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Moore: Cowboys are Losing with the Stars (Maybe it isn't Wade Phillips' fault)
01:57 AM CDT on Friday, November 5, 2010
David Moore
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IRVING – Now that Wade Phillips has been drawn, quartered and identified as the root of the Cowboys' ills, now that he's been dismissed as a passive puppet of the owner who lacks the fire to kick his team in the you-know-what to get it going, let's explore an alternative theory.
G.J. McCARTHY/DMN
Running back Marion Barber is 200 rushing yards behind his 2009 pace despite playing one more game this year.
This team is a colossal failure as it nears the midway point because many of their stars have not made plays to win games.
Hey, at 1-6 there is room for both theories.
Phillips and his staff are culpable. But even if you don't believe he has the gravitas or post-season pedigree to coach the Cowboys moving forward, you can't deny he has always put his players in position to succeed during the regular season. The NFL issued 28 Pro Bowl invitations to Cowboys in his first three seasons with the franchise.
How many players on this team are having a Pro Bowl season? Did the coaching staff for some reason decide to minimize the talent, or have those players failed to produce?
Two more questions: Who is the Cowboys offensive MVP as it prepares to face Green Bay, and who captures that honor on defense?
Tony Romo was the NFC's top-rated quarterback when he was knocked out with a broken collarbone. Still, he wasn't as efficient as he was in the early stages of last season.
Tight end Jason Witten is more productive than he was through seven games last season, but he also has more penalties and his blocking has fallen off a bit.
Felix Jones has been held to less than 40 yards rushing in five games. Marion Barber has failed to break that plateau in six games. The offensive line has been in flux with injuries and substandard performances.
Receiver Roy Williams has had his moments but has tailed off the last three games with a total of four catches for 49 yards. Miles Austin is either brilliant or maddening. He's gone for 20, 166, 12, 38 and 117 yards receiving in his last five games and has caught just one touchdown pass since the opener.
Dez Bryant has scored five touchdowns (three receiving, two on punt returns) but has yet to exhibit a solid grasp of the playbook, which isn't unusual for a rookie.
The defense is in disarray.
Opponents consistently double-team linebacker DeMarcus Ware and nose tackle Jay Ratliff. Ware is slightly ahead of last year's numbers although he barely registered on the stat sheet in the loss to Jacksonville. Ratliff isn't close to the number of sacks, quarterback pressures and tackles for loss he recorded last season.
This is where it gets tricky to assign blame. Coordinators work to neutralize Ware and Ratliff and force their teammates to make plays. When those teammates don't make plays, where can they turn?
Into another double-team, that's where.
"I think Jay has played well," Phillips said. "He's a very good player. It's hard to ...
"I don't think he's graded under 90 percent in any of the games. I mean, sometimes it's double teams. I think in Minnesota he hit the quarterback, made a great play but it didn't turn out to be the play that made the difference in the ballgame.
"He's still a top-notch player, I think, and is giving a tremendous effort."
Cornerback Terence Newman has played well. So has linebacker Bradie James in recent weeks. Keith Brooking hasn't had the impact he did last season, but the Cowboys have run him into the ground because they don't trust their backups. The 35-year-old linebacker played every defensive snap in Sunday's loss to the Jaguars.
Cornerback Mike Jenkins and linebacker Anthony Spencer, who came on strong in 2009, have struggled in the first two months of this season. Phillips said Spencer was dominant in the Jacksonville loss, but it didn't matter because the Cowboys lost.
When asked if both players have regressed, the head coach offered this tepid response.
"Well, it's regression with our team overall," Phillips said. "If I knew why each player wasn't playing up to the level he was playing before ...
"I think part of it is we're not fundamentally sound enough."
A return to basics. That is the rallying cry at Valley Ranch this week.
But don't be fooled. When Phillips talks about how this team needs to improve its fundamentals, it's a euphemism for how his star players aren't doing enough to win games. Is that too blunt?
