The Rusher Man or the Cover Man: the Cowboys vs. Saints Defensive Breakdown

This week I've posed the question whether the Cowboys will look for a top defensive end or a corneback, given the pass defense woes.  A review of the Saints game shows Dallas needs help both up front and in the back.

Let's begin with the opening play from scrimmage, to show why an end with rush skills could boost the defensive production.  On this play, the Saints open in a balanced spread formation -- two receivers to each side of the formation with Drew Brees in the shotgun.  Dallas deploys in its base 3-4, and rushes four at Brees:

In this case, Dallas brings Anthony Spencer off the right slot.  New Orleans has Reggie Bush looking left to help LT Jermon Bushrod in the event Demarcus Ware rushed.  Ware, however, is dropping into coverage, meaning that Dallas will have man-to-man matchups against the Saints' center, right guard and right tackle.  Note how none of the rushers get much push:

When you play a 3-4 and rush four, most of the time you're bringing your three linemen and one of your outside linebackers.  The DEs, depending on which OLB shoots, will either rush as a 3-technique, one-on-one against a guard, as Stephen Bowen is on this play, or you rush as a 5-technique against an offensive tackle.  If you have rush skills, you can make a big difference, either rushing between Jay Ratliff and an OLB or as a substitute edge rusher in place of a Ware or Spencer.

None of the Cowboys DEs, Marcus Spears, Igor Olshansky, Stephen Bowen or Jason Hatcher have demonstrated any rush mojo.  Hence, when Ware or Ratliff are not bringing the heat, the rush does not happen.  That's tough, because as we know, the Cowboys safeties have lots of trouble in coverage.  Four plays later, Sean Payton sets up FS Alan Ball, running a two-man route from a tight set:

New Orleans runs from a straight I left, with both receivers in a slot tight on the right.  Drew Brees runs a play-action fake behind max protection, with the tight end and one of the backs releasing late into the flats after chipping their men.  The fake holds the corner and strong safety and gives Devery Henderson a free release up the right seam at Alan Ball.  Dallas rushes four, but again, not how the play action fake and the extra blockers -- and Dallas weak four-man rush -- keep Brees clean:

Nobody gets close to the quarterback, who can double clutch and lob a deep bomb.  Henderson sees the ball, but Ball loses it and runs into Henderson as the receiver is slowing for the grab.  Ball commits the interference call, yet does not prevent Henderson from making the catch:

Dallas isn't going to blitz crazy under Paul Pasqualoni as it did under Wade Phillips.  It's going to rely on four men to get the job done.  Here are P's splits against the Saints:

3-man rushes:  1 play
4-man rushes:  29 plays
5-man rushes:  10 plays
6-man rushes:  2 plays

Four man rushes are now the default.  Pasqualoni will run more games to get his rushers free.  More loops, more stunts.  Both Dallas sacks came on Ware games with an end, where Ware shot inside while the DE looped wide behind him.  Ware made one sack cleanly, and on the other flushed Brees into Jay Ratliff's arms:

In the four-man scenarios, two men can be counted on to beat blocks with some consistency, Ware and Ratliff.  Bowen was a menace last year, but he's gone quiet this year.  He's been disappointing as a rusher since he took over as a starter for the injured Spears.  Hatcher got a sack against Detroit but has been invisible the rest of the way, despite playing in a contract year.  Olshansky is a run-stuffer, and bull rushes exclusively.

Pressure will help.  So would a free safety who can not only track the ball but catch it when he finds it:

More coverage help would help.  So would some leads.  What the Saints game revealed is yet another chapter in a sad, sad 2010 novel.  The pass rush isn't sudden enough.  The safety play isn't consistent enough and the coverage has dropped a notch, thought Orlando Scandrick has made up some ground since Pasqualoni took over.

The holes are obvious, and I don't see any dramatic changes in store this last month, unless one of Hatcher or Bowen decide to regain their 2009 spark.

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Part II: Should The Cowboys Take the Rusher or the Corner?

Looking for the biggest area of need to spark a 2011 turnaround?  Look on defense.

I'm well aware of the offensive line's needs, and want to see several o-linemen taking in next year's haul, and high.  But I'm going to return to the question I posed in this morning's story, because the biggest reason this team is 3-8 right now, where it was 8-3 at the same point a year ago, can be laid on the defense.

The offense is actually scoring slightly more than it did in '09, despite the age and injuries to the line.  It's points per game average under Jon Kitna is 23.8, slightly more than the team's average under Tony Romo.  Kitna's guys have averaged 32 points per game since Jason Garrett replaced Wade Phillips as head coach.

The defense is another story:

• Points per game allowed, 2009:  15.6, 2nd overall
• Points per game allowed, 2010,  27.4,  30th overall

That's nearly 12 points per game more.  Nearly two touchdowns per game worse, and almost double last year's total.

Assuming a pick in the 5-10 range, what position makes the biggest impact?  Which player can get Dallas pointed back to its '09 defensive production?  A monster rusher, or a big-time cover guy?

This will be part of tomorrow's chat with Wes Bunting.  To add your question, send an e-mail to:
cowboysnation.blog@gmail.com

Thanks to everyone who has already sent theirs.  I have some excellent questions for this week's chat.

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NFC 2010: The Return of the Tampa - 2

Last year, Dallas' defense was part of a surge among pressure 3-4s, as the top five scoring defenses, the Jets, Cowboys, Ravens, 49ers and Patriots all ran the scheme.  Dom Capers' Packers came in at seven.  Mike Zimmer's Bengals were the only base 4-3 in the scoring mix and the 9th rated Colts were the only team running the Tampa-2 among the leaders.

One year later, and the NFC race is being led by defenses running the old Tony Dungy Tampa-2.  Lovie Smith, a former Dungy assistant, has his Bears 2nd in scoring D, and their front four put the biggest beating on Michael Vick this year.  The top rated Falcons rate 6th in scoring defense, and run a speed version of the 4-3 similar to the one head man Mike Smith ran with Marvin Lewis and Jack Del Rio for the 2000 Super Bowl Champ Ravens.

Looking for a reason the Buccaneers,  run in the middle of the conference playoff hunt, look at their 9th ranked Tampa-2 Rahim Morris has rejuvenated in its namesake city.

Schemes run in cycles, and 2010 shows that, despite the league-wide drift towards the 3-4, the 4-3 with speed and primary matchup-zone coverage can be just as dominant, given talent that matches the scheme.

That's not to say the Cowboys will or should re-tool their scheme next year.  But next week's meeting with Peyton Manning's Colts should show whether the Cowboys should re-work the front or the back of their defense next spring.

Today, Dallas sits 6th in the draft order, putting the team in arm's reach of the Prince Amukamara, Patrick Peterson duo and near the front of a deep, and rich defensive end class led by Marcell Dareus, Nick Fairley and Cameron Jordan.

Unless Dallas finishes with a hot streak, these five are the prime candidates for the Cowboys' top pick.  A look at San Diego's tactics offers a scouting preview for next Sunday and a tip towards some of these prospects.  San Diego's DC Ron Rivera played most of his game in nickel, with four linemen and lots of zone behind them.  Rivera overloaded the right side of Manning's line, so one DT got a match against the weak right guards the Colts rotated.  The pressure worked, as Manning was rushed into several bad throws and had some tipped into the air.

The NFL is a copycat league and I see Paul Pasqualoni using lots of similar tactics, putting a Josh Brent or Jay Ratliff on the nose and overshifting his four-man line left, so that either Stephen Bowen or Ratliff get single blocked.  The ability or in ability of Dallas' interior rushers to replicate San Diego's pressure will tell us a lot.

Would the 30th ranked scoring defense benefit more from a Leon Lett clone like Fairley, who could play alongside Ratliff and ensure that one of them gets single coverage when Dallas rushes four, or would a Deion wannabe like Amukamara bring greater improvement?

There's no Darren Woodson clone in the top 15, so unless the Cowboys play their way to 7-9 or so and into the range of the top offensive tackles, the DE vs. CB debate will prevail.  With the Cowboys ceiling now at 8-8, why wait?

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Cold Turkey: Saints 30, Cowboys 27

The Dallas Cowboys showed fight and resilience Thursday, suggesting the Jason Garrett Era may continue past the next five games.  Dallas was caught flat-footed in the first quarter, falling behind the fast break Saints offense 17-0.   The Dallas Garretts kept their cool and slowly reeled in New Orleans.

Dallas won the second and third quarters, cutting the lead from 20-6 at halftime to 23-20 after three.  A fourth quarter touchdown after an interception and a big subsequent sack gave a 27-23 lead, possession and momentum.

