to at least one source, was a DE from Wisconsin that they felt could fill a real position of need for them in their scheme as a disruptive, all-situations DE in the 3-4, JJ Watt.
Picking that high in the draft is not something that a team wants to do very often, as it is usually the direct result of a disappointing season, but when you do find yourself in the Top 10, it is crucial that decisions like these are made carefully and properly.
Both Smith and Watt were strongly supported with great tape in college and a solid spring pre-draft season where questions would be answered about their abilities. The brass had a choice to make, and the simple discussion of position premiums easily helped make the decision. The chance to have a left tackle who should be elite for years to come was too much to pass on. The Cowboys happily rushed to make the choice. Tyron Smith was a Cowboy and the war-room was thrilled with the result.
It was the right choice. Tackles are so vital to the game of football and the overall protection of the Quarterback. To have one with all of the skills of Tyron Smith seems like a choice that cannot bring regret. His development this season alone is enough to excite any fan of the team, and it seems reasonable to assume that he will be at left tackle by start of business 2012 and remain there for a long, long time.
But, when you are a team that has multiple needs at multiple spots, the choice you make is often at the expense of a number of other spots. If the Cowboys would have taken JJ Watt, they would have also addressed another major need. And frankly, it remains a spot where they simply must get better for the Cowboys to have that defensive front that they so desire. A front that makes plays in the backfield, disrupt plays, and batters opponents.
We are a long way down the road since the false narrative was offered by so many about how "defensive ends don't make plays in the 3-4". This was used to explain the largely anonymous seasons that the Cowboys DE's would turn in after the Cowboys flipped schemes in 2005. The explanation was that the DE is there to simply tie up the OL and stand their ground, 2-gapping and allowing the LBs to run free and make plays.
But, that didn't explain what was going on around the league, where we would watch each post-season and see many 3-4 teams having great success in the playoffs. And each time, it seemed like they had defensive ends that could play in every situation and that could make plays of great importance. This year, Justin Smith and Ray McDonald were substantial forces in San Francisco. JJ Watt and Antonio Smith in Houston were disruptive all year, too. It was just that the Cowboys didn't seem to possess any of that breed.
In the last 4 seasons, only one Cowboys defensive end has played more than 600 snaps in a single season. Given that each season has roughly 1,000 to 1,100 defensive snaps, the fact that only Chris Canty played 677 in 2008, you can see what the Cowboys biggest problem is and was. They just don't have any full-time, any-situation defensive ends.
So, instead, they try to get by with 2 sets of part-timers and patch them together. Marcus Spears would handle the run snaps from RDE this past season, then Jason Hatcher would come on to the field in passing downs at the same spot. On the other side, Kenyon Coleman would start each set of downs, and then Jay Ratliff and Hatcher would be joined by DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer in 3rd Downs scenarios.
What that amounted to was this: Ratliff played 750 snaps, Hatcher 429, Coleman 426, Spears 400, and reserve Sean Lissemore 284. They used a crew of players to patch together different situations and did the best they could. But, from the defensive end position, for another season of many, the Cowboys had no DE's who could do what a full-time DE must do. Stand up well against the run while possessing the ability to beat his man and get to the passer on a pass.
Heading into 2012, that allows us to look at options for the Cowboys in this offseason.
I was asked last week to write about my free agent priority, and I detailed at great length my feelings about Saints guard, Carl Nicks . I think the offensive line could greatly benefit from adding Nicks, and going into free agency, if I am going to break the bank, it has to be for a player who is both young and elite.
But, in discussing the defense, the answer to my free agent priority is more of an outside possibility. Word from Arizona seems to indicate that the target for this defensive end need will never make it to March 13, but if the Cardinals do not get a deal done with Calais Campbell, and do not slap the franchise tag on him, then the Cowboys should pounce.
Let's look at him for a moment:
Calais Campbell - DE
6'8, 310
9/1/86 (Age 25)
At 6'8, 310, Campbell is a rare specimen, but out of college was thought of as lacking both strength and quickness. Neither has proven to be a fair assessment, but the Cardinals were thrilled that he slipped to them in the 2nd round in '08.
Because of the new CBA, we are seeing players getting to free agency from the 2008 draft (those who did not sign 5-year rookie deals) in full force. That means that players who have not signed extensions from the 2nd round on are up for bid in March. Jordy Nelson and Lamarr Woodley are examples of players who have been extended this year, but many have not come to an agreement with their clubs and therefore, WR Desean Jackson and Calais Campbell are two of the premium players who could hit the market.
To see Campbell's skills on full display, pop in the tape of the Cardinals match-up with the Cowboys from early December. Playing over Doug Free and Montrae Holland for most of the day, he terrorized both the run and pass game of the Cowboys by demonstrating quickness that was too much for the Cowboys to handle. He would shoot gaps on pass plays and get to Romo for a sack and several other pressures. Then, we would blow past Free and run down DeMarco Murray before a play could get started in the Cowboys backfield. Darnell Dockett and Campbell make a very formidable DE duo in Arizona, and both had big days as the Cardinals totaled 5 sacks of Romo.