Can you be too blunt when a team is 1-6?
• • •
01:57 AM CDT on Friday, November 5, 2010
David Moore
Archive | E-mail
IRVING – Now that Wade Phillips has been drawn, quartered and identified as the root of the Cowboys' ills, now that he's been dismissed as a passive puppet of the owner who lacks the fire to kick his team in the you-know-what to get it going, let's explore an alternative theory.
G.J. McCARTHY/DMN
Running back Marion Barber is 200 rushing yards behind his 2009 pace despite playing one more game this year.
This team is a colossal failure as it nears the midway point because many of their stars have not made plays to win games.
Hey, at 1-6 there is room for both theories.
Phillips and his staff are culpable. But even if you don't believe he has the gravitas or post-season pedigree to coach the Cowboys moving forward, you can't deny he has always put his players in position to succeed during the regular season. The NFL issued 28 Pro Bowl invitations to Cowboys in his first three seasons with the franchise.
How many players on this team are having a Pro Bowl season? Did the coaching staff for some reason decide to minimize the talent, or have those players failed to produce?
Two more questions: Who is the Cowboys offensive MVP as it prepares to face Green Bay, and who captures that honor on defense?
Tony Romo was the NFC's top-rated quarterback when he was knocked out with a broken collarbone. Still, he wasn't as efficient as he was in the early stages of last season.
Tight end Jason Witten is more productive than he was through seven games last season, but he also has more penalties and his blocking has fallen off a bit.
Felix Jones has been held to less than 40 yards rushing in five games. Marion Barber has failed to break that plateau in six games. The offensive line has been in flux with injuries and substandard performances.
Receiver Roy Williams has had his moments but has tailed off the last three games with a total of four catches for 49 yards. Miles Austin is either brilliant or maddening. He's gone for 20, 166, 12, 38 and 117 yards receiving in his last five games and has caught just one touchdown pass since the opener.
Dez Bryant has scored five touchdowns (three receiving, two on punt returns) but has yet to exhibit a solid grasp of the playbook, which isn't unusual for a rookie.
The defense is in disarray.
Opponents consistently double-team linebacker DeMarcus Ware and nose tackle Jay Ratliff. Ware is slightly ahead of last year's numbers although he barely registered on the stat sheet in the loss to Jacksonville. Ratliff isn't close to the number of sacks, quarterback pressures and tackles for loss he recorded last season.
This is where it gets tricky to assign blame. Coordinators work to neutralize Ware and Ratliff and force their teammates to make plays. When those teammates don't make plays, where can they turn?
Into another double-team, that's where.
"I think Jay has played well," Phillips said. "He's a very good player. It's hard to ...
"I don't think he's graded under 90 percent in any of the games. I mean, sometimes it's double teams. I think in Minnesota he hit the quarterback, made a great play but it didn't turn out to be the play that made the difference in the ballgame.
"He's still a top-notch player, I think, and is giving a tremendous effort."
Cornerback Terence Newman has played well. So has linebacker Bradie James in recent weeks. Keith Brooking hasn't had the impact he did last season, but the Cowboys have run him into the ground because they don't trust their backups. The 35-year-old linebacker played every defensive snap in Sunday's loss to the Jaguars.
Cornerback Mike Jenkins and linebacker Anthony Spencer, who came on strong in 2009, have struggled in the first two months of this season. Phillips said Spencer was dominant in the Jacksonville loss, but it didn't matter because the Cowboys lost.
When asked if both players have regressed, the head coach offered this tepid response.
"Well, it's regression with our team overall," Phillips said. "If I knew why each player wasn't playing up to the level he was playing before ...
"I think part of it is we're not fundamentally sound enough."
A return to basics. That is the rallying cry at Valley Ranch this week.
But don't be fooled. When Phillips talks about how this team needs to improve its fundamentals, it's a euphemism for how his star players aren't doing enough to win games. Is that too blunt?
Can you be too blunt when a team is 1-6?
• • •