Here, the bad mojo from the Phillips regime resurfaced.  Roy Williams beat his man on an inside slant and raced 47 yards to the New Orleans' 11 to convert a third down play at the three minute mark.  Dallas didn't get the chance to ice the game because Malcolm Jenkins chased down Williams and stripped the ball away from him.

Dallas still had New Orleans in the hole four plays later, with the Saints facing 3rd-and-10.  Good protection let Robert Meachem race past Terence Newman to catch a bomb at the Dallas 16.  Lance Moore caught a Brees bullet immediately afterwards and Dallas bad habits had them down 30-27.

The Cowboys drove to the Saints 41 but could not move a yard further, with three consecutive incompletions forcing a 59 yard attempt from David Buehler to force overtime.  Buehler boomed the ball far enough, but pulled it a foot wide left off the right hashmark to drain some enthusiam from the new Cowboys era.

More than anything, the game revealed the limits of the Garrett exuberance.  Dallas tried rushing four men to help the secondary, and could most muster consistent pressure.  Drew Brees torched the Dallas safeties again;  Devery Henderson left Alan Ball in his wake on New Orleans' first drive, catching a long bomb.

The Cowboys line protected decently, but had trouble getting a push on short yardage and goal-line runs.  Their inability to hold Kitna's pocket for extended periods of time forced a game plan which relied on quick, three-step drives.  The skill position players also played a butter-fingered game, putting the ball on the turf several times.

The Cowboys can fight, and can make plays, but their margin of error is wafer-thin.  If they make the type of mistakes they made Thursday against the Colts and the Eagles of the world, more heroic losses await.

Longer report tomorrow.

Notes:  Lots to break down, but bear with me.  My elbow tendonitis has flared up and I'm waiting on my holiday spirits and lots of anti-inflammatories to get my arm back in action.  My status is day-to-day.

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Cowboys vs. Saints Preview, Part II: What Has Garrett Kept in Reserve?

A review of last year's 24-17 win in New Orleans makes me wonder.

The Cowboys entered that game on much firmer offensive footing.  The '09 bunch could run the ball rather effectively, though it was one week removed from a San Diego game where it had failed on 1st-and -goal from the one yard line and was another couple of weeks removed from two short-yardage failures in Washington.

In all those contests, the lead draw was an effective weapon for the run.  It's been a staple of the 2010 Cowboys in early matchups,  Yet, in the two weeks since Jason Garrett has taken over, the lead draw has disappeared as a staple of Dallas' run game.

Let's review how Dallas overcame its short-yardage shortcomings to excel in that Super Bowl upset last year.  First, the Cowboys made sure they had extra edge rushing in short-yardage situations.

Dallas leaned heavily on its tight ends and fullbacks, using a lot of heavy, overload sets in short yardage and in goal-line situations.  Here's one from Dallas'second touchdown drive.  The Cowboys are running heavy, the tank or 22 set, with two tight ends and two backs.  John Phillips lines up as the traditional tight end left, with fullback Deon Anderson offset to his left side.  Just before the snap, F-back Jason Witten motions to a spot just behind LT Flozell Adams:

The Cowboys have given themselves three lead blockers at the point of attack, instead of the normal two.  This means Dallas has a blocker to account for every Saints defender on that edge of the field, the linemen, the linebackers and the strong safety.

When the play is run, every Cowboy gets a hat on a Saint, creating a huge lane for Marion Barber, who leapt over a charging safety off the edge for the touchdown:

As the have the last two weeks, Jason Garrett called a lot of plays against formation tendency.  Saints DC Gregg Williams is one of the best -- and streakiest -- defense play callers around, and Garrett kept him off balance from the beginning.

Williams runs a pressure 4-3, which will remind fans of the Eagles scheme, though Williams will mix some pieces from the Bears old 46 4-3, having worked for years under Jeff Fisher in Tennessee.  Fisher will bring heat from all angles, and uses his corners as blitzers a lot.

Garrett gave Tony Romo a lot of sight reads, to take advantage of blitzes tipped off early.  On that same drive, Dallas beat a corner blitz with a smoke route to Miles Austin:

CB Malcolm Jenkins had lined up over Austin, but had crept into a no-man's land in the left slot before the snap.  Romo took the ball and immediately floated it to Austin.  FS Darren Sharper had to rotate over from deep centerfield, and the quick toss gave him not time to get outside.  He's taking a bad angle, as you can see in the still.  Austin side-stepped him and raced upfield for a big gain.

Garrett and Williams will engage in a lot of on-the-fly moves and countermoves, to keep their units ahead.

One aspect of the offense which I think will return is the lead draw.  It's the staple of Dallas' run game, yet has not been called very much since Garrett became head coach.  With a blitzing opponent, and with Felix Jones now established as Dallas' lead runner, I'm thinking the draw returns to today's game plan.  Look for Garrett to mix up the manner in which he runs it.  Here's one variant, a lead draw from a bunch formation:

Garrett has his 12 set in,with two tight ends.  However, he spreads them out; the bunch is a passing set ordinarily, and New Orleans sets to defend a pass.  Their secondary is dropped off (you can't see FS Sharper, who's in a 15 yard deep middle) and one of the Saints linebackers is flexed wide, leaving six in the box.  This means that Witten, the left-most member of the bunch triad, can motion behind the RT and lead Marion Barber against a six-man box:

Barber gets decent blocking up front, and takes the ball for four yards.

With the Cowboys running game struggling, Garrett needs off-tendency plays like this to give his line and peripheral blockers numerical edges, because Dallas can't simply line up and smash at teams.



The Bad Matchup

Dallas kept a few drives alive last year because Tony Romo could move and hit targets while scrambling.  Jon Kitna lacks Romo's mobility and I anticipate a lot of blitzes to get Kitna off his drop points.  Dallas will need to time a lot of sight adjustments and screens to match these, or Kitna could take some lumps.  The line has been two-for-two protecting Kitna in the Garrett Era.  Let's see if they have a third straight tight game in them.

Your Thanksgiving Turkey Leg

As a Thanksgiving Day treat, I'm presenting a series of the awesome block Bigg Leonard Davis laid on Saint MLB Jonathan Vilma last year.  Bigg gets a lot of criticism, and he's on the downside of his career, but this play had me running my tivo forward and backwards for days.  On Dallas' opening drive of the 3rd quarter, on a 1st and 10, Dallas ran a toss right for Felix Jones.  Davis pulled out and engaged Vilma in the alley.

Vilma leapt into the air at impact.  The stills tell the rest of the story:

Bigg launched Vilma a good three and a half yards upfield.  Let's hope we have more plays like this to review tonight.

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Cowboys vs. Saints: 2nd Verse Same as the First?

When the Cowboys play the Saints tomorrow, Dallas' gameplan from last year will probably get some heavy review, by both coaching staffs.  Both Jason Garrett and Wade Phillips put in superb schemes which knocked down the 13-0 Saints and eventually knocked them out.  Dallas raced to a 24-3 lead, then held off a 4th quarter rally for a 24-17 win.

Many of the things the Cowboys did then have factored into the two-game win streak under the now-head coach Garrett and his new coordinator Paul Pasqualoni.  Of course, neither team is the same, each being better in some respects and worse than the others.  With that in mind, let's see what we can ferret out from the results.

When New Orleans Has the Ball

The Cowboys beat up the Saints last year with their front five, and in many cases, the front four.  The Saints under Sean Payton are, like Garrett's Cowboys, a pass-early, run-late team.  They put up big early leads on most of their opponents last season, then ran the ball extensively in 2nd halves, leading to one of the most balanced pass-to-run ratios in the league.

Dallas stopped the Saints early momentum, but denying Payton and Drew Brees the big play.  The Cowboys rushed mostly four men, a departure from Phillips' default of five, though they also rushed five, but as a change-up this time.

The Cowboys had matchup edges at three spots.  Left OLB/DE Anthony Spencer got a consistent push on RT Jon Stinchcomb.  Inside, the Saints Pro Bowl guard Jahri Evans is a fierce run blocker, but he's cut from the Nate Newton mold;  quick DTs can beat him, and Jay Ratliff got a sack and penetration, which moved Drew Brees in the pocket and forced off-balance throws, many of which fell incomplete.

The biggest mismatch came at on New Orleans' left, where Demarcus Ware overwhelmed LT Jermon Bushrod.  The Saints surprisingly gave Bushrod very little help, and Ware ran wide, through and underneath him all evening.  On 3rd downs, the Cowboys would often flop the end, putting Ware over Stinchcomb and Spencer against Bushrod.  Ware got consistent pressure in Brees' face and again got him to move.  Spencer also beat blitz contain off his side and got a sack.

