- Messages
- 5,432
- Reaction score
- 0
About That Cowboys Defense: Who Gets to Play Mr. Fixit?
Posted by Rafael at Monday, December 20, 2010
The Dallas Jasons offer a contrast in performance. The offense has scored 27 or more in every one of Garrett's six games as head coach and averages just over 32 points per contest.
The defense, after two strong games under Paul Pasqualoni, has been found out. It's leaking 27.4 points a game, which explains the two losses during the offense's points-scoring spree. Paul Pasqualoni has tried a variety of approaches, heavy zone, mixed coverages and heavy blitzing, a-la Wade Phillips and nothing has worked. Playing the Colts, Saints and Eagles offenses in succession could make any defense look bad, but Dallas yesterday surrendered four touchdowns to Rex Grossman and a Redskins offense which had averaged roughly half of its 30 points in the previous month.
Pasqualoni has limitations -- changing in mid season, without the benefit of even a bye week, shackles him to Phillips' schemes. He's also stuck with Phillips' staff and his players. He sees a hole in the secondary or at linebacker? He's got to make do with what he's got. Blame that on on the front office.
That's an argument in Pasqualoni's favor, though Jason Garrett may want to start fresh if he becomes the permanent head coach. The good news is that Dallas should have a wealth of coordinator talent to choose from, in both the 3-4 if the team feels wedded to that, or to the 43.
Let's start in the AFC North, where two teams could put four quality coordinators on the market:
-- The Bengals are helmed by Marvin Lewis, who has the record-setting 2000 Baltimore Ravens on his resume. His DC, Mike Zimmer, distinguished himself in Dallas and at Cincinnati last year, when his Bengals ranked 6th in scoring while Zimmer dealt with the sudden passing of his wife.
Lewis has been a strictly 4-3 guy, while Zimmer worked the 3-4 in Dallas for Bill Parcells and runs a Lewis-style 4-3 in Cincy.
-- The Browns bring two younger 3-4 options. Eric Mangini got the Jets and the Browns jobs off his work as Bill Belichick's secondary coach and defensive coordinator. That secondary expertise might make him attractive to a team whose secondary plays in constant disarray. His DC, Rob Ryan, also worked under Belichick and of course learned from his father Buddy. He's been a respected DC at Oakland and now Cleveland, who's often had to make more from less.
-- The Panthers head man John Fox is all but gone. He's been rumored as a head coaching option for Jerry Jones, should Garrett not keep the job. Fox was an outstanding DC for the Giants before he took over Carolina.
-- The Packers DC Dom Capers' contract expires this off-season, thought its hard to see the Packers letting him get away. He was Jason Garrett's DC at the ready when Garrett interviewed at Denver and St. Louis a couple of seasons ago, so there's a strong connection there.
The Bill Cowher rumors possibly put two other coordintors in play. Cowher apparently favors the Houston, New York Giants and Miami positions.
-- A Giants move seems unlikely, even after the team's 4th quarter meltdown yesterday. Tom Coughlin has the Giants in playoff contention, though a loss to Green Bay could jeopardize their standing. The Mara family works deliberately and is not known for knee-jerk responses. Coughlin is one of the oldest coaches in the league, and if he misses the playoffs, the debate over his future will erupt in the Gotham press.
It's a long shot, but if Coughlin is dismissed, Perry Fewell would become available. Fewell earned respect for his work with Buffalo's D last season and as their care-take head coach after Dick Jauron got the axe. He's cut New York's points-per-game by a full touchdown this season.
-- Another intriguing candidate would emerge if Cowher landed the Dolphins job. If Miami dismissed Tony Sparano, his DC Mike Nolan would also hit the market. The Dolphins lured Nolan east after one year in Denver. Nolan engineered a major improvement in Denver's performance, lowering its PPG average from 28 to just over 20 last season. It's jumped up to 29.2 in Nolan's absence.
Nolan has engineered a similar quick turnaround in Miami, raising the Dolphins from 25th to 7th in scoring defense. He's dropped their PPG by almost six. He's a long-time 3-4 expert with successful runs at the Giants and Ravens. His dad Dick was Tom Landry's DC in the late '60s and helped develop the flex-43, which he took with him to San Francisco.
That's a deep and distinguished list of defensive options, which puts some pressure on Jerry Jones to settle on a head coach, his comments notwithstanding. If Jerry becomes convinced Garrett is his man, he needs to give Jason the biggest and deepest defensive coordinator pool to shop.