Looking at Campbell's stats will impress you, especially if you compare them to anything you have seen at DE for the Cowboys in years, but I am more impressed from the overall effect of having a DE that causes so much disruption. Before long, he is demanding a double team and freeing up a team-mate for a match-up that can be won. He blocks kicks, bats down passes, never stops running to the ball, and best of all, is only 25 years old.
To prepare for this project, I watched several more of his games this week to see how he performs from week to week. Both 49ers games were more of the same as he competes hard all of the time. In Week 3, he destroyed Russell Okung for 3 sacks in Seattle. He played 1,033 snaps this season and seldom leaves the field. Dockett, his more noted mate, signed a 6-year, $56 million deal in 2010, but is also 30. Together, they show that the 3-4 is run in different ways, but a smart coaching staff tailors the scheme to fit the play-makers. And clearly, the Cardinals love to tailor what they do around Dockett and Campbell.
Again, chances are that he never gets to the open market. But, if the Cardinals mess around and make him open to bidders, I fully believe that the Cowboys would make him a very top priority and make that JJ Watt regret disappear. It isn't likely, but keep that name front and center on your off-season radar.
Picking that high in the draft is not something that a team wants to do very often, as it is usually the direct result of a disappointing season, but when you do find yourself in the Top 10, it is crucial that decisions like these are made carefully and properly.
Both Smith and Watt were strongly supported with great tape in college and a solid spring pre-draft season where questions would be answered about their abilities. The brass had a choice to make, and the simple discussion of position premiums easily helped make the decision. The chance to have a left tackle who should be elite for years to come was too much to pass on. The Cowboys happily rushed to make the choice. Tyron Smith was a Cowboy and the war-room was thrilled with the result.
It was the right choice. Tackles are so vital to the game of football and the overall protection of the Quarterback. To have one with all of the skills of Tyron Smith seems like a choice that cannot bring regret. His development this season alone is enough to excite any fan of the team, and it seems reasonable to assume that he will be at left tackle by start of business 2012 and remain there for a long, long time.
But, when you are a team that has multiple needs at multiple spots, the choice you make is often at the expense of a number of other spots. If the Cowboys would have taken JJ Watt, they would have also addressed another major need. And frankly, it remains a spot where they simply must get better for the Cowboys to have that defensive front that they so desire. A front that makes plays in the backfield, disrupt plays, and batters opponents.
We are a long way down the road since the false narrative was offered by so many about how "defensive ends don't make plays in the 3-4". This was used to explain the largely anonymous seasons that the Cowboys DE's would turn in after the Cowboys flipped schemes in 2005. The explanation was that the DE is there to simply tie up the OL and stand their ground, 2-gapping and allowing the LBs to run free and make plays.
But, that didn't explain what was going on around the league, where we would watch each post-season and see many 3-4 teams having great success in the playoffs. And each time, it seemed like they had defensive ends that could play in every situation and that could make plays of great importance. This year, Justin Smith and Ray McDonald were substantial forces in San Francisco. JJ Watt and Antonio Smith in Houston were disruptive all year, too. It was just that the Cowboys didn't seem to possess any of that breed.
In the last 4 seasons, only one Cowboys defensive end has played more than 600 snaps in a single season. Given that each season has roughly 1,000 to 1,100 defensive snaps, the fact that only Chris Canty played 677 in 2008, you can see what the Cowboys biggest problem is and was. They just don't have any full-time, any-situation defensive ends.
So, instead, they try to get by with 2 sets of part-timers and patch them together. Marcus Spears would handle the run snaps from RDE this past season, then Jason Hatcher would come on to the field in passing downs at the same spot. On the other side, Kenyon Coleman would start each set of downs, and then Jay Ratliff and Hatcher would be joined by DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer in 3rd Downs scenarios.
What that amounted to was this: Ratliff played 750 snaps, Hatcher 429, Coleman 426, Spears 400, and reserve Sean Lissemore 284. They used a crew of players to patch together different situations and did the best they could. But, from the defensive end position, for another season of many, the Cowboys had no DE's who could do what a full-time DE must do. Stand up well against the run while possessing the ability to beat his man and get to the passer on a pass.
Heading into 2012, that allows us to look at options for the Cowboys in this offseason.
I was asked last week to write about my free agent priority, and I detailed at great length my feelings about Saints guard, Carl Nicks . I think the offensive line could greatly benefit from adding Nicks, and going into free agency, if I am going to break the bank, it has to be for a player who is both young and elite.
But, in discussing the defense, the answer to my free agent priority is more of an outside possibility. Word from Arizona seems to indicate that the target for this defensive end need will never make it to March 13, but if the Cardinals do not get a deal done with Calais Campbell, and do not slap the franchise tag on him, then the Cowboys should pounce.
Let's look at him for a moment:
Calais Campbell - DE
6'8, 310
9/1/86 (Age 25)
At 6'8, 310, Campbell is a rare specimen, but out of college was thought of as lacking both strength and quickness. Neither has proven to be a fair assessment, but the Cardinals were thrilled that he slipped to them in the 2nd round in '08.