The four man rush has been a good tonic for Dallas the two weeks of the Pasqualoni regime.  Dallas does not have many sacks -- three total in two weeks -- but it has five turnovers in those two games, a pace much, much higher than before.  The rush has gotten close enough to quarterbacks to force errant throws.

Phillips did not go exclusively with zone behind his four man rush.  He mixed a lot of man under and zone blitz 3-3 looks when he blitzed a fifth man.  The key in all cases was that he often kept two safeties high, or with his zone blitzes have a cover three shell, which prevented Brees from going downfield for big passes.  New Orleans had just one pass completion which traveled more than 20 yards upfield.  My mixing man-to-man with six, seven and eight man zones, Dallas forced Brees to run through his progressions, giving the rush that extra beat to home in on him.

This is the kind of mix and match which has dropped the defense's points allowed from 36 points a game the last five weeks of the Phillips regime to 19 per game under Pasqualoni.  Look for more of the same this week.  The Saints offense has taken a giant step down from last year.  It averages 8 points per game less, it's running game is much, much weaker and Drew Brees has a bit of Eli Manning disease; he has committed a lot more turnovers this year than he did in 2009.  He had 11 picks all last season and has 14 so far.  The Falcons got three in their win over the Saints;  the Cardinals got 4 in their 30-20 home win last month and the Browns got four of  their own, including two pick sixes, in an upset in the Superdome three games ago.

New Orleans if far more one-dimensional now, and a Dallas defense which has problems at safety would take a great risk if it gave Brees to many open fields and let him take deep shots.  I see more sustained coverage, with sparing blitzes, forcing the Saints to earn their way down the field.

The Cowboys defense has surrendered large yardage totals and it may again.  However, it did the same against the Giants and the lengthy drives offered opportunities for drive-ending sacks or turnovers.  The Saints are operating a lot like the Giants.  Make them work in small yardage chunks and somewhere, a sack, strip or pick could well occur.

Tonight:  When Dallas Has the Ball -- the Return of the Draw?

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Knowing Your Limitations, the Cowboys Defensive Edition

The Cowboys defense appeared to take a small step back against Detroit, though statistically it performed much better than it had against New York.  New coordinator Paul Pasqualoni had simplified against Eli Manning, rushing four and playing extensive zones with his back seven.

This week, Pasqualoni took more risks, asking his guys if they could now execute some of the blitzes they bungled the last month under Wade Phillips.  The results were mixed.  Dallas generated more pressure, sacking Shaun Hill three times, one of them coming on a three man rush.

Playing With the Rush

Here's a look at how Pasqualoni keeps a four-man rush principle and gets sacks when he goes coverage heavy.  On Detroit's first series, on a 3rd-and-long, Dallas deploys in its 4-2-5 nickel, but before the snap, Anthony Spencer floats from left end and stacks to Jay Ratliff's right:

The right guard is occupied with Spencer, looking for him to rush through the G gap.  Demarcus Ware fakes a move wide, then slides inside between the guard and the center.

Meanwhile, Spencer drops into coverage, giving Dallas eight deep, holding up Shaun Hill's reads.

At the same time, Jay Ratliff works over C Dominick Raioloa and swins into the right A gap:

Spencer's initial position and Ware's hard inside rush mean the left guard's attention is always on one of the outside linebackers.  This gives Ratliff one-on-one, and when he beats Raiola cleanly, the center has no guard help.  Ratliff blows through and blows up the drive, sacking Hill for a big loss.

Pasqualoni used other novel (for Dallas) looks to set up four and five man blitzes.  In the second quarter, he took a page from Rex Ryan's book and used an overload which the Jets work so effectively:

Dallas again is in the 4-2-5 nickel, but on this play, both of the down linemen are on the left side of Detroit's line with Demarcus Ware.  Anthony Spencer stands up on his side and both inside backers, Bradie James and Keith Brooking, line up inside of him.  Dallas has three rushers on that side and Detroit has two linemen, the tight end and a back, if the Lions max protect.


Pasqualoni rushes only two of the three, dropping Brooking to cover the releasing TE Brandon Pettegrew.  The Lions toss to Pettegrew on the hot route, and Brooking wraps him up after seven, leaving Detroit a 3rd-and-7.

Dallas played this scheme for much of the middle of the game, conceding small pieces of real estate, but no big plays.  Pasqualoni could bring a fifth rusher, and did so with Orlando Scandrick off the corner in the 3rd.  Later that quarter, however, Pasqualoni tried dialing up the harder blitzes when he had a 21-12 lead, and learned the hard way the lessons which didn't seem to take in the last month of the Phillips' regime:

Here's the pre-snap look on 3rd-and-10.  Dallas has two safeties high and man underneath, with Detroit in a three WR set and Dallas again showing the 4-2-5:

Just prior to the snap, linebacker Sean Lee, at the top of the line of scrimmage, and corner Scandrick, in the left slot, creep up to the line, suggesting heavy pressure. In fact, that's what Pasqualoni calls.  He brings both of them, giving Dallas an unusual (for Pasqualoni's game plan) six man rush.

That extra pressure changes up the secondary responsibility.  With Scandrick rushing, SS Gerald Sensabaugh has to slide up and cover Nate Burleson man-to-man in the left slot, while Alan Ball drops into deep centerfield.  This plan can work, if the six Cowboys can get to Hill and force a quick throw.  They don't however; the Lions keep in seven to block, and pick up every guy:

Burleson is able to run a hook-and-go against Sensabaugh and spins behind the safety when Hill has time to cock his arm, re-set and get the ball upfield.  From the end-zone angle, we see Sensabaugh driving on the hook, and he would be in position to make a play had the pressure forced Hill to release the ball quickly:

This is a bad flashback from October.  Even though the Cowboys had been effective with three, four and five man rushes, their tendency this season has been to bring heavier pressure in obvious 3rd-down passing situations.

Teams still don't have a full book on Pasqualoni and lean to Phillips' tendencies.  Detroit used a lot of six and seven-man pass blocking schemes in the game.  When they got the big blitz, they were ready for it.  Burleson's catch went 58 yards, easily Detroit's biggest play of the game.  We can point the finger at the safeties, but the continued inability of Dallas' rushers to get home on max blitzes will continue to hurt them:

On Thursday, Dallas faces a team which does not max protect much.  The Saints like to send five men out on patterns and overwhelm your secondary with numbers.  They count on their line and on Drew Brees to quickly read the coverage and throw the ball.

Tomorrow, we'll look at Wade Phillips' master plan from '09, which used very little blitzing and relied on the matchup advantages his OLBs Ware and Spencer had on the Saints OTs.

I'm guessing the bruising Detoit put on Pasqualoni's few big blitzes will send him back to Wade's way of thinking.  Slow and steady works best for this unit.  Blitzing off the bus, regardless of the coordinator, doesn't.

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Building Book on the Cowboys Offense

Two weeks into the Jason Garrett era and we're seeing a book on his tendencies.  As I've pointed out several times the last three years, it's not really much different from the tactics he was using in 2007.

The main difference the past two weeks is that Garrett has carried a lead into the fourth quarter, allowing him to hammer the ball as he did last week.

Let's look at his quarter splits, run to pass:


1st Qtr:  13 plays -- 5 runs, 8 passes
2nd Qtr:   7 plays -- 3 runs, 4 passes
3rd Qtr:  12 plays -- 6 runs, 6 passes
4th Qtr:   20 plays -- 16 runs, 4 passes

Typical line.  Throw to get an early lead, run heavily late.

This week, Garrett went with a wider variety of formations:

Heavy:  18 plays
Standard:  20 plays
Spread:  18 plays

This week, unlike the Giants game, Garrett played to the formational tendencies a bit more.  When he went heavy, he ran almost exclusively.  When he did throw from heavy, the plays were big.  Jason Witten's longest catch of the day, a 16 yard out, came from a three TE, one back set on a first-down play action pass.

The one change up package wise was spreading the field to run.  Notice that Dallas was about even in heavy, standard and spread set.  Often, Dallas would spread the field and run trap draws from it.  This spread out Detroit's back seven, got the Lions line thinking pass and created creases on the draws.

Tashard May Finally Give Garrett a RB Choice


Those situational edges were necessary to get the running game going.  Felix Jones got 51 yards on 11 carries, a respectable average, but the hammers in Dallas' tool box, Barber and Choice, got little room to roam.  Let's take a closer look at Barber's totals.  He had 13 carries for an anemic 36 yards.  24 of those game on a 3rd-and-15 trap draw, where Garrett spread the field with three receivers, ran off the back seven with deep routes, and sprung Barber into the secondary.