Posted by Rafael at Monday, December 20, 2010
The Dallas Jasons offer a contrast in performance. The offense has scored 27 or more in every one of Garrett's six games as head coach and averages just over 32 points per contest.
The defense, after two strong games under Paul Pasqualoni, has been found out. It's leaking 27.4 points a game, which explains the two losses during the offense's points-scoring spree. Paul Pasqualoni has tried a variety of approaches, heavy zone, mixed coverages and heavy blitzing, a-la Wade Phillips and nothing has worked. Playing the Colts, Saints and Eagles offenses in succession could make any defense look bad, but Dallas yesterday surrendered four touchdowns to Rex Grossman and a Redskins offense which had averaged roughly half of its 30 points in the previous month.
Pasqualoni has limitations -- changing in mid season, without the benefit of even a bye week, shackles him to Phillips' schemes. He's also stuck with Phillips' staff and his players. He sees a hole in the secondary or at linebacker? He's got to make do with what he's got. Blame that on on the front office.
That's an argument in Pasqualoni's favor, though Jason Garrett may want to start fresh if he becomes the permanent head coach. The good news is that Dallas should have a wealth of coordinator talent to choose from, in both the 3-4 if the team feels wedded to that, or to the 43.
Let's start in the AFC North, where two teams could put four quality coordinators on the market:
-- The Bengals are helmed by Marvin Lewis, who has the record-setting 2000 Baltimore Ravens on his resume. His DC, Mike Zimmer, distinguished himself in Dallas and at Cincinnati last year, when his Bengals ranked 6th in scoring while Zimmer dealt with the sudden passing of his wife.
Lewis has been a strictly 4-3 guy, while Zimmer worked the 3-4 in Dallas for Bill Parcells and runs a Lewis-style 4-3 in Cincy.
-- The Browns bring two younger 3-4 options. Eric Mangini got the Jets and the Browns jobs off his work as Bill Belichick's secondary coach and defensive coordinator. That secondary expertise might make him attractive to a team whose secondary plays in constant disarray. His DC, Rob Ryan, also worked under Belichick and of course learned from his father Buddy. He's been a respected DC at Oakland and now Cleveland, who's often had to make more from less.
-- The Panthers head man John Fox is all but gone. He's been rumored as a head coaching option for Jerry Jones, should Garrett not keep the job. Fox was an outstanding DC for the Giants before he took over Carolina.
-- The Packers DC Dom Capers' contract expires this off-season, thought its hard to see the Packers letting him get away. He was Jason Garrett's DC at the ready when Garrett interviewed at Denver and St. Louis a couple of seasons ago, so there's a strong connection there.
The Bill Cowher rumors possibly put two other coordintors in play. Cowher apparently favors the Houston, New York Giants and Miami positions.
-- A Giants move seems unlikely, even after the team's 4th quarter meltdown yesterday. Tom Coughlin has the Giants in playoff contention, though a loss to Green Bay could jeopardize their standing. The Mara family works deliberately and is not known for knee-jerk responses. Coughlin is one of the oldest coaches in the league, and if he misses the playoffs, the debate over his future will erupt in the Gotham press.
It's a long shot, but if Coughlin is dismissed, Perry Fewell would become available. Fewell earned respect for his work with Buffalo's D last season and as their care-take head coach after Dick Jauron got the axe. He's cut New York's points-per-game by a full touchdown this season.
-- Another intriguing candidate would emerge if Cowher landed the Dolphins job. If Miami dismissed Tony Sparano, his DC Mike Nolan would also hit the market. The Dolphins lured Nolan east after one year in Denver. Nolan engineered a major improvement in Denver's performance, lowering its PPG average from 28 to just over 20 last season. It's jumped up to 29.2 in Nolan's absence.
Nolan has engineered a similar quick turnaround in Miami, raising the Dolphins from 25th to 7th in scoring defense. He's dropped their PPG by almost six. He's a long-time 3-4 expert with successful runs at the Giants and Ravens. His dad Dick was Tom Landry's DC in the late '60s and helped develop the flex-43, which he took with him to San Francisco.
That's a deep and distinguished list of defensive options, which puts some pressure on Jerry Jones to settle on a head coach, his comments notwithstanding. If Jerry becomes convinced Garrett is his man, he needs to give Jason the biggest and deepest defensive coordinator pool to shop.