Because of the new CBA, we are seeing players getting to free agency from the 2008 draft (those who did not sign 5-year rookie deals) in full force. That means that players who have not signed extensions from the 2nd round on are up for bid in March. Jordy Nelson and Lamarr Woodley are examples of players who have been extended this year, but many have not come to an agreement with their clubs and therefore, WR Desean Jackson and Calais Campbell are two of the premium players who could hit the market.
To see Campbell's skills on full display, pop in the tape of the Cardinals match-up with the Cowboys from early December. Playing over Doug Free and Montrae Holland for most of the day, he terrorized both the run and pass game of the Cowboys by demonstrating quickness that was too much for the Cowboys to handle. He would shoot gaps on pass plays and get to Romo for a sack and several other pressures. Then, we would blow past Free and run down DeMarco Murray before a play could get started in the Cowboys backfield. Darnell Dockett and Campbell make a very formidable DE duo in Arizona, and both had big days as the Cardinals totaled 5 sacks of Romo.
Looking at Campbell's stats will impress you, especially if you compare them to anything you have seen at DE for the Cowboys in years, but I am more impressed from the overall effect of having a DE that causes so much disruption. Before long, he is demanding a double team and freeing up a team-mate for a match-up that can be won. He blocks kicks, bats down passes, never stops running to the ball, and best of all, is only 25 years old.
To prepare for this project, I watched several more of his games this week to see how he performs from week to week. Both 49ers games were more of the same as he competes hard all of the time. In Week 3, he destroyed Russell Okung for 3 sacks in Seattle. He played 1,033 snaps this season and seldom leaves the field. Dockett, his more noted mate, signed a 6-year, $56 million deal in 2010, but is also 30. Together, they show that the 3-4 is run in different ways, but a smart coaching staff tailors the scheme to fit the play-makers. And clearly, the Cardinals love to tailor what they do around Dockett and Campbell.
Again, chances are that he never gets to the open market. But, if the Cardinals mess around and make him open to bidders, I fully believe that the Cowboys would make him a very top priority and make that JJ Watt regret disappear. It isn't likely, but keep that name front and center on your off-season radar.
Jerry at the Senior Bowl
Cowboys' Owner, General Manager, #1 Fan, and Overall Head Of All Things Jerry Jones was wearing his casual Cowboys gear underneath the stands at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama for the Senior Bowl on Monday, as he spoke to the gathered media and offered his thoughts on many items of general interest.
The quote that will receive the most play will most likely be the part where he seemed to say that the difference between the Giants and Cowboys was Eli Manning. “I don’t want to take anything away, but the big difference was Eli came up here and started what seemed like a pretty significantly...But the quarterback play with Eli was the huge difference. But I was pretty impressed with how they’ve defense played the last three or four ball games...They are a great inspiration and what I hoped that we were going to be and that is a team that had good days and bad days and really took off on a run. They did it and we didn't.”
The truth is, if you can weed through the odd speaking cadence of Jerry that he was not saying anything negative about his own QB, Tony Romo, but rather properly placing credit for the Giants success in this last 2 months in part to the play of their QB. Confusing and dancing on the line of comparing the two and preferring the other team's QB, but in listening several times to his quotes, I don't believe it would be fair to say that he drove a bus over his own QB.
And, I do believe, as we sit here and ponder the idea of Eli Manning at his 2nd Super Bowl as Romo has never been past the quarterfinals, that QB is the least of the items that separate the Cowboys and the Giants. Just 3 weeks ago, these two teams were dead even heading into the 16th and final game of the season. Now, depending on perspective, there are some that position the Giants as miles and miles better than the Dallas Cowboys. If that is true, than it is also true that the Cowboys were one 3rd Down completion to Miles Austin in Week 14 from eliminating these same Giants from playoff contention altogether. And missing the playoffs is a long, long way from the Super Bowl - just ask the Cowboys.
But, as we do sort through what Jerry said yesterday in nearly 25 minutes of holding court with the media on pins and needles, I did see several other things that will generate fewer headlines but strikes me as more relevant to the big picture. Let's review those:
On the Defensive Backfield: "over in the secondary, I do think we will get better. We very likely will have new faces back there. How many, I can't tell you, but we will have new faces."
This one might be straight from the department of the obvious. It will be a priority to sort out the secondary in the offseason, and it appears that 3 of the top 5 are guaranteed to be back due to the recent contract extensions to Gerald Sensabaugh and Orlando Scandrick and the continued development of Mike Jenkins. That seems to pretty clearly put a target on Terence Newman and Abram Elam. Elam is a UFA who will be looking for multiple years, and I was a bit surprised that Sensabaugh was the safety to get the extension instead of Elam, but I suppose the team was using age as their guide. Sensabaugh is 28 and Elam is 30. The idea that the Cowboys could do better in the secondary is pretty clear, but the big question is how much of the available assets to use this spring on addressing another part of the roster that is on the perimeter of the game. If you have been reading my material for very long, you know that my feelings are clear about building from the inside-out. The game is won and lost at the line, and the Giants have a comparable secondary to Dallas, but an incomparable defensive line. Which brings us to his next comment:
On the Defensive Line: We had a couple young guys play pretty well there. Our defensive front is one of the strengths of our team. We know Baltimore is a team which we can look to and say that is what we would like to be
This one is where I spit coffee on my screen. The defensive front is one of the strengths of the team? I would like to respectfully and wholeheartedly disagree. The front is not anywhere close to a strength. If it was, then Eli Manning wouldn't have been able to come into your stadium and throw 50 times without having anyone lay a hand on him. We all saw that San Francisco hit Eli Manning repeatedly, thus keeping his ability to slice and dice them to a minimum. We saw the Giants front batter Tony Romo in Week 17 to the tune of 6 sacks and an almost comical level of chaos in his lap. We saw the Patriots blow up play after play with Vince WIlfork and friends destroying the line of the Ravens when they dared to run the ball. But, no, we never saw the Cowboys front do anything of the sort. And, if we are looking at Baltimore, then we better find that 350-pound nose tackle, like the Ravens have been basing their 3-4 around with Haloti Ngata. Start there, with a NT that demands a double-team (like Wilfork, Casey Hampton, BJ Raji) and then you can have linebackers blowing up plays from inside. Otherwise, you can watch the Ravens but you cannot duplicate them.
