The Wade Phillips 3-4

What happened to it?  Here are some quotes from Tank Johnson:

“Bottom line is we are trying to do too many things. We are a talented enough group that we can do two or three things and beat the stew out of people,” Johnson said. “I think less is more when it comes to the talent we have. When you have so many talented players, give them a few things to do and give them a chance to get really good at it.”

Didn’t they hire Wade because they thought Bill Parcells defense was too simple and predictable?  I remember people saying that his defense would just line up and try to beat you by being physical.  Their first responibility was to stop the run and rushing the passer came second.  So now, the team is switching back to Parcells style.   Then why did we hire Wade and Stewart? 

Read this quote shortly after Wade was hired:

Last season, players voiced their concerns about the direction of the Cowboys defense. What bothered them? Not enough blitzing, creativity or positive results, they said.

And another quote from the preseason in 07

This defense will attempt to create havoc in any number of ways. The predictable 3-4 that we saw under coach Bill Parcells has been scrapped.

“I’ll let you guys decide from what you’re seeing if this defense is more creative,” said defensive end Marcus Spears, who had a fumble recovery that set up a touchdown.

“Everyone’s got a chance to make some plays. That’s what this defense allows you to do. It’s a totally different style from what we’ve played here in the past. You’ll see a lot of guys moving around, you’ll see blitzes from the weak side if the strong side isn’t working. That’s just what this defense is designed to do.”

Seems to me that the players, fans, and ownership wanted this new defense and now that it’s not working, they want to quit and go back to more of a Parcells defense.  Lots of excuses by those defensive players and not many plays.  Don’t make things simpler for them Wade…make them play better.

Post Dallas Cowboys Game Thoughts

Here’s your Monday Report for the underachieving:

• I told you Brad Johnson sucks and the Rams dropped 3 INT’s yesterday.  It could have been a lot worse.  He threw high too many times and he has zero zip on his throws probably more due to his lack of leg strength at this point than lack of arm strength.
• Marion Barber has fumbled 5 times in 7 games. That should worry everybody.  Romo has fumbled 6 times in 6 games.  In the last 8 games Barber has started we are 4-4. 
• I’m going to say it because no one else seems to: Zach Thomas is not good.  Give me Akin back anyday.  Zach is small, old, and slow at this point in his career. 
• That team really quit yesterday and as long as Jerry is the one that chews them out then it won’t work.  They need a coach to get their focus back. 
• Nice job of creating another distraction by dressing Romo as the #2 QB.  If he can’t play then he’s the #3, if he is healthy enough for #2 then he starts.  Pretty simple.
• I have  strong feeling that Galloway gets healthy this week and he and Antonio Bryant are going to put up huge numbers.

And one non-Cowboys thought:

Shut up John Kitna.  You are a below average qb who turns the ball over too much to whine all the time.  Orlovsky (as stupid as that safety was) hasn’t thrown a pick in the last two games and the Lions at least didn’t get blown out both weeks.   Your Career #’s of 152 TD’s and 151 INT’s speaks for itself.

Brad Johnson Should Start Over Tony Romo

I’m serious.  Look at what everyone is saying about Brad Johnson’s dominating pre season performance:

2. Brad Johnson. Can we now leave Brad Johnson alone? Finished two scoring drives including a long pass play.

Leave him alone?  Give him the starting job!  And look what Spagnola has to say over at dallascowboys.com

Johnson was razor sharp, and against the Broncos’ first-team defense, mind you, completing nine of 12 passes for 114 yards and one touchdown.

To those who say his arm is shot, we give you the mighty fine 37-yard pass to Austin streaking down the right sideline. To those who say he won’t hang in the pocket, we give you the perfectly thrown five-yard fade to Austin for a touchdown. And for those who wanted to insist after the San Diego game that he is so old he can’t make good decisions anymore, we give you the 11-yard pass to tight end Martellus Bennett, a nine-yarder to Isaiah Stanback and the six-yarder to Tony Curtis, showing he’s patient enough to take what the defense during a two-minute drill will give him.