Take that run off Marion's ledger and he averaged 1.0 yards, a flat 12 yards on 12 carries.  The line didn't get any better this week.  Detroit has a young, physical set of DTs and Corey Williams, Ndamukong Suh and Sammy Lee Hill pushed the Cowboys interior linemen around much of the time.

Tashard Choice did somewhat better on his handful of carries and finally showed signs of an all-around game.  Choice got some heavy reps in the second half of the Jacksonville loss and showed some woeful pass blocking.  Yesterday he threw his body around and made a solid hip-check block on Jon Kitna's 3rd quarter TD dart to Miles Austin.  This, after two strong runs and a churning run on a screen pass.

Choice has needed to show maximum effort on plays where his number is not called, since the '10 Cowboys have to rely so heavily on passing to move the football.  If you won't block, your QB and your coaches can't trust you.  Choice showed yesterday that he's getting that message, and with the offensive line's continued troubles, that may get him a second look as the second back.

What Dallas Likes: The Sprint Screen

The flare screen, or sprint screen to Felix Jones and yesterday to Choice, is emerging as a staple of Dallas' offense, especially to the left side.  LG Kyle Kosier and LT Doug Free can both run, so the Cowboys are using this West Coast long-handoff play to get the backs free in space, while getting the ball out of Kitna's hand quickly.

Here's a first quarter look.  On a 2nd-and-8, Dallas goes to a spread formation, in a balanced look:  one WR and TE Jason Witten on the left side of the formation and two receivers in a slot on the right.  Being a long down, Detroit blitzes, and the screen gives the initial look for a max protect.  The Lions are hinting blitz, with the middle linebacker lurking in an A gap and weakside linebacker Julian Peterson crowding the edge, just over Witten:

In fact, Detroit does blitz.  Peterson comes off the blindside edge and strong safety behind him also comes on a delayed blitz off Dallas' left edge, while the left end over Marc Colombo and the MLB drop into shallow zones.  Jones comes across the backfield to seemingly pick up Peterson:

Jones isn't blocking.  He gives Peterson a cursory "block'' then floats into the left flat.  He's got Witten blocking off the top of his pattern and Kosier sprinting into space to seal the first inside pursuer.
This is a skinny screen if you will, with only one lineman leading and it can be run at full speed, since the back doesn't have to slow down for a convoy.  Jones gains ten before he's tripping by a diving tackle.

These are part of a converted quick strike game plan.  Garrett prefers to go for the throat on 1st down, running play action up the field.  Against Jim Schwatz's muscle and heavy blitzing tendencies, Kitna was given an old Steve Young plan:  throw hooks, slants and comebacks off three step drops and lots of screens in lieu of steady runs, because those runs can't be expected.

Let's look at the production of quick screens and standard screens to Jones the last two games:

vs. New York:  2 screens, 81 yards, 1 touchdown
vs. Detroit:  2 screens 36 yards

The individual tallies are: 10 yards, 71 yards, 10 yards and 24 yards.

The running game, such as it is, belongs to Jones, because he's the one guy who can generate steady explosive plays off variants of the Cowboys' basic runs.  The Cowboys want all their backs to be fully dimensional, meaning they can play every down and run, catch or block.  Catching is becoming a bigger and bigger priority as we head to December, where the big uglies on Dallas' offense traditionally wear down.

That means a lot more Felix, and, perhaps, a dollop more of Tashard.

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A Teams Got Know Its Limitations: Cowboys 35, Lions 19

...and some of the Cowboys players don't.

Jason Garrett and his DC Paul Pasqualoni got their second games at the controls today, and showed they still don't quite know what they have.   Some players and areas of play came through, while some stuttered.  The Cowboys found players who have not apparently reached their limits in a 34 -19 win over the Detroit Lions.

The biggest newbie is cornerback/kick returner Bryan McCann, who ignited a moribund Cowboys team with a 97 yard punt return mid-way through the third quarter, turning a 12-7 deficit into a 14-12 which Dallas never relinquished.

Detroit's punt coverage team had played a superb game to that point, downing three punts inside the Dallas five.  This kick appeared to be the fourth, as it stuck the ground just short of the goal-line.  Return man Dez Bryant stepped away from the kick, not wanting to field it at his two.  The ball hit and bounced straight up.

The heady up-man McCann noticed that several Lions coverage men had overrun the kick and were in the end zone.  McCann fielded the bounce and raced up towards the left sideline, where he picked up blockers and slowly pulled away from the rest of the Lions pursuers.  McCann broke free of the pack and tap-danced his way to the score.  Replays showed his heel may have twisted out of bounds but the officials and Lions did not notice.

Two plays later, rookie linebacker Sean Lee poked the football free from Detroits fullback, giving Dallas possession just outside the Lions' 20.  The laser-sharp Jon Kitna zipped a pass to Miles Austin's back shoulder on 2nd and goal, pushing Dallas lead to 20-12 in less than one minute.

The big plays turned the turnover ledger back in Dallas' favor.  The Cowboys had played a steady, if unspectacular game for 29 minutes in the first half.  Starting at their two after the Lions first successful punt, Garrett's guys ran off a methodical, penalty-free thirteen play drive.  Eight of the plays were Kitna passes, the last of which was a fade to Dez Bryant in the deep right corner of the end zone.

Detroit gained a field goal on its second possession and the game settled into an extended feeling out process by the defenses.  The Lions could move some in the middle of the field but didn't threated.  Dallas' next two possessions were three and out.  When Dallas gained possession inside its 20 with 37 seconds left, a couple of half-killing runs seemed certain.

Dallas ran one, and Felix Jones fumbled after a nine yard gain.  Detroit converted on a 3rd down out to Nate Burleson.  Terence Newman got his hands on the football but it spun through his grasp and bounced into Burleson's hands.

Dallas' offensive woes continued in the 3rd quarter.  The Lions ran twists at the Cowboys right side and sacked Kitna to end the first series.  The next, starting inside the five, ended when Leonard Davis was flagged for holding Ndamukong Suh in the end zone, pushing Detroits' lead to 12-7.  A defensive stop set the stage for McCann's big play and Dallas' breakout.

Once in the lead, Dallas maintained control, but not before the Lions offense burned some Dallas defensive experiments.  Paul Pasqualoni dialed up some Wade Phillips-esque blitzes with the nine point lead.  His pressure failed to reach Hill and the quarterback and WR Burleson burned Gerald Sensabaugh with a long completion inside the Dallas' ten.  The Lions cashed with a Calvin Johnson TD pass and closed the lead to 21-19 late in the 3rd.

Dallas answered with a sixteen-play 71 yard touchdown drive which consumed 7:55 in game time.  Kitna converted two critical third downs with his mobility.  On the first, he scrambled right and found Marion Barber releasing late to move the sticks.  Three plays later, Kitna ran for nine yards on 3rd and 8.

Barber converted a 3rd-and-15 shortly thereafter, running a trap draw behind Leonard Davis to the Detroit 14.  Dallas got a fourth 3rd down conversion on a bizarre play where DT Suh grabbed Barber's hair but was flagged for a horsecollar tackle.  Three plays later, on 3rd and goal, Garrett put a spread formation on the right side and ran Miles to the short right pylon off the tip of the spear.  Kitna zipped his pass between two Lions defenders and Dallas was again ahead by nine points, at 28-19.

Dallas got a bonus touchdown on a clever call by Garrett late in the game.  Facing a 4th-and-1 at Detroits' 29, Garrett put a heavy formation on the field and called a naked bootleg for Kitna, who followed Doug Free untouched around the left end for the game's final score.

The smiles have returned to Dallas' sideline but they won't have long to savor this win.  The Saints come to town Thursday, and are the first of four consecutive opponents who are .500 or better.

Notes:

--  Like him or not, Dallas simply cannot cut David Buehler, in my opinion.  The kickoff coverage continues to struggle and Buehler made a key stop on Dallas' first kickoff.  A new kicker might give Dallas an extra three points but would probably cost a touchdown in the exchange.  Joe DeCamillis needs to find a way to fix this part of the special teams'play.

-- My vote for most improved player of the two-week Garrett Era goes to Orlando Scandrick.  He needs to tackle more consistently, but I see a lot more confidence and aggression from him.  He's around the ball more.  He bltized effectively off the edge, knocking down a 3rd down pass on play before McCann's touchdown.  He's hitting a lot more in coverage and he provided the final, touchdown-clinching block on McCann's punt return.

-- Welcome back to the living Jason Hatcher.  I wrote this week that one of Dallas' linemen would have to step up and help Jay Ratliff.  Hatcher did, sacking Hill and recovering the Lee-caused fumble in the 3rd quarter.

