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Moore: Cowboys' beat-up, aging offensive line a legitimate concern
10:35 PM CDT on Thursday, October 14, 2010
COLUMN By DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News
dmoore@dallasnews.com
David Moore
Archive | E-mail
IRVING – Jerry Jones was several minutes into his filibuster.
The Cowboys owner assured the media the offensive line that returns to the scene of the crime Sunday in Minnesota is better than the one that fell apart in a playoff loss nine months ago. He dismissed the argument that age has caught up to this group and boasted about its good health.
A few feet away, outside of Jones' sight, starting center Andre Gurode came up lame and limped off the practice field to get an MRI on his right knee. He doesn't need surgery but will be fitted with a brace. His status for the Vikings game is unknown.
This season has not gone the way the Cowboys envisioned. Nowhere is that more evident than on the offensive line.
The priority coming off of a 34-3 loss to Minnesota was to upgrade the line. The Cowboys released Flozell Adams and moved Doug Free into the starting left tackle job. They traded for Alex Barron to back up both tackle spots, made Montrae Holland the primary reserve at guard and filled out the depth chart with young players to develop.
The progress report: Injuries kept starters Marc Colombo and Kyle Kosier out of the lineup to open the season. Right guard Leonard Davis was so bad he was benched in the first half of Sunday's loss to Tennessee. If Gurode can't go this week, Kosier will start at center for the first time in his career and Holland will start at left guard.
Barron was called for holding on the final play of the opening loss to Washington, negating a touchdown that would have sent the game into overtime with an extra point. Colombo's 15-yard penalty for excessive celebration quickly turned a tie score in the final 4:30 into a Tennessee victory by helping set the Titans up for a 73-yard kickoff return.
A team can go a decade without the right tackle figuring this prominently in its late-game fortunes. But the position has played a key role in two losses in the Cowboys' 1-3 start.
What's next, an earthquake in Oklahoma? The Rangers in the American League Championship Series?
The average age of the Cowboys' offensive line is 30.6 years. That ties them with the New York Giants for the oldest group in the NFL.
The Cowboys and Giants are the only teams in the league with four starters at 30-plus years old. The Cowboys are the only team that will have three starters 32 or older by the time the season is over.
Jones pointed out the Cowboys won a Super Bowl with a group older than the one the team has now. Offensive line coach Hudson Houck acknowledged people will debate the age issue – "Is the beer mug half-full or half-empty, you know?" – but leans toward experience.
"I don't think they're more brittle than someone else who is 28 or 29," coach Wade Phillips said. "That hasn't been the case.
"They always say young players heal faster and all that, but I've never seen that."
Still, look at what has happened this season. Davis and Colombo are 32 and Kosier turns 32 in November. Gurode is 31. The only starter who has been spared injury or benching is Free, the baby of the group at 26.
"We talk about it, the older guys on the team," Davis said. "We even joke about it like, when we were younger, you could come up here and you'd only be on two hours of sleep and your body would just go out and do the work.
"Now it's different. You've got to get your rest and your mind has got to be right on. We know we're getting older. But on the other side, we know it's a mental thing also. We know that it's all about the preparation, mentally, physically."
Technique becomes more important when youthful exuberance and athletic ability are gone. Phillips might not buy into the idea that young players recover quicker from injuries, but it's often the case.
Phillips concedes he's concerned about his line's ability to protect quarterback Tony Romo in this game.
But he and Jones believe this line is stronger than the one the Cowboys took into the Minnesota game nine months ago. The key is Gurode's health.
It won't take long to see if they are right.
BLOCK OF AGES
The NFL's oldest offensive lines in combined age of listed starters:
Team Years
Cowboys 153
NY Giants 153
New England 149
Chicago 146
Minnesota 141
Cleveland 140
• • •
10:35 PM CDT on Thursday, October 14, 2010
COLUMN By DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News
dmoore@dallasnews.com
David Moore
Archive | E-mail
IRVING – Jerry Jones was several minutes into his filibuster.
The Cowboys owner assured the media the offensive line that returns to the scene of the crime Sunday in Minnesota is better than the one that fell apart in a playoff loss nine months ago. He dismissed the argument that age has caught up to this group and boasted about its good health.
A few feet away, outside of Jones' sight, starting center Andre Gurode came up lame and limped off the practice field to get an MRI on his right knee. He doesn't need surgery but will be fitted with a brace. His status for the Vikings game is unknown.
This season has not gone the way the Cowboys envisioned. Nowhere is that more evident than on the offensive line.
The priority coming off of a 34-3 loss to Minnesota was to upgrade the line. The Cowboys released Flozell Adams and moved Doug Free into the starting left tackle job. They traded for Alex Barron to back up both tackle spots, made Montrae Holland the primary reserve at guard and filled out the depth chart with young players to develop.
The progress report: Injuries kept starters Marc Colombo and Kyle Kosier out of the lineup to open the season. Right guard Leonard Davis was so bad he was benched in the first half of Sunday's loss to Tennessee. If Gurode can't go this week, Kosier will start at center for the first time in his career and Holland will start at left guard.
Barron was called for holding on the final play of the opening loss to Washington, negating a touchdown that would have sent the game into overtime with an extra point. Colombo's 15-yard penalty for excessive celebration quickly turned a tie score in the final 4:30 into a Tennessee victory by helping set the Titans up for a 73-yard kickoff return.
A team can go a decade without the right tackle figuring this prominently in its late-game fortunes. But the position has played a key role in two losses in the Cowboys' 1-3 start.
What's next, an earthquake in Oklahoma? The Rangers in the American League Championship Series?
The average age of the Cowboys' offensive line is 30.6 years. That ties them with the New York Giants for the oldest group in the NFL.
The Cowboys and Giants are the only teams in the league with four starters at 30-plus years old. The Cowboys are the only team that will have three starters 32 or older by the time the season is over.
Jones pointed out the Cowboys won a Super Bowl with a group older than the one the team has now. Offensive line coach Hudson Houck acknowledged people will debate the age issue – "Is the beer mug half-full or half-empty, you know?" – but leans toward experience.
"I don't think they're more brittle than someone else who is 28 or 29," coach Wade Phillips said. "That hasn't been the case.
"They always say young players heal faster and all that, but I've never seen that."
Still, look at what has happened this season. Davis and Colombo are 32 and Kosier turns 32 in November. Gurode is 31. The only starter who has been spared injury or benching is Free, the baby of the group at 26.
"We talk about it, the older guys on the team," Davis said. "We even joke about it like, when we were younger, you could come up here and you'd only be on two hours of sleep and your body would just go out and do the work.
"Now it's different. You've got to get your rest and your mind has got to be right on. We know we're getting older. But on the other side, we know it's a mental thing also. We know that it's all about the preparation, mentally, physically."
Technique becomes more important when youthful exuberance and athletic ability are gone. Phillips might not buy into the idea that young players recover quicker from injuries, but it's often the case.
Phillips concedes he's concerned about his line's ability to protect quarterback Tony Romo in this game.
But he and Jones believe this line is stronger than the one the Cowboys took into the Minnesota game nine months ago. The key is Gurode's health.
It won't take long to see if they are right.
BLOCK OF AGES
The NFL's oldest offensive lines in combined age of listed starters:
Team Years
Cowboys 153
NY Giants 153
New England 149
Chicago 146
Minnesota 141
Cleveland 140
• • •