I mean even Tony Romo gets into the act:

Tony Romo did, coming up from behind the team’s oldest player, throwing his arms around his 39-year-old shoulders, and with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen proclaim, “That’s 2001 right there; that’s Brad Johnson 2001.”

Romo spoke of his immediate backup, the soon-to-be 40-year-old quarterback who had a vintage year in 2001, leading his Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the Super Bowl title, basically playing the same style of football then as so many are quick to criticize and want to retire him for now.

Brad Johnson is the only answer to the question “which QB can lead the cowboys to the super bowl”?  Don’t believe me?  Are you a Brad Johnson Hater/Doubter?  Then check out these stats:

Brad Johnson has a career passer rating of 83.1 (one year it was as high as 92.9!)…what’s Romo’s you ask?  A pathetic 96.5(worthless) and he’s already got almost 2 years of playing experience.  And Brad Johnson is clearly the more accurate passer (even though he only throws downfield and never dump offs) with a career mark of 61.8 compared to Romo’s erratic 64.4.  How Does Dallas expect to win anything with Romo?

Let’s talk TD’s.  Johnson once threw 26 TD’s in one year!  One freaking year!  So he threw 21 picks also…still 26!  Romo barely topped 35 TD’s last year.    Also, Brad knows how to get the ball downfield and show off his rocket arm with a career avg of 6.7 per attempt while Romo with his weak girly arm is afraid to go down the field and dumps the ball off at 8.3 per attempt.   You starting to get on the Brad Johnson express?

It’s pretty clear that Brad Johnson can not only still play in the NFL (he dominates in the pre season)but he just opened up an old fashioned can of quarterback controversy in Dallas (Hogeboom?).  Dallas can continue to sputter along with Romo or they can take a chance on the 39 year old young rocket arm of Brad Johnson.

My name is Brad,  Brad Johnson.

I keep the ladies in the 90’s, Cravin.

Who’s That Rocking the Spot,(It Brad Johnson)
Who’s that keepin it hot,(I’m Brad Johnson)
Who’s That Bringin the pain,(It’s Brad Johnson)

What are the Cowboys Doing?

So much for a quiet off-season. 

First, we have the trade rumors with the Dolphins.  The rumor is the cowboys are thinking of trading Barber and picks for the 1st pick in the draft where they can draft McFadden.  I don’t see how this really works for both teams as Miami is already paying Ronnie Brown big money and I don’t think they’d invest more in the running back position.  The only thing I can think of is maybe they will be comparable to the vikings who have Taylor and AP and maybe Parcells is willing to do anything to avoid paying the huge signing bonus to the 1st pick in the draft.

For the Cowboys, they would be taking on a huge contract at a time where they are going to have to start making some tough decisions on players salaries.  This move would be a gamble to win next year at all costs…something Jerry would do (crap now I believe the rumors).  Jerry may think he needs more star-power on this team because TO’s age will no doubt make him very average, very soon.  Or maybe his Arkansas roots are firmly entrenched in his brain. 

The next situation brewing over at Valley Ranch is the hiring of some “big name” assistant coaches.  Jerry brought back some guys from the 90’s in Houck and Campo.  I don’t see the reason in bringing Campo back…yes he is a good secondary coach but he’s got too much of a reputation here to just be a normal position coach.  The media is too close to him and if things go bad they will get him to talk.  Houck I’m ok with but the rumor is Wade had someone else in mind. 

The Dom Capers situation is spiraling out of control rather quickly.  Apparently, Brian Stewart told Capers that he wasn’t too comfortable with Capers being hired onto the staff and this prompted Capers to turn the job down, only to have Jerry and Co. pursue him further and try to talk him into coming anyway.  Let me get this straight:

Wade is a defensive minded coach and that is his “specialty” and why you hired him.  He then hand-picked his Def Coordinator and had the defense playing much better last year even with injuries to the secondary and the loss of Jason Ferguson.  The team goes 13-3 and lost a playoff game because the offense didn’t score enough points…same reason they lost in Seattle the year before.  So Jerry goes out and hires one former Head Coach in Campo and is trying to hire another in Capers.  Why?  Does this defense need that much help?  What about Garrett? 

