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Rob Phillips: Ryan Needs Own Offense To Protect The Rock
Rob Phillips
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
IRVING, Texas - Listen closer to Rob Ryan's inaugural address, and he wasn't exactly spouting delusions of grandeur last Thursday.
Asked if the Cowboys' defense had any weaknesses, Ryan said with a wry smile, "Well, I definitely wouldn't talk about them. So, no ... we're great."
Deadpan answer from their unconventional new defensive coordinator, consistent with most of Ryan's 20-minute session that day. Got a good laugh from yours truly. Delivery was spot-on. But it was a fair question that might have produced the interview's most telling comment, isolated from otherwise engaging bravado.
Ryan has a lot of work to do, indeed. And he knows it.
As he said, he wouldn't "farm anyone's land." He didn't want to discuss the Cowboys' extensive defensive struggles in 2010 because none of it happened on his watch. And he wisely wasn't going to bash any of his brand-new players in front of 50 reporters, even if some guys didn't merit high praise.
He clearly believes his scheme - more aggressive and more complex than his predecessor's - will work, but he needs the players' confidence. And as Jason Garrett told me the week Ryan was hired, "his personality is a bonus." It comes down to X's and O's, but Ryan restoring some swagger to the defense - shrewdly shifting the pressure to himself instead of the players, the way his twin brother Rex operates in New York - might help jumpstart them.
Personnel upgrades must be made and the scheme must be executed properly, too, of course. But Ryan also needs some help from Jason Garrett's side of the ball.
As bad as the defense was for large stretches of the 2010 season, the offense often didn't help them much. The Cowboys allowed the most points in franchise history (436), and all of them tend to be charged to the defense.
Erroneous! Erroneous on some counts!
First, wipe off the Cowboys' five turnovers (four on offense, one on special teams) returned by opponents for touchdowns. There's 35 points that had nothing to do with the defense.
OK, then, do the math and pin 401 on them. Too often, though - particularly in those miserable first eight games - more offensive mistakes put the D in poor field position, leading to easier scores.
The Cowboys climbed back to an even turnover margin by season's end. They scored 20 times (117 points) off opponents' 30 turnovers, and opponents scored 20 times (112 points) off the Cowboys' 30 turnovers. Basically a wash, right? But 112 of 436 points is roughly 25 percent against a defense that had one hand tied behind its back.
It gets worse: 17 times out of 30 (14 times by the offense), the Cowboys lost the ball in their own territory, leading to 13 opponents' scores. We're talking five Tony Romo interceptions, five Jon Kitna interceptions, four offensive fumbles and three return fumbles that led to 71 points.
That means 17 times the defense had little to no chance of stopping some type of score.
Now take those 71 lost points and think about some of the Cowboys' close defeats. There were some blowouts, but they also dropped eight games by a touchdown or less (36 total points).
There were a ton of missed opportunities, two of which immediately come to mind: Tashard Choice's season-opening fumble on the Cowboys' 27 that the Redskins returned for a touchdown at the end of the first half, a play Garrett admits he never should have called in an eventual 14-13 loss; and two Romo interceptions to E.J. Henderson inside the Cowboys' 30 that led to 10 points in a 24-21 loss to the Vikings, dropping Dallas to 1-4. After that game, you could sense frustration in some defensive guys, wondering what else they could do in those precarious situations.
Now granted, the offense also bailed out the defense several times, needing an average of 30.0 points to win those six games. The defense absolutely has to tighten up; that's why Wade Phillips is no longer here and Rob Ryan is.
But for the Cowboys to fully rebound next season, for Ryan to deliver on his promise for a "great" defense, he'll need the offense to protect the rock.
Rob Phillips: Ryan Needs Own Offense To Protect The Rock
Rob Phillips
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
IRVING, Texas - Listen closer to Rob Ryan's inaugural address, and he wasn't exactly spouting delusions of grandeur last Thursday.
Asked if the Cowboys' defense had any weaknesses, Ryan said with a wry smile, "Well, I definitely wouldn't talk about them. So, no ... we're great."
Deadpan answer from their unconventional new defensive coordinator, consistent with most of Ryan's 20-minute session that day. Got a good laugh from yours truly. Delivery was spot-on. But it was a fair question that might have produced the interview's most telling comment, isolated from otherwise engaging bravado.
Ryan has a lot of work to do, indeed. And he knows it.
As he said, he wouldn't "farm anyone's land." He didn't want to discuss the Cowboys' extensive defensive struggles in 2010 because none of it happened on his watch. And he wisely wasn't going to bash any of his brand-new players in front of 50 reporters, even if some guys didn't merit high praise.
He clearly believes his scheme - more aggressive and more complex than his predecessor's - will work, but he needs the players' confidence. And as Jason Garrett told me the week Ryan was hired, "his personality is a bonus." It comes down to X's and O's, but Ryan restoring some swagger to the defense - shrewdly shifting the pressure to himself instead of the players, the way his twin brother Rex operates in New York - might help jumpstart them.
Personnel upgrades must be made and the scheme must be executed properly, too, of course. But Ryan also needs some help from Jason Garrett's side of the ball.
As bad as the defense was for large stretches of the 2010 season, the offense often didn't help them much. The Cowboys allowed the most points in franchise history (436), and all of them tend to be charged to the defense.
Erroneous! Erroneous on some counts!
First, wipe off the Cowboys' five turnovers (four on offense, one on special teams) returned by opponents for touchdowns. There's 35 points that had nothing to do with the defense.
OK, then, do the math and pin 401 on them. Too often, though - particularly in those miserable first eight games - more offensive mistakes put the D in poor field position, leading to easier scores.
The Cowboys climbed back to an even turnover margin by season's end. They scored 20 times (117 points) off opponents' 30 turnovers, and opponents scored 20 times (112 points) off the Cowboys' 30 turnovers. Basically a wash, right? But 112 of 436 points is roughly 25 percent against a defense that had one hand tied behind its back.
It gets worse: 17 times out of 30 (14 times by the offense), the Cowboys lost the ball in their own territory, leading to 13 opponents' scores. We're talking five Tony Romo interceptions, five Jon Kitna interceptions, four offensive fumbles and three return fumbles that led to 71 points.
That means 17 times the defense had little to no chance of stopping some type of score.
Now take those 71 lost points and think about some of the Cowboys' close defeats. There were some blowouts, but they also dropped eight games by a touchdown or less (36 total points).
There were a ton of missed opportunities, two of which immediately come to mind: Tashard Choice's season-opening fumble on the Cowboys' 27 that the Redskins returned for a touchdown at the end of the first half, a play Garrett admits he never should have called in an eventual 14-13 loss; and two Romo interceptions to E.J. Henderson inside the Cowboys' 30 that led to 10 points in a 24-21 loss to the Vikings, dropping Dallas to 1-4. After that game, you could sense frustration in some defensive guys, wondering what else they could do in those precarious situations.
Now granted, the offense also bailed out the defense several times, needing an average of 30.0 points to win those six games. The defense absolutely has to tighten up; that's why Wade Phillips is no longer here and Rob Ryan is.
But for the Cowboys to fully rebound next season, for Ryan to deliver on his promise for a "great" defense, he'll need the offense to protect the rock.