The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

Defense is a numbers game

By Jennifer Floyd Engel

Star-Telegram Staff Writer


IRVING - Coach Bill Parcells did not just mean firing an assistant coach or two or waiving a couple of players when he warned his team that changes were coming this off-season.

He promised changes capable of returning the Cowboys to the playoffs, and one of those is changing defenses.

The Cowboys are gearing up to switch from the 4-3 to the 3-4 as their base defense next season, according to two sources, and are shaping their free-agency and draft plans accordingly.

They employed an odd-man front at times in 2004, but are looking to do so more in 2005.

How much more, of course, depends on which players the Cowboys are able to obtain.

The 3-4 defense is making a comeback in the NFL at the moment (thanks, in part, to the New England Patriots winning back-to-back Super Bowls with it,) but the scheme requires much bigger ends than the 4-3, as well as a big, run-stopping defensive tackle.

The Cowboys do not have those parts, and the 3-4 would force them to play their best defensive players out of position.

Pro Bowler La'Roi Glover is small for a defensive tackle and would probably have to play an end on the weak side. That might mean the Cowboys would need to sign a nose tackle, such as the New York Jets' Jason Ferguson, in free agency. And defensive end Greg Ellis, at 6-foot-6, 277 pounds, resembles Patriots outside linebacker Willie McGinest (6-5, 270) more than ends Richard Seymour (6-6, 310) and Ty Warren (6-5, 300).

Unlike in the 4-3, where defensive ends are the primary pass rushers, the 3-4 requires the ends to occupy two offensive linemen while the linebackers come up and make plays.

"I don't know how effective I'd be in a 3-4," Ellis said. "If they have me be that big ol' guy, who lines up over the guard and the tackle, I just don't know that I'd be that effective there."

He isn't alone. Playing more 3-4 has a lot of Cowboys players wondering how they fit in.

The player whom the change would probably affect most is linebacker Dexter Coakley.

His job is precarious because of a $500,000 roster bonus due March 2, and the 3-4 would further endanger it. Coakley admits the only places he really fits in the 3-4 are at one of the two inside linebacker spots or anywhere in nickel packages.

"You usually have bigger linebackers in that defense," Coakley said. "The outside guys are pass rushers, and I can't do that. I can't go up against 300-pound tackles. That is not something I am used to doing, and I don't think I would be effective."

Coakley wants to stay in Dallas, but he realizes his contract will have to be renegotiated. The Cowboys have not contacted Coakley's agent.

Briefly

• Anthony Lynn interviewed Monday for the Cowboys' vacant running backs coach position. Lynn had been the Jaguars' running backs coach until being demoted to assistant special teams coach this off-season. The Cowboys also talked with University of Wisconsin running backs coach Brian White.

• The agent for Cowboys defensive tackle Leo Carson said the team has made an initial offer to the unrestricted free agent. Both sides hope to have the deal done before free agency begins March 2.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/football/10903865.htm

This is going to be so funny watching them self destruct.

Smithian wrote:ROTFALMAO This is going to be so funny watching them self destruct.

Self-Destruct?

How so?

They AREN'T the Redskins you know, they actually THINK about the pros and cons of signing people when free agency comes around.

They actually have the future in mind

I still think you're just bitter that no matter how bad that team is, they can still go to Washington and whip some burgundy behind

Primetime42 wrote:They AREN'T the Redskins you know, they actually THINK about the pros and cons of signing people when free agency comes around.

Testaverde, Galloway, George, Johnson and a hand full of mediocre players that haven't panned out....

Come on bro... it's not like Dallas has been making all the smart move either.... So you got to the playoffs last year... big deal... we did it in 99 and the next year... it didn't mean jack....

BringThePain! wrote:

Primetime42 wrote:They AREN'T the Redskins you know, they actually THINK about the pros and cons of signing people when free agency comes around.

Testaverde, Galloway, George, Johnson and a hand full of mediocre players that haven't panned out....

Come on bro... it's not like Dallas has been making all the smart move either.... So you got to the playoffs last year... big deal... we did it in 99 and the next year... it didn't mean jack....