Last year, Garrett had Sporano on the staff but this year he is on his own and apparently Jerry is just fine with that instead choosing to go after big name coaches on the other side of ball.  The chain of command will be screwed if Capers comes aboard.  It will make Stewart a non-factor and wouldn’t surprise me if the players tuned him out.  And if that happens, how long before Wade gets tuned out with players knowing he is a lame-duck coach? 

It’s as if Jerry is setting up the coaching staff for Jason Garrett even though he isn’t the current head coach.  This type of thing can absolutely destroy a team.  I wonder if Jerry is trying to “up” Parcells.  Parcells raided the Cowboys and maybe Jerry wants to really send him a message that says “hey Bill, you didn’t hurt us at all….see who I hired”. 

There are those that say Stewart should be more than willing to accept Capers on the staff…but those people are fooling themselves or have never been a leader or in a position of real power in an organization.  That hire would be a clear message to the players on that football team that Stewart is irrelevant and also that Wade is irrelevant in Jerry’s mind.  Hell of a way to start the off-season.

Similar Posts:

1. Tony Romo is Dating a LadyBoy
2. Dallas Cowboys by the Numbers
3. Parcells Impact

Tony Romo is Dating a LadyBoy

Well maybe not but if he was this is what would happen:

1. Romo would figure out that he was dating a LadyBoy but refuse to address it in the media.  
2. Babe Laufenberg, Dale Hanson, Randy Galloway and Steve Dennis would all lead a campaign defending him saying it was impossible for Romo to know his girlfriend was a guy. 
3. Mickey Spagnola would then say he hasn’t heard anything about it from Valley Ranch and that it’s just all speculation at this point which is totally unfair, so until he hears it from his Daddy Jerry it must be untrue. 
4. Then Skip Bayless would go on ESPN and say that Romo is in fact Troy Aikman’s lover and has been since Troy’s rookie year.   Then Skip would deny that he ever said it and that he has too much credibility to start a rumor like that. 
5. Emmitt Smith, Shannon Sharpe and Terry Bradshaw would all give their opinions but it would take 2 to 3 weeks to actually decipher what they said.  
6. Deion and Michael Irvin would talk about how god saved them from their ladyboy addictions.  Deion would then pat himself on the back. 
7. Tiki Barber would smile at the camera and say nothing of real importance while Jerome Bettis laughs uncontrollably. 

Randomness

I don’t know how else to put it.  Some interesting things today.

1. Inflation – Maybe we should take Ron Paul a little more seriously when he talks about the dollar.   Highest in 26 years and the other Republicans say the economy is “sound”.  Sure guys.
2. Kenneth Davis? – Sloppy reporting from Fox News.  I saw this the other day and thought for sure it would have been fixed by now.  It’s “Keith Davis” morons!
3. Beer to the Rescue – Beer fights cancer!  Please let this be true…please.
4. Cloned Food Safe to Eat – Sure FDA.  Sure.  I mean you guys are never wrong about this stuff.  Vioxx sound good to anyone, right now?  How much money was spent by lobbyist to get this one approved?   
5. Let’s sell them Weapons! – Major Arms deal to Saudi Arabia.  I mean they are our friends…as long as the royal family is in charge and of course the Saudi people just love them.  What happens when the royal family gets kicked out (think the Shah of Iran) and those weapons are still there?  cough.  “blowback”
6. Was it a Prank? – How stupid does Fox News look now?  I mean that was their big question at their debate.  Hey Brit, you think the Navy made the right call now?  Maybe just maybe we should do some investigation before we jump on these things.  Alas, it’s only war…death…lives…money.
7. Goodbye  Dennis – NBC wants Kucinich out of the debate.  If they are running, can we hear them speak?  It’s only January.
8. California is Broke – not good as it’s economy if measured would be like the 7th or 8th largest in the world
9. Greenspan’s New Job – hmm, hired by a Hedge Fund that shorted the subprime Market and made billions.  In my opinion, that’s not glaring information as anyone with half a brain knew that giving loans to people who historically were not good at paying back debt was sure to backfire, eventually.
10. More Troops to Afghanistan – Really?  More?  How long is this going to last?  Any other nations sending troops?  Nope.  Then why are we?  If they aren’t worried about it then should we? 
11. Let’s Be careful out there - And lastly, if you want some laughs or maybe it’s too bad to laugh.  Watch some Youtube clips of “cop rock”.  I can’t fathom how that show got out of the focus groups and onto TV.