-- A big step forward for Sean Lee.  He played a lot in the base and nickel sets the last three quarters, taking Bradie James' place.  Lee finally looks comfortable with the NFL's speed.  He was quick to wrap up running backs on passes in the flats and was much more aggressive on run plays.

-- Paul Pasqualoni runs plays straight out of Wade Phillips' playbook, but he's empahsizing different aspcts of Phillips' scheme.  P used a lot of nickel with two down linemen today, moving his outside linebackers all over the front.  He also called some Rex Ryan-like overloads.  Some worked.   Some didn't.  More on this Tuesday in the tape review.

-- The win offered more validation of points we already knew.  The Cowboys' right offensive line looks old and inconsistent.  Davis and Colombo made some plays but gave up some big ones.

Safety coverage continues to hurt this team.  Gerald Sensabaugh was spun around on Nate Burleson's big 58 yard 3rd-quarter catch.

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Cowboys vs. Lions Preview: Hang On and Let Go

Week two of the Jason Garrett Experience takes the Cowboys Stadium stage at noon Central Time this Sunday.  Garrett's guys face a team that looks like them schematically, has similar flaws, and which seems to be following the same developmental pattern.

The Lions also sport a 2-7 record, but they're perhaps the most snakebitten team.  They've actually scored more points than they've allowed in 2010.  They've lost five games by a total of 13 points.  And those losses have come against top-level teams.  They took the Jets to overtime.  The Eagles beat them by three; the Packers by two; the Bears by five.  If you're looking for an early 2011 Fantastic Four favorite, here's your team.

When the Lions Have the Ball


Does this sound familiar?  An offense working with a backup quarterback, which has young, speedy skill position players, but is held back by a line which cannot run block effectively.  An offense that throws a lot more than it runs and takes too many penalties.  The '10 Cowboys right?  Yes, and the '10 Lions too.

Detroit was 0-16 two years ago -- on merit.  Look over that roster and you'll find very, very few players still in the league, much less on the current Lions roster.  New honcho Jim Schwartz has to rebuild everywhere, and on offense, the Lions have added firepower to complement All-World receiver Calvin Johnson. QB Matthew Stafford and TE Brandon Pettegrew (obtained with the Roy Williams pick) were the first two selections of the Schwartz regime.

This year the Lions took RB Jahvid Best at the bottom of the first round.  Stafford has been dogged by shoulder injuries, but Johnson, Pettegrew and Best give the Lions three legs of a dangerous passing triad.  Johnson is the prototype, a tall, fast and strong wideout.  He simply overpowers opponents downfield.

Pettegrew has overcome a serious rookie injury to play up to his collegiate hype.  He has 42 grabs and averages a very good 9.8 yards per catch.

Best's rushing totals don't standout (he has just 380 yards) but he's the ignitor.  He has another 360 through the air.  He has 45 catches and helps the Lions move the chains on "long handoffs.''  His and Pettegrew's receiving totals reveal one reason why Detroit's passing game works -- it has tremendous balance:

Calvin Johnson -- 49 receptions
Jahvid Best --  45 receptions
Brandon Pettegrew -- 42 receptions
Tony Scheffler -- 31 receptions
Nate Burleson -- 30 receptions

The Lions QBs spread the ball around and they have options.  Tony Scheffler is a pure receiving tight end, but he and Pettegrew can work linebackers and safeties, creating favorable short matchups for Best.

The speed and numbers in the Lions skill position corps will challenge the Cowboys linebackers and their safeties.  New DC Paul Pasqualoni's scheme gave up lots of yards but got lots of results.  One eleven-play Giants drive ended with a pick six.  Another ten play drive ended with a pick.  An eight-play drive was stopped on downs after an inspired Bradie James stop of Brandon Jacobs on 4th-and-1.

The Cowboys know they have an inconsistent rush and suspect free safetly play.  Pasqualoni also started working his 2nd unit linebackers in last week.  Review that game and you'll see Victor Butler rotating a lot more with Demarcus Ware.  You'll also see Sean Lee and Barry Church rotating in with the nickel defense.

Dallas' defense will spend a lot more time on the field, since its not going to blitz crazy and set itself up for big pass plays.  Pasqualoni has to cover up his kids as they get on-the-job training.  Expect more zone, and more four-man rushes.

The Cowboys will need improved play from the defensive linemen not named Jay Ratliff.  When Dallas rushes four, Ware and the three linemen have been Pasqualoni's short-term default.  Stephen Bowen and Jason Hatcher need to step up their rush games to keep Shaun Hill from getting too comfortable in the pocket.

The Cowboys linebackers will be challenged to maintain drop discipline.  Detroit likes to push the lower shell deep with vertical routes by Pettegrew and the receivers, and then dump the ball to Best and Kevin Smith on delays.  The backs have made big plays, and the veterans and newbies will need to read, run and tackle effectively.

The backers won't get any rest when the Lions get into 3rd downs or go spread.  Detroit loves to line up Johnson in the slot and work him on stutter routes inside.  Nickel back Orlando Scandrick will have help on patterns like this, but he and his linebacker mates will need to tackle effectively.  Scandrick looked reborn last week and Dallas needs more of his rediscovered energy.

Look for more yards on the Lions side.  Then again, if the Cowboys can avoid the big plays, they should be harder to score on when the Lions get inside their 30s and a vertical stretch offense loses its depth.  Dallas was very, very good at pass coverage when the Giants got inside their red zone last week.  Pasqualoni simplified their assignments and let them read and chase.

Holding Detroit to threes and getting a turnover here and there will give the Dallas offense a fighting chance to start a winning streak.

Key matchup:  Demarcus Ware and Stephen Bowen against Lions RT Gosder Cherilus.  Cherilus struggles in pass protection and he'll face one of these Cowboys, depending on how the defense deploys.  A big game by one of the Ware/Bowen duo will lead to some sacks.  Big games by both could lead to another big defensive day.

Tomorrow:  Taming the Lions fearsome defensive line.

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Wes Picks the Cowboys' Groceries, Part II: Lots of O-line Options in the 2nd

Today, the National Football Post's draft expert Wes Bunting continues his game of 5-10-15 into the 2nd round, projecting Cowboys draft options if they were to pick 5th in the round, 10th in the round and in the middle of the 2nd:

Cowboys Nation:  What if we played this 5-10-15 and we went down one round.  Let's say we started around pick 36, 27 and then went 40-42 and then 45-47 or so?

Wes Bunting:  In the second round, the guy Cowboys fans may have to hold their breaths for is Gabe Carimi, the tackle from Wisconsin.  Some teams view him as a left tackle and I think he could play there, but others view him as a right tackle.  I think he gives you Pro Bowl caliber potential as a right tackle.

CN:  You've mentioned before that you like him better than you did Phil Loadholt when he was coming out of Oklahoma two years ago.

WB:  Oh yeah.  I like him.  Maybe he goes in the first round, but if you can land him in the 2nd you have a real play maker.  At strong safety, you have Clemson's DeAndre McDaniel.  Maybe you could pick him at this stage.

Mark Barron might be a possibility here as well.  He's the strong safety for Alabama.

CN:  Let's take a minute and talk about McDaniel versus Barron.  You like McDaniel better, I take it?

WB:  Yeah.  Barron is another one of those high cut guys.

CN:  I want to discuss the high-cut player, I had some readers say he reminded them of Mike Hamlin, whom the Cowboys drafted.  I couldn't find it, but I pointed out that you wrote a rather critical review of Hamlin and there's not much comparison between them.  All the flaws you cited dogged him as a pro.  He was one of those high-cut guys and I was asked if you could compare them, given that the fans have Hamlin as a point of reference.

WB:  There's really no comparing them.  Hamlin is a 6'2'', 215 lb. guy and DeAndre McDaniel is 6'0'', 215.  With those  two inches you have a more compact guy in McDaniel, as opposed to a higher-cut guy, a leggier guy in Hamlin.  Plus, McDaniel is a much more natural bender.  Much better flexibility in his lower half.  He can sink into his stance, keeps his legs under him and is much tighter in and out of his breaks as opposed to Hamlin, who plays higher, his steps are more extended, so he struggles not only to open up but he struggled to keep his legs under him when he has to click and close.  There's a lot more wasted motion in Hamlin.  He might be the faster prospect running in a straight line, but he's not the faster player because he stuggled so much to change direction and get back up to speed quickly.

Hamlin didn't even run that well.  He ran a 4.57, who takes a while to get up to that speed.  McDaniel otherwise, moves and changes direction much cleaner and faster, so he's a much, much better ball hawk in center field.  It's not really much of a comparison.

CN:  Let's to back to the position.  Starting around 35 you have Carimi, who I've seen on other sites in that 30-35 range, especially if there's a run on tackles, but if he is seen as a true right tackle, he could be just what this team needs.

