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Too Much, Too Soon
Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
IRVING, Texas - After they fell to a surprising 1-4 last season with a Week 6 loss at Minnesota, I wrote a column with the title "Cowboys Have No Answers, Less Confidence."
Another three losses, by a combined score of 121-59, would prove it absolutely appropriate. Only after they let go of renowned defensive genius Wade Phillips would the team turn things around, going 5-3 down the stretch, yet continuing to give up 25.5 points per game through the end of the season. Late in that stretch, I had another column tagged "Will Take An Offseason For Defense To Improve."
Mercifully, mercifully, the end of the year finally came, and the Cowboys have since begun working to correct the problems with their 6-10 face-plant. Hiring a new defensive coordinator was Job 1, and the team did that by bringing in Rob Ryan, well known for his brash demeanor and boastfulness, just like his father Buddy and brother Rex.
The Cowboys' Ryan absolutely lived up to his billing when he met the local media for the first time last week. Time and time again in his 20 minute briefing he referred to himself and his unit as great, or tremendous, or some derivative thereof.
Evidently, the Cowboys are going to have one heck of a defense.
"We're not looking to make excuses," Ryan said. "We're going to be great in the first week of the season. We're going to be ready to go."
That Ryan has the mic skills and attitude of Hulk Hogan is genuinely entertaining, and theoretically a good thing for his players to be around, because those guys definitely need to recoup a certain self-belief that was missing by midseason and never really came back.
But frankly it's a little off-putting, a little disconcerting, that Ryan is talking about all this like it's a fait accompli. Time doesn't heal all wounds. Fixing the Cowboys defense isn't just about sending the guys away for a few months and bringing in a new coach. No, there's so much that has to be done before this thing is anywhere near presentable, much less great.
We can go position by position with it to spell out just how much must fall into place.
At defensive end there are three free agents. Good luck figuring how that sorts out right now, considering the league's labor uncertainty.
At nose tackle Ryan is trumpeting Jay Ratliff, and the guy has been outstanding for parts of the last few years, no doubt. But teams doubled him last year, and the rest of the front seven didn't respond.
At outside linebacker the new D.C. literally swears Anthony Spencer is a great player, but our eyes tell us differently, don't they? He has shown he is capable of greatness, but not with any consistency.
At inside linebacker Keith Brooking is 35 and Bradie James is 30, and both were slowed by injuries last year, as was Sean Lee.
At safety the Cowboys have an unrestricted free agent in Gerald Sensabaugh and plenty of room to improve opposite him, either with Alan Ball or someone else. Their track record of finding safeties suggests they had better get something done with Sensabaugh at least, because it will be tough enough to shore up the other spot.
At cornerback Terence Newman and Mike Jenkins both had trouble last year. Newman's came when he was hurt after a few games, and provided his age (33 by opening day) and injury history, there's no reason to suspect that won't happen again. Jenkins, the Cowboys say, was plagued by a lack of confidence.
So that's where Ryan comes in, to get Jenkins' head right? Well, is there not a danger of Ryan's big talk making everyone, and guys like Jenkins in particular, a little too cocky, which, as Jerry Jones admitted just a few weeks ago, was the big problem in 2010? He said the Cowboys read their own press clippings.
A big part of Ryan's confidence comes from trust in the staff he's assembled and his own past success, like the two Super Bowl rings he won as the New England linebackers coach.
"We know what we're doing," Ryan said. "We're here to be a part of a great defense. We're gonna be a great defense, the proof's in the pudding. Anybody can talk the talk, but I can walk it."
As Ryan pointed out, statistics can be made to say a lot of things. But in this case, his units in Oakland and Cleveland were hardly dominant, and the "pudding" he refers to are the consistently middling rankings those units achieved. In seven years as a coordinator his teams have finished, on average, 24th in takeaways, 23rd in yards and 23rd in points.
"I've had success, even though it's been documented that I haven't," Ryan said. "I know I'm great, but I know my assistant coaches, the guys that I'm with, are better than me. That's why I have a lot of faith in them, and I have a lot of faith in this talent here. (Director of Scouting) Tom Ciskowski has done a hell of a job assembling this talent here.
"You talk about talent in Cleveland - there's some talent here, and to be honest with you, I haven't seen talent like this on a defense in a long time."
Let's give Ryan the benefit of the doubt until he proves otherwise. To be fair, he's never had a whole lot to work with. But the most recent history suggests the Cowboys' defensive talent is not as great as we've all allowed ourselves to believe in recent years. Ryan has more work ahead of him than he's letting on. There are issues here that must be addressed, and he must know it.
"I definitely wouldn't talk about them," Ryan said. "So nah, we're great."
Unfortunately, just saying it doesn't make it so.
Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
IRVING, Texas - After they fell to a surprising 1-4 last season with a Week 6 loss at Minnesota, I wrote a column with the title "Cowboys Have No Answers, Less Confidence."
Another three losses, by a combined score of 121-59, would prove it absolutely appropriate. Only after they let go of renowned defensive genius Wade Phillips would the team turn things around, going 5-3 down the stretch, yet continuing to give up 25.5 points per game through the end of the season. Late in that stretch, I had another column tagged "Will Take An Offseason For Defense To Improve."
Mercifully, mercifully, the end of the year finally came, and the Cowboys have since begun working to correct the problems with their 6-10 face-plant. Hiring a new defensive coordinator was Job 1, and the team did that by bringing in Rob Ryan, well known for his brash demeanor and boastfulness, just like his father Buddy and brother Rex.
The Cowboys' Ryan absolutely lived up to his billing when he met the local media for the first time last week. Time and time again in his 20 minute briefing he referred to himself and his unit as great, or tremendous, or some derivative thereof.
Evidently, the Cowboys are going to have one heck of a defense.
"We're not looking to make excuses," Ryan said. "We're going to be great in the first week of the season. We're going to be ready to go."
That Ryan has the mic skills and attitude of Hulk Hogan is genuinely entertaining, and theoretically a good thing for his players to be around, because those guys definitely need to recoup a certain self-belief that was missing by midseason and never really came back.
But frankly it's a little off-putting, a little disconcerting, that Ryan is talking about all this like it's a fait accompli. Time doesn't heal all wounds. Fixing the Cowboys defense isn't just about sending the guys away for a few months and bringing in a new coach. No, there's so much that has to be done before this thing is anywhere near presentable, much less great.
We can go position by position with it to spell out just how much must fall into place.
At defensive end there are three free agents. Good luck figuring how that sorts out right now, considering the league's labor uncertainty.
At nose tackle Ryan is trumpeting Jay Ratliff, and the guy has been outstanding for parts of the last few years, no doubt. But teams doubled him last year, and the rest of the front seven didn't respond.
At outside linebacker the new D.C. literally swears Anthony Spencer is a great player, but our eyes tell us differently, don't they? He has shown he is capable of greatness, but not with any consistency.
At inside linebacker Keith Brooking is 35 and Bradie James is 30, and both were slowed by injuries last year, as was Sean Lee.
At safety the Cowboys have an unrestricted free agent in Gerald Sensabaugh and plenty of room to improve opposite him, either with Alan Ball or someone else. Their track record of finding safeties suggests they had better get something done with Sensabaugh at least, because it will be tough enough to shore up the other spot.
At cornerback Terence Newman and Mike Jenkins both had trouble last year. Newman's came when he was hurt after a few games, and provided his age (33 by opening day) and injury history, there's no reason to suspect that won't happen again. Jenkins, the Cowboys say, was plagued by a lack of confidence.
So that's where Ryan comes in, to get Jenkins' head right? Well, is there not a danger of Ryan's big talk making everyone, and guys like Jenkins in particular, a little too cocky, which, as Jerry Jones admitted just a few weeks ago, was the big problem in 2010? He said the Cowboys read their own press clippings.
A big part of Ryan's confidence comes from trust in the staff he's assembled and his own past success, like the two Super Bowl rings he won as the New England linebackers coach.
"We know what we're doing," Ryan said. "We're here to be a part of a great defense. We're gonna be a great defense, the proof's in the pudding. Anybody can talk the talk, but I can walk it."
As Ryan pointed out, statistics can be made to say a lot of things. But in this case, his units in Oakland and Cleveland were hardly dominant, and the "pudding" he refers to are the consistently middling rankings those units achieved. In seven years as a coordinator his teams have finished, on average, 24th in takeaways, 23rd in yards and 23rd in points.
"I've had success, even though it's been documented that I haven't," Ryan said. "I know I'm great, but I know my assistant coaches, the guys that I'm with, are better than me. That's why I have a lot of faith in them, and I have a lot of faith in this talent here. (Director of Scouting) Tom Ciskowski has done a hell of a job assembling this talent here.
"You talk about talent in Cleveland - there's some talent here, and to be honest with you, I haven't seen talent like this on a defense in a long time."
Let's give Ryan the benefit of the doubt until he proves otherwise. To be fair, he's never had a whole lot to work with. But the most recent history suggests the Cowboys' defensive talent is not as great as we've all allowed ourselves to believe in recent years. Ryan has more work ahead of him than he's letting on. There are issues here that must be addressed, and he must know it.
"I definitely wouldn't talk about them," Ryan said. "So nah, we're great."
Unfortunately, just saying it doesn't make it so.
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