On the Offensive Line: "Possibly, in personnel, we may have gotten a little over zealous with some young players in the middle of our offensive line. We need to give them a chance to grow and have progress, and have the kind of protection that we want."
And finally, a quote that concedes the August idea of shedding veterans Andre Gurode and Montrae Holland in exchange for Phil Costa and Bill Nagy to start without ever winning the job was a horrendous idea. Not that Gurode or Holland were great players or that they should have been upgraded when the chance came along. But, moving Leonard Davis and Marc Colombo out was going to be a big enough mountain, why self-inflict even more issues with these cost-cutting measures. Was it a financial move or a football move? Tough to say since the owner and the general manager are the same guy. But, either way, it was obvious by Week 3 that it was a disaster, and then Tony Romo had to run for his life for much of the rest of the season. By December, opponents were running stunts and blitzes right at the young interior because they knew the results were unpleasant for the Cowboys' offense. Jerry learned a valuable lesson here, but you would think that by his 22nd year in power, he would have known that starting two unregarded kids in the middle of your offensive line was a crazy idea that better work. It didn't come close to working and they are lucky that it didn't cost them more than it did.
Now, the Senior Bowl is on the minds of the Cowboys' leader. Before long, the Combine and Free Agency will arrive. The moves that need to be made are right there to be seen. Let's hope he reads the evidence and comes to the proper conclusions.
But, sometimes, when he speaks, it makes you wonder.
The quote that will receive the most play will most likely be the part where he seemed to say that the difference between the Giants and Cowboys was Eli Manning. “I don’t want to take anything away, but the big difference was Eli came up here and started what seemed like a pretty significantly...But the quarterback play with Eli was the huge difference. But I was pretty impressed with how they’ve defense played the last three or four ball games...They are a great inspiration and what I hoped that we were going to be and that is a team that had good days and bad days and really took off on a run. They did it and we didn't.”
The truth is, if you can weed through the odd speaking cadence of Jerry that he was not saying anything negative about his own QB, Tony Romo, but rather properly placing credit for the Giants success in this last 2 months in part to the play of their QB. Confusing and dancing on the line of comparing the two and preferring the other team's QB, but in listening several times to his quotes, I don't believe it would be fair to say that he drove a bus over his own QB.
And, I do believe, as we sit here and ponder the idea of Eli Manning at his 2nd Super Bowl as Romo has never been past the quarterfinals, that QB is the least of the items that separate the Cowboys and the Giants. Just 3 weeks ago, these two teams were dead even heading into the 16th and final game of the season. Now, depending on perspective, there are some that position the Giants as miles and miles better than the Dallas Cowboys. If that is true, than it is also true that the Cowboys were one 3rd Down completion to Miles Austin in Week 14 from eliminating these same Giants from playoff contention altogether. And missing the playoffs is a long, long way from the Super Bowl - just ask the Cowboys.
But, as we do sort through what Jerry said yesterday in nearly 25 minutes of holding court with the media on pins and needles, I did see several other things that will generate fewer headlines but strikes me as more relevant to the big picture. Let's review those:
On the Defensive Backfield: "over in the secondary, I do think we will get better. We very likely will have new faces back there. How many, I can't tell you, but we will have new faces."