WB:  There are many teams out there who do feel he's a right tackle only, and if right tackles don't work out in the NFL, there's really no where for them to go.  That's why teams have reservations about them.  I think he's going to be a heck of a right tackle but it's possible he falls to the second.  I think it depends on how many juniors come out.

Carimi can run block.  That's his bread and butter.  He plays on the strong side.  You put a tight end next to him and he'll be okay.  He can anchor.  He's not a blue chip buy but he's good enough to start in the NFL and give you quality reps.

CN:  He's a great run blocker, and that makes him attractive as a guy you could possibly plug in immediately or almost immediately for Marc Colombo at right tackle.  Given the almost total lack of depth on this o-line, the Cowboys need at least one lineman who can give them quick production.  They could try to sign three agents but that's a long shot.

WB:  There's also Marcus Cannon from TCU, who we bring up almost every week.  He could fill two holes. He could play right tackle maybe, or be a guard.  In this area of the draft he makes a lot of sense.

CN:  Is he another in that 35-40 range?

WB:  Yeah, 35 to 40 would be an ideal spot to nab him.  Jason Pinkston from Pitt can also be a right tackle, guard guy.  I think he's more of a guard but he can drive people off the football.  He plays left tackle right now.  He's a good athlete, must not quite good enough to stay at left tackle at the next level.

DeMarcus Love of Arkansas makes some sense in this area, but I like the other three guys more for the Cowboys.

CN:  Say they pick closer to the middle of the 2nd round, in the 45 to 48 range, who do you see?

WB:  I think Pinkston is still a possibility there.  Cannon could also be around, but I think he goes earlier.

CN:  Is there any chance Marcus Cannon creeps into the 1st round if some teams project him as a tackle?

WB:  Yeah, maybe.  You have to know Cannon is a physical freak.  He's 6'5'', 358 lbs, so people will expect him to run in the 5.5 range at the Combine, but he could run a 5.2 or even a 5.15 in the 40.  That's amazing for a guy that size.  If he gets that Combine ball rolling, he could go one.

CN:  You've been saying for a while that the real value for the o-lineman group comes here.  If you don't get a shot at the Sherrods or the Castonzos the first time around the pickings should still be very good in the early 2nd.

WB:  Absolutely.  If you want to go defense end, Christan Ballard from Iowa also makes a lot of sense.

CN:  Any corners in this range?

WB:  Yes.  Jimmy Smith from Colorado could go late 1st, early 2nd.  A lot of people are assuming that he goes in the 2nd round cause they also assume a lot of talented juniors will come out early.  I think Smith is just as talented as most of those juniors.

Aaron Williams from Texas is another who could come out early and go in that same late 1st, early 2nd area. Another guy I really like is Chase Minnifield from Virginia.  He's a really good cover man.  He could tackle a little better, but he's a good player.

CN:  So safeties start probably early 2nd with McDaniel.  Do you see anybody else there?

WB:  For the safeties, I think McDaniel is the best.  If Barron comes out he's a 2nd rounder.  He hasn't had the greatest year but if he comes out he moves up to the top level of the safety class.  I still like McDaniel more.

CN:  Let me throw another name out, since you've talked him up.  Where do you put Temple's Jaiquawn Jarrett?

WB:  I put him in the 3rd-4th round area, but I love him.  I think he could go to the Senior Bowl and be this year's Nate Allen.  I think a lot of this guy. He's one of the more fluid and technically sound safeties.  He's not a 4.4 guy, but he plays fast.  He can find the football and redirect.  He's playing much better in zone and has really improved his tackling.

CN:  So if we played 5-10-15 in the 3rd round he'd be a name there?

WB:  Definitely.  Once we got to round three we start getting thin on potential year-one starters, but he's a guy who may fall a bit because he lacks great straight-line speed because he comes from Temple.

CN:  Since we're talking about the Temples, have you come across some small-school sleepers at the Cowboys positions for interest who the Dallas fans can commit to memory?

WB:  I have.  They can look at Julian Posey, the cornerback from Ohio U.  He's a talented kid.  Ryan Jones a cornerback from Northwest Missouri State is going to light it up.  He's 5'11'', 195 lbs.  He's going to run like the wind in workouts.  He can play press.  I like him.

CN:  Where do you project him?

WB:  He's a draftable guy.  I'd say 5th or 6th but he's got the ability to move up quickly because he's been invited to an All-Star game and if he shows well there against top-level competition, he can move up into that 4th round range.  Right now, though, I'd say 5th to 6th.

I think I've talked to you about David Mims, the Virginia Union offensive tackle.  He's 6'8'', 350 lbs.  He's a big physical kid.

CN:  That reminds me.  You tweeted earlier this week about a player at one of the smaller Florida schools who you said was an unsung right tackle prospect.

WB:  Jah Reid is his name.  I had wanted to watch him because he's a three-year starter at Central Florida, 6'7'', 325 lbs.  He doesn't have great range off the edge but he's played a lot so he understands how to get off the snap on time and he understands angles.  He knows how far he has to go before he has to open up his hips and push people past the quarterback.  He can anchor, has a good kick-slide, a powerful punch and he's a really good run blocker.

A lot of people don't have him rated, included "draft experts'' on the web, but of draftable prospects, he's one of the best right tackle prospects I've seen this year.  Once he goes to an All-Star game... the scouts know who he is but once he goes the media will being to zero in on him.  He's a really nice player.

CN:  He's been a true right tackle for Central Florida?

WB:  Yes

CN:  You think he can stay there at the NFL level?

WB:  Yeah.  He's just a big nasty right tackle.  And he's got good coordination, which is nice.  He lacks great range but he has good enough range.

CN:  If he impresses in the All-Star games where does his ceiling lie, 4th, 5th round?

WB:  That's possible.

As always, you can find Wes' draft stories at the National Football Post.  Bookmark his site and check it regularly, since his complete draft board should go up in the next two to three weeks.  

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WWDTs: Mocking the Cowboys' First Round at 5, 10 and 15

In this week's Wednesday edition of Wes' Weekly Draft Tips (WWDTs) I ask him to put some draft skin in the game.  Based on his yet-to-be-released player ratings and on my five-position, weighted Cowboys grocery list (see yesterday's story for it) we get a look at the players the Cowboys scouts are tracking the hardest:

Cowboys Nation: The readers have a solid base of information so I don't want to take them through the same positions.  I want to focus on ratings.  Do you have a list?

Wes Bunting:  No.  What I do is look at all the players from D-I and Division II and I assign numerical grades to them.  But I don't make a list because I don't want my opinions swayed.  I just grade them as I see them and let the list make itself.

CN:  Let's play a game then.  I'm Bill Parcells and I'm giving you the grocery list.  I'm sending you to the supermarket to shop for rookies.  I'm calling the game 5-10-15.  The Cowboys are 2-7.  Those losses are in the bank and the schedule is still hard.  Even if they got hot under Jason Garrett, I think 8-8 is still optimistic.  But assuming they do and finish 7-9 or 8-8, that puts them around 15.  If they split the games, they're picking around 10.  If they struggle some more, maybe 4-12, 5-11 and they get a shot at the top 5.

Picking at 5, 10 and 15, I want you to prioritize by these positions:  offensive tackle, free safety,  cornerback, defensive end, though I think those last two are interchangeable, and finally, guard.

Say for starters, they're picking at 5.  Say Jon Kitna gets hurt and they're still in the top 5.  Looking at the players you know, looking at pick five, start at OT.  If there's an OT there, let's hear about him.  If there isn't an OT worthy of that pick, move down to FS.  If there's nobody there, move to the next position and so on.

WB:  You're going to make me work today.  At five, I don't think there's a tackle who's worth your time.  There's no free safety that makes sense that high.  There's no guard who makes sense this high.  This is where defensive line and cornerback fit.

I could see Patrick Peterson and Prince Amukamara.  I'd probably go Amukamara here.  I think he's the safer pick.  If we're looking DEs in the top five, Marcell Dareus makes a lot of sense.

CN:  That Amukamara pick might surprise some people.  We have some Peterson partisans in our threads.  Why would you take Prince over Peterson, if both happened to be available?

WB:  He's just the better, more seasoned cornerback at this stage.  Does he have Patrick Peterson's God-given physical abilities?  No. But he's not too far off and he finds the football a little better.  He's a little cleaner in and out of his breaks.  He's a little bit smaller.  Peterson does have phenomenal fluidity for his size and has more upside.  At the same time, he's gonna struggle to get out of his breaks as opposed to a guy who's a little shorter.