You're right.

What I SHOULD have said was ever since Parcells got there.

If you ask me, Vinny and Keyshawn were good pickups. We were only paying about 1.1 Mil for Vinny, and even less than that for George (Incentive contracts)

Keyshawn Johnson is no longer being paid like a top receiver. Upper echelon, but not top.

Do you want to compare those contracts to Brunell, Bruce Smith, Armstead, Deion, Portis, Trotter and countless others?

Those "mediocre players" werent gotten by giving up an arm and a leg, or a draft pick, with the exception of Galloway, which when it happened, I declared was the dumbest move Jerry Jones ever made.

You go, BTP.

I have said it so many times in the Pro Football chat room that I can't bring my self to say it again.

Seems to me that all Parcells is thinking about is finding ways to get Dat Nguyen off the field

General Failure wrote:Seems to me that all Parcells is thinking about is finding ways to get Dat Nguyen off the field

Seems that way, but I don't think that's the plan(Yet)

As long as Dat continues to play with that high motor, Parcells will use him.

Gotta remember, that team doesn't have the personell to committ to a 3-4. We'd have to get rid of basically everyone.

Glover and Ellis, as good as they've been, will be useless in a full time 3-4.

What's so special about a 3-4 defense anyway?

Broncos and Dallas switching to it? They better know what they are doing because the transition can be PRETTY difficult.

Hey! What am I saying? Go ahead guys! Do it! Rumour has it, it is the best thing you have tought of in a loooong time.

This is funny! Parcells is rebuilding his team in his THIRD YEAR! What took him so long?

Redskins Rule wrote:This is funny! Parcells is rebuilding his team in his THIRD YEAR! What took him so long?

Well, he wasn't going to completely overhaul the team in his first year...yet he won 10 games with Dave Campo's Dallas Cowboys.

The second year, he still didn't want to go overboard, and figured he could pull another 10 wins out of his ass again, like he did the year before.

That didn't happen, so now the changes come.

See, unlike the two lovebirds in Washington, Parcells and Jones weren't going to go for the "quick fix". Believe it or not, as Parcells proved in 2003, even a ragtag bunch of players (Led by the amazing combo of Quincy Carter and Troy Hambrick) can be led to the playoffs by a great coach.

Patience is a virtue...but you wouldn't know would you?

Primetime42 wrote:Patience is a virtue...but you wouldn't know would you?

Bill Parcells is about as patient as a tornado, but with a lesser attention span. With him, you're not even as good as your last game.
Never in my life (and I have coached on a much lower level)have I ever heard a coach dress down his team and players (in the media, no less) as Parcells has made a habit of doing. His highs and lows are all skewed. He went from a tearful, "We have a chance to do something really special here", to "We're the worst football team in the league right now."
He could show some restraint, you know. You don't have to articulate every little thing that pops into your head when you're depressed.
I'm no expert, but if your players are so worried that a mistake on their part will result in public pillorying...you could create tension and the possibility that someone will try too hard and think himself right out of the game.

tcwest10 wrote:

Primetime42 wrote:Patience is a virtue...but you wouldn't know would you?

Bill Parcells is about as patient as a tornado, but with a lesser attention span. With him, you're not even as good as your last game.
Never in my life (and I have coached on a much lower level)have I ever heard a coach dress down his team and players (in the media, no less) as Parcells has made a habit of doing. His highs and lows are all skewed. He went from a tearful, "We have a chance to do something really special here", to "We're the worst football team in the league right now."
He could show some restraint, you know. You don't have to articulate every little thing that pops into your head when you're depressed.
I'm no expert, but if your players are so worried that a mistake on their part will result in public pillorying...you could create tension and the possibility that someone will try too hard and think himself right out of the game.

It works more often than not.

If you can't take criticism, you have no business on the field.

I'd have to agree that it's a good way of weeding out the guys that buckle under pressure. It's the rest of Tuna's master plan I'm not so sure about.

General Failure wrote:I'd have to agree that it's a good way of weeding out the guys that buckle under pressure. It's the rest of Tuna's master plan I'm not so sure about.

Skeptic Eagle fans