Fun Terrell Owens stat

1-5 career playoff record. 

The one win was against the Giants when the 49ers came back from a huge deficit and when the Giants snapper botched the game winning 41 yard field goal. 

Dallas Cowboys by the Numbers

I read the article from SI about Romo’s numbers and it got me thinking.

Since that article is about Romo let’s start there:

Let’s compare last year with this year:

• Yards per attempt: Last year 8.6  /  This year:  8.1  (didn’t think this was the case)
• Yards per game as a starter:    Last year 264.1  /  This year:  263.2 (also didn’t think this was the case)
• Completion %:  Last year 65.8  /  This year: 64.4 

I really thought that this year’s numbers would be greater than last year’s.  That is the perception out there, that last year Parcells ran a conservative offense, etc but this year Garrett put in a wide open offense.  But, really the numbers are about the same except of course TD’s.

Fumbles:  Last year 8 fumbles and 3 lost  /  This year 10 fumbles and 2 lost (this seemed incredibly lucky to me so I looked up some other QB’s.)

• Tom Brady: 5 fumbles and 4 lost /  last year:  12 fumbles and 4 lost
• Brett Favre:  9 fumbles and 3 lost / last year: 7 fumbles and 5 lost and the year before that 10 fumbles and 7 lost
• Peyton Manning:  5 fumbles and 1 lost / last year: 2 fumbles and 1 lost, the year before that 5 fumbles and 2 lost
• Eli Manning:  13 fumbles and 7 lost / last year:  9 fumbles and 2 lost, the year before 9 fumbles and 2 lost.

That’s a lot of fluctuation from year to year.  Favre had horrible luck for 2 straight years and this year the ball is bouncing the right way and the team is doing great.  I mean in terms of being plus or minus in turnovers for the entire season, those fumbles have a pretty big impact.  I think it is safe to say that this year, Tony Romo, has had good luck in this department.

Marion Barber:

In Dallas wins:

• he averages 4.9 yards per carry and has 10 TD’s

In Dallas losses:

• he averages 3.4 yards per carry and has 0 TD’s

And against the NFC East he averages 3.3 yards per carry and only has 2 TD’s.  that’s in 6 games. 

Jason Witten:

This year he is averaging 11.9 yards per catch…last year?  11.8 and the yards after catch are exactly the same at 4.1

Dallas Cowboys Team Stats – Offense

This year:  Rank 3rd in yards per game.  Rank 4th in Passing Yards per game.  Rank 2nd in points.  3rd down % was 42.2% and had 104 penalties.

Last year:  Rank 5th in yards per game.  5th in passing yards per game.  Rank 4th in Points.  3rd down % 48.8 and had 100 penalties.

Hmm.  Those numbers are pretty close all the way around and if you factor in the games Bledsoe started then you would probably have identical numbers on offense from a year ago.  I just thought these were pretty interesting.  I’ll let ya’ll discuss what they actually “mean”.

A couple of random things

Ran across some interesting things lately:

• Brett throws up a lovefest over AlterBridge.  It’s Creed minus Scott Stapp. 
•  Parcells will interview Jeff Ireland for the GM job with Miami.  ouch!  big loss for the boys.
• I got an insider tip on a new contest by Vizio.  The site isn’t really up yet and voting doesn’t start till Jan 7th…but if you want a sneak preview check it out. 
• What’s with the cell phone commercial selling the “Venus” phone to guys?  I can’t remember who does the commercial but as a guy I don’t want to own a phone called ‘Venus”. 
• And of course the New Knight Rider car vs. Kitt
• Can’t wait to see Rambo on Jan 25th.