I just like Amukamara a little better in that respect.  He's a physical guy.  He'll tackle, though Peterson will too.  I think Peterson's more a man-guy who needs to play in press.  I think Amukamara can do that as well but he can play in zone, he can play off-man better.  [Amukamara] is just a bit more savvy, has better ball skills when its in the air.  Now, we're splitting hairs here, they're both excellent players, but I like Prince a little more.

Another defensive end who's really shot up draft boards is Cal's Cameron Jordan.  He might be better than Iowa's Adrian Clayborn now.  I don't know if he's top-5 material, but he's up there in the top 10-15.  If his former teammate Tyson Alualu can go nine, this guy could go up there.  I think he's better than Alualu.

CN:  So Jordan's definitely a guy who could slot in at 10?

WB:  Yeah.

CN:  I watched Cal-Oregon, and Jordan was a monster in that game.  He was a big reason why Oregon struggled so much to score.

WB:  And he's done that all year long.  He gives you some versatility.  He's powerful, has a good punch.  You talk to evaluators but you also talk to players.  I was talking to UCLA's Logan Paulsen last year.  He was a big tight end and people thought he might move to OT.  He was on the Redskins' active roster last year.  I asked him what it was like to block Alualu and he said, "man, that guy is good.  It's tough." But he also said, "honestly, Cameron Jordan was much harder to block,'' and that was last year, when Jordan was a junior and Alualu was a senior.  Alualu then went 9th overall to Jacksonville.

People think highly of this kid and he's a heck of a football player.

CN:  What impressed me, besides having a complete game, was that Jordan did it from both sides.  Cal would line him up one series over the right tackle, then flop him to the other side a few plays later and he gave both the Oregon tackles fits.

WB:  And Cal will even move him inside when they go to a four-man line.  He's going to be a really good three-down player for someone.

CN:  So at five we see the two corners and Dareus as the prime targets?

WB:  Yeah, I think those are the three guys who makes sense there.

CN:  And moving to ten, we start with Cameron Jordan?

WB:  Yeah, I think Jordan makes some sense.  I think Derek Sherrod, the offensive tackle from Mississippi State comes into play here. It might be just a bit early, but I think Anthony Costanzo, the OT from Boston College also makes some sense here.

CN:  Would Costanzo make more sense at 15?

WB:  He would make more sense at 15, but he's a good football player, we don't know who's picking in what order, and the better OTs have a tendency to rise a bit on draft day.

I'd say DE Adrian Clayborn [Iowa] also makes sense at 10.  I think he's a better fit at 15, but he's a possibility in the 10 slot.

CN:  There are no safeties in this range, and no guards at this stage?

WB:  No

CN:  That's a good set of names to play with.

Tomorrow:  Wes plays 5-10-15 for the second round, compares two Clemson safeties and gives us some small-school names who are rising up the charts.  


Follow Wes Buntings' draft stories at The National Football Post.

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Tomorrow: Wes Bunting Shops for the Cowboys' Groceries

Let's Play 5-10-15 Draft!

"If you want me to cook the meal," Bill Parcells used to say, "you should let me shop for the groceries."

In this week's chat with the Nation Football Post's draft expert Wes Bunting, we play a Parcells game.  I prepared a grocery list of five top positions of Cowboys need.  I've turned it over to Wes and have asked him to do the shopping.

Bunting has already assigned grades to his top prospects and they should be published on NFP's site some time this month.  With that knowledge, I've asked him to play a game of 5-10-15 with his board and my grocery list.

5-10-15 works this way.  The Cowboys today are 2-7.  If they get hot under Jason Garrett and finish 6-2 in his half season, they'll finish 7-9.  I can't see them finishing better than 8-8, with seven losses already in the bank and a rough schedule still ahead.  Such a finish would probably get ''interim'' removed from Garrett's job title and land Dallas in the 14-16 range of the draft.

If the Cowboys somehow split Garrett's eight games, they would finish 5-11.  When Dallas went 6-10 in '04, it got the 11th overall pick.  5-11, with the Cowboys' tough schedule, puts them around pick 10.

Finally, let's assume that the worst hasn't come.  That Garrett has somehow changed the team's culture, but hasn't seen the end of injuries.  Say Dallas goes 3-5 in that scenario, finishes 4-12 and picks 5th.

Who would Dallas pick in the 5 spot, the 10 spot and the 15th spot?  The ''grocery list'' I've prepared has five positions, and I've asked Wes to weigh them this way:

1.  Offensive tackle
2.  Free safety
3.  Cornerback
4.  Defensive end
5.  Guard*

For instance, at pick 5, he should push an OT if he has two or three players in that spot with similar grades, but who play different positions.  If there's no OT with a top-5 grade, go to FS.  If there's no FS, move to CB and so on.  Do the same at 10 and at pick 15.

Check in tomorrow for his picks.  Some familiar names will appear, and some who might surprise.  On Thursday, we'll play 5-10-15 for the 2nd round, and Wes will offer some sleeper picks for the middle rounds.

*Why rate guard so low?  Two reasons.  First, no guard has been picked in the top 15 this decade. There's no Mike Iuputi in this year's crop, so we're not likely to see one in our first-round discussions.  Second, most of the players Wes touts for guard at the NFL level play tackle for their schools.  Guard is a big Cowboys need, but we're not likely to see many -- if any-- guard prospects in the two rounds we play 5-10-15.

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A Closer Look at the Cowboys' Defense: Pasqualoni Won't Panic

New Cowboys DC Paul Pasqualoni was one of Bill Parcells' guys.  The former Penn State linebacker worked with the backers while the Tuna ran the shop, then followed Tony Sparano to Miami.

While in Dallas, he contributed to Big Bill's more ''measured'' 3-4.  Not much blitzing.  Play physical.  Rush four, play a lot of zone behind it, and force the offense to beat you repeatedly in order to earn the end zone.

If his first defensive game plan can be considered a definitive one, Pasqualoni will return the Cowboys to the Parcells blueprint, and back down from the high-stakes, heavy blitzing that Wade Phillips preferred.  That approach was tonic for a Cowboys secondary which was repeatedly exposed, beaten and demoralized in the Cowboys' three-game slide, which coincidentally began with the first Giants matchup.

Upping the Pass Rush Dosage

Let's look at two situations from that losing streak to see how Phillips' approach differed from the one Pasqualoni used Sunday.

October -- Giants @ Dallas

Late in the 2nd quarter the Giants have moved to the Dallas 15.  They're in 2nd and 2 with just under a minute and a half left.  Dallas leads 20-14.  The eight yards on first down give the Giants a run-pass option, and Phillips sells out looking for a negative play.  Note in the first slide how the Cowboys open in what looks like a quarters coverage look, with the safeties and the corners four-across, eight to ten yards off the ball:

Well before the snap, the Cowboys creep one of their inside linebackers and both safeties close to the line, tipping a max blitz.  This is zero-coverage, meaning there are no safeties providing deep help. (Dallas has eight defenders within four yards of the line of scrimmage.) The Giants are in a posse set, meaning three WRs and one back.  The Cowboys are matching their corners man up and have a linebacker taking TE Kevin Boss.  They have to chase and hold and hope the Dallas rush gets to Eli Manning quickly:

The rush didn't get to Manning, a problem the Cowboys have suffered all year.  Steve Smith broke past Orlando Scandrick's jam attempt and Manning floated a touchdown pass to him in the back half of the end zone.

Teams could see when Dallas intended to blitz, but Phillips didn't concede. He kept calling six and seven man blitzes which gave good quarterbacks shots up the field.  Here's a similar situation two weeks later in Green Bay.  On a 3rd-and-4, the Packers go with three wide:

Dallas bunched its d-linemen, both nickel linebackers and strong safety Gerald Sensabaugh at the line, tipping another heavy rush.  Aaron Rodgers, sitting in the shotgun, keeps a back and tight end to block, knowing his three targets would have single coverage with little help.  Rodgers threw to Greg Jennings wide left.  Mike Jenkins had good coverage but no help.  Alan Ball was playing deep middle and had to cover all three corners, waiting until the ball was thrown before pursuing.  He could not get to the sideline in time.  Rodgers dropped a perfect pass over Jennings' outside shoulder for a 33 yard gain.

The real culprit was the non-existent rush.  Note how tight Green Bay's pocket is -- none of the six Cowboys rushers are making any penetration. Top quarterbacks like Rodgers and Manning can beat close coverage if they can set their feet and wait for the WR's patterns to develop.  The repeated burnings were clearly wearing on all the corners.