This one might be straight from the department of the obvious. It will be a priority to sort out the secondary in the offseason, and it appears that 3 of the top 5 are guaranteed to be back due to the recent contract extensions to Gerald Sensabaugh and Orlando Scandrick and the continued development of Mike Jenkins. That seems to pretty clearly put a target on Terence Newman and Abram Elam. Elam is a UFA who will be looking for multiple years, and I was a bit surprised that Sensabaugh was the safety to get the extension instead of Elam, but I suppose the team was using age as their guide. Sensabaugh is 28 and Elam is 30. The idea that the Cowboys could do better in the secondary is pretty clear, but the big question is how much of the available assets to use this spring on addressing another part of the roster that is on the perimeter of the game. If you have been reading my material for very long, you know that my feelings are clear about building from the inside-out. The game is won and lost at the line, and the Giants have a comparable secondary to Dallas, but an incomparable defensive line. Which brings us to his next comment:
On the Defensive Line: We had a couple young guys play pretty well there. Our defensive front is one of the strengths of our team. We know Baltimore is a team which we can look to and say that is what we would like to be
This one is where I spit coffee on my screen. The defensive front is one of the strengths of the team? I would like to respectfully and wholeheartedly disagree. The front is not anywhere close to a strength. If it was, then Eli Manning wouldn't have been able to come into your stadium and throw 50 times without having anyone lay a hand on him. We all saw that San Francisco hit Eli Manning repeatedly, thus keeping his ability to slice and dice them to a minimum. We saw the Giants front batter Tony Romo in Week 17 to the tune of 6 sacks and an almost comical level of chaos in his lap. We saw the Patriots blow up play after play with Vince WIlfork and friends destroying the line of the Ravens when they dared to run the ball. But, no, we never saw the Cowboys front do anything of the sort. And, if we are looking at Baltimore, then we better find that 350-pound nose tackle, like the Ravens have been basing their 3-4 around with Haloti Ngata. Start there, with a NT that demands a double-team (like Wilfork, Casey Hampton, BJ Raji) and then you can have linebackers blowing up plays from inside. Otherwise, you can watch the Ravens but you cannot duplicate them.
On the Offensive Line: "Possibly, in personnel, we may have gotten a little over zealous with some young players in the middle of our offensive line. We need to give them a chance to grow and have progress, and have the kind of protection that we want."
And finally, a quote that concedes the August idea of shedding veterans Andre Gurode and Montrae Holland in exchange for Phil Costa and Bill Nagy to start without ever winning the job was a horrendous idea. Not that Gurode or Holland were great players or that they should have been upgraded when the chance came along. But, moving Leonard Davis and Marc Colombo out was going to be a big enough mountain, why self-inflict even more issues with these cost-cutting measures. Was it a financial move or a football move? Tough to say since the owner and the general manager are the same guy. But, either way, it was obvious by Week 3 that it was a disaster, and then Tony Romo had to run for his life for much of the rest of the season. By December, opponents were running stunts and blitzes right at the young interior because they knew the results were unpleasant for the Cowboys' offense. Jerry learned a valuable lesson here, but you would think that by his 22nd year in power, he would have known that starting two unregarded kids in the middle of your offensive line was a crazy idea that better work. It didn't come close to working and they are lucky that it didn't cost them more than it did.
Now, the Senior Bowl is on the minds of the Cowboys' leader. Before long, the Combine and Free Agency will arrive. The moves that need to be made are right there to be seen. Let's hope he reads the evidence and comes to the proper conclusions.
But, sometimes, when he speaks, it makes you wonder.
Monday, January 23, 2012
An Unforgettable Championship Sunday
Other sports can not compete with Sunday. The NFL is the top product in sports for a number of reasons, and we had many of them detailed to us over the course of 8 riveting hours of tense, painful, and high-stakes competition.
In the end, it seemed that two teams advanced by simply surviving. All four teams accomplished many of their laid-out objectives and felt like they put themselves in a perfect position to win late in the game. But, only two would advance to play for the Lombardi Trophy in 2 weeks time. And how those games played out were enough to have each dropped into the "instant classic" bin immediately.
The AFC Championship Game was a battle of strengths as the Patriots offense would have to deal with the Ravens defense. But, the game was so much more than Tom Brady versus Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. New England was a favorite, but because of some sloppy play at times (from Brady, no less), the Patriots ended up allowing the Ravens a +2 turnover margin. In the NFL this season, that 2 turnover margin has been given 107 times, and the record for those on the short end of the stick have gone 10-97 (9% win percentage).
The Ravens caused stops, misses downfield, and even the occasional takeaway. Allowing Joe Flacco and the offense to carve out some offense of their own over the course of the 4 Quarters. Back and forth this hard hitting battle went, and the closer the end came, the closer the two teams were on the scoreboard. Neither side was giving in. And that is what makes this theater so interesting to the viewer. Veterans who may never get this far again, selling out on the field and trying to make the difference for their side.
And what happens when all of those collective contributions are cancelled out on the other side of the field? That is we see an entire season that begins in July boils down to one play in late January. And with all of the stars playing in the game on each side, we also see that the key players in the game are not the players at the forefront of your memory when you look back at this contest.
The Ravens caused a 3-and-out late from the Patriots offense when Ed Reed broke up a 3rd Down pass, and now the Ravens were going to get the ball back one last time with under 2 minutes to go. Trailing 23-20, they would be able to go to the Super Bowl with a touchdown, or settle this in overtime with a field goal.
And this is where Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, and the rest of the Patriots offense would go sit down. As would the Ravens defense of Reed, Lewis, and friends. This game would be settled by none of them. They had done what they could to impact the game and now they would spend the rest of the afternoon as spectators.
Those who would decide this game included Flacco, a player who most felt did not have the quality to win a game like this - including some of his teammates. But, throughout the day, he looked poised and ready to make a play when needed. He missed on a few throws that would have been huge gainers to his speedster, Torrey Smith, but managed the game quite well.