Parcells Impact on the Cowboys

Listening to all the Keyshawn and TO talk got me thinking about the true impact that Parcells had on this year’s Dallas Cowboys team. 

First, let’s point out the new players on this year’s team (impact players only)

• Leonard Davis
• Hamlin
• Folk

And that’s really it.  Now, let’s talk about guys who are having a bigger impact this year:

• Romo – started his first game Oct 23 against the Giants.  Had 6 really good weeks and then 3 out of the last five games of the season he had a QB rating below 60.  Which is terrible.   Did not play very well in the playoff game last year.  Besides the fumbled snap, the offense only produced 13 points.
• Barber – getting more carries this year and more receptions.  Higher YPC average this year than last
• Crayton and the other WR’s…bigger numbers from all mostly due to Glenn’s injury
• Ratliff – has stepped up since Ferguson’s injury and is now getting spelled by Tank
• Jacques Reeves – has been a starter for the entire season because of injuries after barely playing last year. 
• Pat Watkins – playing in passing situations after struggling as a rookie last year
• Bradie James – playing much much better than last year

Now, I think everyone can agree that part of the reason Romo is playing better is because of the added experience and the rest is probably due to Jason Garrett who was hired to take over play calling duties from Tony Sparano who is still on the staff.  Barber is just being used more and playing even better than last year.  Crayton and the WR’s are a year older, more experienced and flourishing in Garrett’s offense and Romo’s abilities. 

The defense was a young one last year and a lot of those guys like Canty, Ware, Ratliff, Burnett, Hatcher, Reeves, and Watkins are just playing better because they are better players than they were last year.  Some of those guys switched positions from college, some were coming off injuries and some came from small schools and needed time to adjust. 

I think their are two huge things going in the Cowboys favor this year.  One,  they changed the offensive and defensive coordinators.  Garrett has been fantastic and his game calling almost flawless…sort of like what Sean Payton had going on last year.  But, the one thing no one seems to talk about is the departure of Zimmer and the hiring of Brian Stewart.  Zimmer was a terrible 3-4 coach and partly because of that, the team played a very vanilla defense.  The other part of course, was that we couldn’t stop the pass because our FS couldn’t cover up for Roy’s and Bradie’s bad play last year.  Stewart has taken Roy out of pass coverage by moving him to LB on passing situations or better yet…to the sideline.  Hamlin has played well and so has Watkins and Bradie, for whatever reason, is just playing great this year.

The players were in place for this year’s Cowboys but the coordinator’s were not.  They have made a huge impact on this team.  And the other huge thing in the Cowboys favor this year?  No injuries to the offensive line.  Ask the Rams fans about this one, or the Eagles, or the Redskins (who have fabini starting at guard).  The Cowboys have played with the same starting left side of the line for two years now without injuries.  That includes center Andre Gurode.  You can add Marc Columbo to that list as well after he won the job in training camp last year.  The addition of Bigg Davis to replace the ancient Rivera has just solidified things upfront.  Also, Witten and the running backs have played together without significant injuries as well…making pass blocking even stronger.

The injuries and coordinators are really the two things that stand out to me on this Cowboys team.  The players were in place last year and who knows how far they would have gone had Romo not dropped that snap.  I think Parcells knew this team could win it all this year but I think he knew that him being here would make it harder and not easier.  He’s not a stupid guy and you have to believe he realized this and instead of chasing that ring at all costs, he stepped aside and let someone else guide this team to what should be a super bowl appearance.  And Wade should be given all the credit in the world for this as he is doing a job that Parcells could not have this year.

As for TO’s gripes on the offense last year, no coach would have let Romo sling it around last year like this year.  He was very shaky down the stretch last year and could have easily lost his confidence and that would have damaged him for good.  And TO, you might want to remember that one of the coaches you are griping about is still on the staff…Tony Sparano.