And Dialing it Back

This week, Pasqualoni walked back the blitzing, big time.  Here's a breakdown of his rush patterns in the first half:

Eli Manning -- 25 1st half passes
rushed by 3 men -- 5 times
rushed by 4 men -- 17 times
rushed by 5 men -- 1 time
rushed by 6 men -- 2 times

The Cowboys rushed four men and kept two safeties deep on nearly every play, to take away big plays.  The Giants got behind rookie Bryan McCann a couple of times, but didn't really hurt him until the second half.  That deep help took away the easy red-zone passing lanes Manning had in Dallas, and make his choices much, much harder.  Three times in the first half Manning got New York into the red zone.  Twice Dallas got him into a 3rd and long and each time, Pasqualoni rushed just three men, crowding the end zone area.

In fact, Pasqualoni teased blitz but rushed three nearly every time New York was in 3rd-and-long.  Manning had to check down much of the time.  The third time, on 3rd and goal from the two, Pasqualoni called one of his few sell-out bltizes.  Being rare, it generated pressure and forced Manning into a hasty throw, which McCann intercepted.

On this play, from the last red-zone drive, you see how Dallas played a 3rd and goal:

Dallas rushes four.  The corners are still playing man-to-man on the Giants receivers, as they did before.  But note that two linebackers are taking away any patterns curls over the deep middle and there are two safeties sitting in the shallow end zone to jump any posts or slants from the wideouts.  Manning tries forcing a fade into the back left corner of the end zone, but Orlando Scandrick, knowing he's got inside help, is able to press the deeper route and bat away Manning's throw:

The windows Manning saw were smaller than the windows opposing quarterbacks saw before.  The front four or three generated enough pressure to force throws on short time. The secondary wasn't perfect, with both starting corners out, but it made more plays in one week than it has all year.   McCann compensated for his bombs with a pick-six.  Orlando Scandrick had his most confident, aggressive game in two years.  Alan Ball still looks shaky, but he snuffed out New York's last drive with his first career pick.

You go with what works.  Phillips' heavy and heavier blitzes were not working.  Pasqualoni's zones did.

And that's what we're likely to see going forward.

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Under the Cowboys' Offensive Hood: He's the Same Old Garrett, Only Better

Quick, give me Jason Garrett's profile as an offensive play caller.

If last year's templates were any indication, he's a guy who likes to attack down the field.  His pass-to-run ratio skews about 55-45 percent to the pass over his four years as OC, though his personnel packages favor standard and heavy set.  In other words, he'll pass a lot from run formations.

He's the same old Jason Garrett, only yesterday his big play makers worked his tendencies to perfection.

Final Statistics Are Deceiving

A look at the final play sheets suggests a more bull-headed Jason Garrett.  Dallas ran on 27 plays and threw on just 23.  He's more conservative, some people will say.  He's choked back the throttle.

Not.  At.  All.

Yes, the final numbers look balanced, and look run happy, but let's consider when Garrett called his passes and his runs.  For three quarters, Garrett called the same game he always calls. He threw early, got his big plays through the air, then hammered the ball late.

Let's take a closer look at the third quarter, when Jon Kitna led two long and quick touchdown drives which kept Dallas' 19-6 halftime lead at 13 points.  The fourteen points Kitna and his mates produced matched the two New York generated and deflated the Giants somewhat.

When Miles Austin scored, with 6:27 left in the third, the Cowboys' calls had been 20 passes and 12 runs, very much in character with Garrett's philosophy of striking deep early and running the ball late.  And approaching the game this way make sense.

Only three of Dallas first 20 run attempts gained more than 5 yards.  This line did not find a fountain of youth. They still struggle with power running What it did create, with assists from the tight ends and backs, was better protection for Jon Kitna.  Look at the yardage totals for his first eight attempts in each half:

(TDs in bold)

1st half -- 10,  13, 42, 13, 44, Inc.  32,  Inc.
2nd half -- Inc.,  71, Inc., 46,  Inc. -2, 27, 24

That's a typical Garrett line when he's running a hot passing hand.  And yesterday, he and Kitna started each half smoking.

Dallas' last four drives played to the '07 bleed-the-ball approach.  Garrett's last 18 plays were 15 runs, and 3 throws.  Even then, he could not eschew a last stab or two at the Giants' jugular.  One of those passes was a bomb for Dez Bryant which was caught and then overturned on replay.  The last was another deep pass to Dez which the Giants intercepted.

Garrett stuck to his personnel ratios.  Last year, I pointed out that his heavy-standard-spread groupings roughly followed a 30-40-30% ratio.  This week, Garrett skewed more towards standard sets:

Total plays -- 50
Heavy formation plays (1 WR)  -- 15,  30%
Standard formation plays (2 WRs)  -- 25,  50%
Spread formation plays (3 or more WRs) -- 10,  20%

As I noted in yesterday's snap game notes, Garrett worked his heavier sets to give his line more protection.  Let's look at the number of receivers Dallas sent out on each call:

2 receivers:  1 play
3 receivers:  6 plays
4 receivers:  8 plays
5 receivers:  8 plays

That last number is a bit deceiving.  Dallas opened a lot of plays with two players in the backfield.  Often, Jason Witten played the fullback, either with Kitna under center or flanking Kitna in the shotgun.  At the snap, Witten and the back would check for blitzers and release late if none were coming.  I counted only five plays where Dallas sprinted all five receivers immediately into patterns and left the line to handle New York's rush.

Felix the Receiver


Garrett was most creative moving his personnel around in base sets.  He used Felix Jones most effectively as a receiving.  The stats only show 3 catches for 84 yards, because a quick screen was thrown slightly backwards and tallied as a lateral.  Jones caught the ball four times in space, gaining 94 yards, giving him 136 yards from scrimmage.  However your backs gets your yards does not matter.  New York's linebackers were concerned with finding him, and this tempered their blitzes.  


Here's Jones' second reception.  It's one of Garrett's few five receiver patterns.  But note how its thrown off a three step drop, allowing Kitna to release the ball before he fells any pressure:

This play is a horizontal stretch.  Note how all five Cowboys are running quick patterns within eight yards of the line of scrimmage.  Furthermore, those patterns are designed to pull the Giants short zone wide, from sideline to sideline  Look at the Giants inside backers, the two of the six defenders in the middle.  One is drifting towards Martellus Bennett in the left flat.  The other, just inside the right hash, is roaming wide to cut off Miles Austin's slant lane.  The patterns split the ILBs, allowing the late-releasing Felix Jones (he's just getting to the line of scrimmage at this point) to run his pattern right up the middle of the field.  He takes Kitna's quick toss for 12 yards:

Going Against Package Tendency


Garrett consistently got big plays, I believe, because he effectively called against his package tendencies.  This pass came from a heavy set, with one back, one receiver and three tight ends.  This is a running formation, but Garrett made it a passing set.  He popped Martellus Bennett deep for 32 yards off another heavy set:

New York loads up, putting ten defenders close to the line when they see this heavy package.  Dallas runs play action and again has three of the receiving targets running horizontal routes.  But when Bennett breaks up the right hash, and clears the linebackers, he has a huge seam, because the free safety playing high has his attention drawn to Miles Austin and Jason Witten, who are both on the left side of Dallas' formation:

The horizontal stretches worked the Giants linebackers and the vertical stretches with the tight ends got the safeties attention and kept them in the middle of the field.  This meant that Garrett set up one-one-one matchups for Dez Bryant and Miles Austin outside.  He would run vertical stretches, where his flanker and tight end would both run together up the field, or Garrett would run high-low plays, where the tight end would run up the seam and the recever would run a post behind him.  With the safety occupied by Witten, Austin caught a 44 yard post to set up Dallas'second score.

When Garrett called another post for Austin, again out of a heavy set, the Giants safeties were caught short and could not offer any deep support.  Here's the look at the snap.  New York sees heavy and crowds ten men into the box to stop a run.  There's one safety 15 yards high and when Witten runs a post between the hashes, that's where Kenny Phillips goes.  Miles Austin has Corey Webster all to himself and loses the CB with a tight double move:

Garrett showed run sets and passed -- deep -- from them.  He also showed passing formations and ran effecrtively.  Before the half,  he came out in a spread set, with Jon Kitna in a pistol formation, set five yards, but with the back directly behind him rather than to a side. Jason Witten is set wide as part of a bunch on the right side, with a single receiver left.  The Giants take this as a pass and deploy in a nickel -- four linemen, two linebackers, three corners playing man under and two safeties deep:

Garrett is showing pass, but he's going to run. At the snap, Witten pulls inside.  It's the lead-draw, Dallas' bread-and-butter running play, but from an unlikely formation.  Spreading the defense gives Dallas numerical superiority against six men in the box and Jones rips off 9 yards, one of the Cowboys' longest for the day:

Mixing the personnel groups kept the Giants confused and kept adding big plays and points to the tally.  Imagine what Garrett could do with a real, power running game?

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