On this final drive, the Ravens went to work on Julian Edelman, the Patriots 2-way player (according to ProFootballFocus.com, he played 28 snaps on offense, 27 on defense Sunday), who was trying to cover Anquan Boldin in the slot with very little success. 5 times Flacco went to Boldin - 4 times with Edelman lined up to cover him - for a total of 4 catches for 60 yards in this drive. The Ravens were marching and in position at the 14 yard-line to have at least 2 shots at the end zone before settling for overtime with a chip-shot field goal.
And that is where the play of the game would occur. Lee Evans, who had 4 receptions all year after a 7 productive years in Buffalo, would be lined up in man coverage alone on the right side of the formation, opposite Smith and Boldin on the left. Boldin had Edelman again, so the Patriots were rolling all of their coverage in that direction. The Ravens had the perfect scenario lined up with Evans against Sterling Moore.
Moore, who played his college football for SMU, was undrafted last spring. In July he was signed by the Raiders, but after failing to make their squad out of camp was pushed to their practice squad. Then, 3 weeks later, the Raiders cut him off the practice squad. From September 26th to October 5th, Moore was unemployed, and perhaps pondering a life that did not include football. But, on October 5th, the Patriots called and placed him on their practice squad. Due to injuries and circumstances, Moore was promoted to the roster for the Week 10 game against the Jets and played in 5 regular season games - 3 as a safety, 2 as a corner. So, with a Wide Receiver playing defense against Boldin, here is this unregarded SMU Mustang covering Evans with the Super Bowl hanging in the balance.
On the snap, Flacco makes no mistake where he is going with the ball. He locks on Evans, throws a huge shoulder fake, and then waits for Evans to clear Moore for the back shoulder fade in the end zone. It works perfectly and when the ball falls in Evans arms, Moore is face guarding him - with really no idea where the ball is. Evans catches the ball and appears to have just caught the winning score, when Moore in desperation swipes at the ball. Somehow, Evans seems to have relaxed his grip a bit and Moore is able to get the ball free. Incomplete pass.
3rd Down is a protection breakdown as a 3-man rush cause Flacco to turn away from Boldin vs Edelman and he finally offers a desperation throw to his tight end, Dennis Pitta, that falls incomplete as Sterling Moore again bats the ball away.
4th and 1 from the 14. For reasons that seem unclear, Baltimore had trouble getting the FG team on in a timely manner. By the time they are set up, the play clock is down to inside 10 seconds. Baltimore has a timeout, but perhaps recalling the moment Dallas had this season, John Harbaugh does not call a timeout and risk "icing his own kicker". This causes a rushed snap, a hold that does not get the laces right, and a hooked kick by former Cowboy (2002-2005), Billy Cundiff. It was a gutting end to a valiant effort from the Ravens, and for New England, a fortuitous ending that will put them in yet another Super Bowl.
Meanwhile, over 2,600 miles away another classic was about to happen. This one involving the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers in a rematch of some wonderful playoff games 2 decades ago.
Much like the earlier battle, the largest lead would be only 7 points, and the battle would be intense all afternoon long.
For much of the day, we thought the hero might be Vernon Davis. Davis continued to be a player who can only be stopped by his own decisions as his two touchdowns were somewhat mitigated by his two personal fouls. He is simply too talented to cover as a tight end, too fast for linebackers or safeties, too strong for cornerbacks.
If not Davis, then surely it would be Eli Manning again. Manning took a tremendous beating, being sacked 6 times and hit at least 20 times in all. The 49ers pass rush started slow, but by the 2nd half, Eli seemed to take a shot almost every time he threw the ball. It demonstrated yet again that Manning has grown into one of the more clutch QBs in the sport, despite many of us refusing to place him in that class. The facts are that his 4th Quarter performances are top notch, his 3rd Down throws are as good as anyones, and now he has won a 5th road playoff game - someone nobody in the NFL has ever done. That final statistic is a bit dubious, as many of the greats seldom find themselves on the road as often as Eli in the playoffs (given that they win higher seeds), but nevertheless, the playoff road game is one of the most difficult things to do in the NFL for a QB, and Manning has now done it 5 times.
But, despite many huge throws in tight spots, this game was likely not decided by either QB. Although, Manning threw the ball 58 times and Alex Smith only completed 12 passes all day. The Giants took 90 snaps to the 49ers 57, but in the end, yardage was close enough, 352-328, New York.
No, this game, like the game before it, would be settled by unlikely characters. Kyle Williams, a 6th round pick in the 2010 draft from Arizona State, is the son of Chicago White Sox General Manager, Kenny Williams. He is a young WR, who appears to have some value, but yesterday was asked to return punts as the normal return man, Ted Ginn, Jr, was unable to play due to injury.
Williams had returned just 5 punts as a pro in 2 seasons, but yesterday was asked to field 8 punts in rather wet, high pressure situations. The first sign that trouble might be ahead was with 13:30 left in the 3Q, where Williams made a very risky decision to dive to catch a punt as pressure was bearing down, rather than the percentage play of getting away from the ball and letting it bounce. He fielded it as the stadium gasped, and no damage was done.
