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Rainer Sabin / Reporter
The expectations had soared and there was reason to believe that even greater goals could be achieved in the immediate future. The previous year they had limited their opponents to an average of fewer than 285 yards per game, the third lowest total in the league at the time. And each of the 11 starters were back.
Everything was going so well, in fact, that some of the star players wondered if the man in charge would be coveted by other teams. The team's owner did, too. This was August 2007.
Five months later, the mood was different. Everybody wanted to know what went wrong. The same players that had constituted a stingy unit the year before weren't having as much success as they had the season before. They had allowed an average of more than 341 yards per game. Twenty-one teams had yielded a lower amount.
The same man in charge who was praised for his leadership that summer was blamed for the rapid decline in performance by the time winter arrived. Some wondered if he would be fired. A newspaper headline raised the question. The man scoffed. The man was Rob Ryan. The team was the Oakland Raiders.
For fans across the league, this is a familiar tale. The characters, the organizations and the statistics change. But the general plot remains the same. Time and again, a defense that seems fundamentally strong one season collapses the next with no foreboding signs signaling impending doom.
Those who watched the Cowboys this season know the storyline. Before training camp and the carnival-like preseason, insiders and casual observers alike anticipated that Dallas' defense would be one of the team's strengths. At the very least, it wouldn't be considered a liability. In 2009, the Cowboys surrendered 15.6 points per game. Only one team, the New York Jets, allowed fewer. There was reason to be optimistic, considering that the only one starter from that unit, Ken Hamlin, was not returning and it was the Cowboys who ushered him out the door.
But once the season began, blemishes that didn't seem to exist the year before began to surface at an alarming rate. From the defensive line to the secondary, there were breakdowns. These all occurred under the watchful eye of head coach Wade Phillips, a man regarded as one of the defensive masterminds in the NFL. He couldn't repair the damage in time to save his job and the Cowboys would go on to yield more points - 436 - than any other team in their conference.
It was a shocking turn of events that proved dumbfounding. After all, with such little turnover on the roster between the 2009 and 2010 seasons, who was really culpable for the diminished returns? Was Phillips? And if so, how did he transform from a great coach into a bad one in a matter of months?
These questions have been asked for months, but the answers weren't really provided until the Cowboys began their search for a defensive coordinator in January. As candidates were summoned to Valley Ranch for interviews, the track records of each man were studied, and upon careful examination, it became abundantly clear that the success rate for the NFL's most highly-regarded defensive coaches varies wildly from one year, or one job, to the next.
For instance, Vic Fangio supervised the Panthers' defense in 1996, when Carolina yielded 218 points - the second fewest in the NFL that season. By 2001, Fangio was in Indianapolis, where the Colts could do little to shackle their opponents. They gave up 486 points, the highest total in the NFL that season.
Ten years later, Fangio is in the NFL, overseeing a defense -- just like Phillips and just like the man who appears ready to fix what ails the Cowboys. That man is Rob Ryan, and he knows execution -- not playcalling -- will ultimately determine his fate.
The expectations had soared and there was reason to believe that even greater goals could be achieved in the immediate future. The previous year they had limited their opponents to an average of fewer than 285 yards per game, the third lowest total in the league at the time. And each of the 11 starters were back.
Everything was going so well, in fact, that some of the star players wondered if the man in charge would be coveted by other teams. The team's owner did, too. This was August 2007.
Five months later, the mood was different. Everybody wanted to know what went wrong. The same players that had constituted a stingy unit the year before weren't having as much success as they had the season before. They had allowed an average of more than 341 yards per game. Twenty-one teams had yielded a lower amount.
The same man in charge who was praised for his leadership that summer was blamed for the rapid decline in performance by the time winter arrived. Some wondered if he would be fired. A newspaper headline raised the question. The man scoffed. The man was Rob Ryan. The team was the Oakland Raiders.
For fans across the league, this is a familiar tale. The characters, the organizations and the statistics change. But the general plot remains the same. Time and again, a defense that seems fundamentally strong one season collapses the next with no foreboding signs signaling impending doom.
Those who watched the Cowboys this season know the storyline. Before training camp and the carnival-like preseason, insiders and casual observers alike anticipated that Dallas' defense would be one of the team's strengths. At the very least, it wouldn't be considered a liability. In 2009, the Cowboys surrendered 15.6 points per game. Only one team, the New York Jets, allowed fewer. There was reason to be optimistic, considering that the only one starter from that unit, Ken Hamlin, was not returning and it was the Cowboys who ushered him out the door.
But once the season began, blemishes that didn't seem to exist the year before began to surface at an alarming rate. From the defensive line to the secondary, there were breakdowns. These all occurred under the watchful eye of head coach Wade Phillips, a man regarded as one of the defensive masterminds in the NFL. He couldn't repair the damage in time to save his job and the Cowboys would go on to yield more points - 436 - than any other team in their conference.
It was a shocking turn of events that proved dumbfounding. After all, with such little turnover on the roster between the 2009 and 2010 seasons, who was really culpable for the diminished returns? Was Phillips? And if so, how did he transform from a great coach into a bad one in a matter of months?
These questions have been asked for months, but the answers weren't really provided until the Cowboys began their search for a defensive coordinator in January. As candidates were summoned to Valley Ranch for interviews, the track records of each man were studied, and upon careful examination, it became abundantly clear that the success rate for the NFL's most highly-regarded defensive coaches varies wildly from one year, or one job, to the next.
For instance, Vic Fangio supervised the Panthers' defense in 1996, when Carolina yielded 218 points - the second fewest in the NFL that season. By 2001, Fangio was in Indianapolis, where the Colts could do little to shackle their opponents. They gave up 486 points, the highest total in the NFL that season.
Ten years later, Fangio is in the NFL, overseeing a defense -- just like Phillips and just like the man who appears ready to fix what ails the Cowboys. That man is Rob Ryan, and he knows execution -- not playcalling -- will ultimately determine his fate.