But, in the 4th Quarter with a 14-10 lead, Williams would not be as fortunate. A punt with 11:15 to play landed 10 yards in front of him, but then rolled at him as he casually moved stepped towards the ball. The ball takes odd bounces, and this time it brushed his leg ever so slightly, putting the ball into play as Giants gunner, Devin Thomas alertly grabbed the ball. In another era with no instant replay, this play would have stayed with the 49ers. But, with replay, it was properly discovered that the Giants just found field position that they did not have to travel with their offense. A possession that started inside the 49ers 30-yard line was eventually cashed in for a go-ahead touchdown when Eli found Mario Manningham for a 17-14 Giants lead. It was the first turnover of the game.
The 49ers would tie the game, aided by a big Williams return, and send it into overtime at 17-17. But, again, this amazing Sunday would frown on young Kyle Williams. A punt with 9:40 left in overtime was fumbled again by Williams as rookie Jacquian Williams for New York would strip him and Devin Thomas would recover again at the 49ers 24. Amazing.
A few moments later, Lawrence Tynes would do what Billy Cundiff couldn't do, which was to nail a chip shot on the road, and the Giants would also punch their ticket to the Super Bowl.
Even the biggest football experts would not have placed Sterling Moore and Kyle Williams in the headlines as the day started. Nor, Lee Evans and Devin Thomas. But, the hands of fate put them all front and center as the NFL's Championship Sunday paid off with drama that will not soon be forgotten.
And now, it is the Giants and Patriots, back together again in the Super Bowl. And we have 13 days to wait to see if this tournament
can captivate us one more time.
Amazing theater from the National Football League. I only regret it is about to go away for 7 months.
In the end, it seemed that two teams advanced by simply surviving. All four teams accomplished many of their laid-out objectives and felt like they put themselves in a perfect position to win late in the game. But, only two would advance to play for the Lombardi Trophy in 2 weeks time. And how those games played out were enough to have each dropped into the "instant classic" bin immediately.
The AFC Championship Game was a battle of strengths as the Patriots offense would have to deal with the Ravens defense. But, the game was so much more than Tom Brady versus Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. New England was a favorite, but because of some sloppy play at times (from Brady, no less), the Patriots ended up allowing the Ravens a +2 turnover margin. In the NFL this season, that 2 turnover margin has been given 107 times, and the record for those on the short end of the stick have gone 10-97 (9% win percentage).
The Ravens caused stops, misses downfield, and even the occasional takeaway. Allowing Joe Flacco and the offense to carve out some offense of their own over the course of the 4 Quarters. Back and forth this hard hitting battle went, and the closer the end came, the closer the two teams were on the scoreboard. Neither side was giving in. And that is what makes this theater so interesting to the viewer. Veterans who may never get this far again, selling out on the field and trying to make the difference for their side.
And what happens when all of those collective contributions are cancelled out on the other side of the field? That is we see an entire season that begins in July boils down to one play in late January. And with all of the stars playing in the game on each side, we also see that the key players in the game are not the players at the forefront of your memory when you look back at this contest.
The Ravens caused a 3-and-out late from the Patriots offense when Ed Reed broke up a 3rd Down pass, and now the Ravens were going to get the ball back one last time with under 2 minutes to go. Trailing 23-20, they would be able to go to the Super Bowl with a touchdown, or settle this in overtime with a field goal.
And this is where Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, and the rest of the Patriots offense would go sit down. As would the Ravens defense of Reed, Lewis, and friends. This game would be settled by none of them. They had done what they could to impact the game and now they would spend the rest of the afternoon as spectators.
Those who would decide this game included Flacco, a player who most felt did not have the quality to win a game like this - including some of his teammates. But, throughout the day, he looked poised and ready to make a play when needed. He missed on a few throws that would have been huge gainers to his speedster, Torrey Smith, but managed the game quite well.
On this final drive, the Ravens went to work on Julian Edelman, the Patriots 2-way player (according to ProFootballFocus.com, he played 28 snaps on offense, 27 on defense Sunday), who was trying to cover Anquan Boldin in the slot with very little success. 5 times Flacco went to Boldin - 4 times with Edelman lined up to cover him - for a total of 4 catches for 60 yards in this drive. The Ravens were marching and in position at the 14 yard-line to have at least 2 shots at the end zone before settling for overtime with a chip-shot field goal.
And that is where the play of the game would occur. Lee Evans, who had 4 receptions all year after a 7 productive years in Buffalo, would be lined up in man coverage alone on the right side of the formation, opposite Smith and Boldin on the left. Boldin had Edelman again, so the Patriots were rolling all of their coverage in that direction. The Ravens had the perfect scenario lined up with Evans against Sterling Moore.
Moore, who played his college football for SMU, was undrafted last spring. In July he was signed by the Raiders, but after failing to make their squad out of camp was pushed to their practice squad. Then, 3 weeks later, the Raiders cut him off the practice squad. From September 26th to October 5th, Moore was unemployed, and perhaps pondering a life that did not include football. But, on October 5th, the Patriots called and placed him on their practice squad. Due to injuries and circumstances, Moore was promoted to the roster for the Week 10 game against the Jets and played in 5 regular season games - 3 as a safety, 2 as a corner. So, with a Wide Receiver playing defense against Boldin, here is this unregarded SMU Mustang covering Evans with the Super Bowl hanging in the balance.
On the snap, Flacco makes no mistake where he is going with the ball. He locks on Evans, throws a huge shoulder fake, and then waits for Evans to clear Moore for the back shoulder fade in the end zone. It works perfectly and when the ball falls in Evans arms, Moore is face guarding him - with really no idea where the ball is. Evans catches the ball and appears to have just caught the winning score, when Moore in desperation swipes at the ball. Somehow, Evans seems to have relaxed his grip a bit and Moore is able to get the ball free. Incomplete pass.
3rd Down is a protection breakdown as a 3-man rush cause Flacco to turn away from Boldin vs Edelman and he finally offers a desperation throw to his tight end, Dennis Pitta, that falls incomplete as Sterling Moore again bats the ball away.
4th and 1 from the 14. For reasons that seem unclear, Baltimore had trouble getting the FG team on in a timely manner. By the time they are set up, the play clock is down to inside 10 seconds. Baltimore has a timeout, but perhaps recalling the moment Dallas had this season, John Harbaugh does not call a timeout and risk "icing his own kicker". This causes a rushed snap, a hold that does not get the laces right, and a hooked kick by former Cowboy (2002-2005), Billy Cundiff. It was a gutting end to a valiant effort from the Ravens, and for New England, a fortuitous ending that will put them in yet another Super Bowl.
Meanwhile, over 2,600 miles away another classic was about to happen. This one involving the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers in a rematch of some wonderful playoff games 2 decades ago.
Much like the earlier battle, the largest lead would be only 7 points, and the battle would be intense all afternoon long.
For much of the day, we thought the hero might be Vernon Davis. Davis continued to be a player who can only be stopped by his own decisions as his two touchdowns were somewhat mitigated by his two personal fouls. He is simply too talented to cover as a tight end, too fast for linebackers or safeties, too strong for cornerbacks.
If not Davis, then surely it would be Eli Manning again. Manning took a tremendous beating, being sacked 6 times and hit at least 20 times in all. The 49ers pass rush started slow, but by the 2nd half, Eli seemed to take a shot almost every time he threw the ball. It demonstrated yet again that Manning has grown into one of the more clutch QBs in the sport, despite many of us refusing to place him in that class. The facts are that his 4th Quarter performances are top notch, his 3rd Down throws are as good as anyones, and now he has won a 5th road playoff game - someone nobody in the NFL has ever done. That final statistic is a bit dubious, as many of the greats seldom find themselves on the road as often as Eli in the playoffs (given that they win higher seeds), but nevertheless, the playoff road game is one of the most difficult things to do in the NFL for a QB, and Manning has now done it 5 times.
But, despite many huge throws in tight spots, this game was likely not decided by either QB. Although, Manning threw the ball 58 times and Alex Smith only completed 12 passes all day. The Giants took 90 snaps to the 49ers 57, but in the end, yardage was close enough, 352-328, New York.
No, this game, like the game before it, would be settled by unlikely characters. Kyle Williams, a 6th round pick in the 2010 draft from Arizona State, is the son of Chicago White Sox General Manager, Kenny Williams. He is a young WR, who appears to have some value, but yesterday was asked to return punts as the normal return man, Ted Ginn, Jr, was unable to play due to injury.
Williams had returned just 5 punts as a pro in 2 seasons, but yesterday was asked to field 8 punts in rather wet, high pressure situations. The first sign that trouble might be ahead was with 13:30 left in the 3Q, where Williams made a very risky decision to dive to catch a punt as pressure was bearing down, rather than the percentage play of getting away from the ball and letting it bounce. He fielded it as the stadium gasped, and no damage was done.
But, in the 4th Quarter with a 14-10 lead, Williams would not be as fortunate. A punt with 11:15 to play landed 10 yards in front of him, but then rolled at him as he casually moved stepped towards the ball. The ball takes odd bounces, and this time it brushed his leg ever so slightly, putting the ball into play as Giants gunner, Devin Thomas alertly grabbed the ball. In another era with no instant replay, this play would have stayed with the 49ers. But, with replay, it was properly discovered that the Giants just found field position that they did not have to travel with their offense. A possession that started inside the 49ers 30-yard line was eventually cashed in for a go-ahead touchdown when Eli found Mario Manningham for a 17-14 Giants lead. It was the first turnover of the game.
The 49ers would tie the game, aided by a big Williams return, and send it into overtime at 17-17. But, again, this amazing Sunday would frown on young Kyle Williams. A punt with 9:40 left in overtime was fumbled again by Williams as rookie Jacquian Williams for New York would strip him and Devin Thomas would recover again at the 49ers 24. Amazing.
A few moments later, Lawrence Tynes would do what Billy Cundiff couldn't do, which was to nail a chip shot on the road, and the Giants would also punch their ticket to the Super Bowl.
Even the biggest football experts would not have placed Sterling Moore and Kyle Williams in the headlines as the day started. Nor, Lee Evans and Devin Thomas. But, the hands of fate put them all front and center as the NFL's Championship Sunday paid off with drama that will not soon be forgotten.
And now, it is the Giants and Patriots, back together again in the Super Bowl. And we have 13 days to wait to see if this tournament
can captivate us one more time.
Amazing theater from the National Football League. I only regret it is about to go away for 7 months.
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