bubba9497 Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 http://www.star-telegram.com/332/story/207699.html click link for full article If a team doesn't want to see blitzes, don't play Cowboys By GIL LeBRETON Star-Telegram Staff Writer Early in the fourth quarter Saturday night, the Cowboys were soundly beating the Denver Broncos, two guys named Jerheme and Jerard were lined up at wide receiver, that Jerry Jones pizza breakdance commercial was about to play on the video board for the 176th time, and the seats at Texas Stadium were mostly empty. Cowboys fans get it, in other words. Oh, they cheered early when Terrell Owens caught a pass and Marcus Spears recovered a fumble. The perspiring spectators paid the filet mignon price that Owner Jones charges for this exhibition baloney. But the game itself had long since passed its due date. With the starters all on the sidelines, chewing bubble gum or wondering how late the clubs would be open, there was nothing more to see here, not even the preseason's No. 1 reclamation project -- the Cowboys' defense. The Cowboys are 2-0, though I wouldn't book my tickets for Super Bowl XLII just yet. The Texas Stadium spectators grasped the insignificance of Cowboys 31, Broncos 20, even if the Denver players apparently weren't convinced that the home team's coaching staff did. Broncos safety John Lynch told Mike Klis of The Denver Post after the game, "They came out and game-planned us, blitzing every play. They came after us. "It's not an excuse for the way we played. But I think they might have broken the code of ethics for the preseason." Code of ethics? The home team charges regular-season prices for preseason tickets -- the league average is around $60 -- the starters seldom play even two quarters, and somebody expects to find ethics? Lynch, a 15-year veteran, clearly was pulling the chain of the former Denver coach -- and new Cowboys head coach -- Wade Phillips. But it made for a lively round of postgame questioning, while prompting some of us to tap the brakes on praise for the new "Phillips 3-4" defense. "I don't know if Wade's [ticked] off the Broncos fired him, but it sure looked that way," Lynch said, twisting the needle. Well, now that he mentions it, the Cowboys did seem to blitz a lot. But I thought that was the defense. It's the old Barry Switzer excuse -- he didn't mean for his Oklahoma team to score 60 on you, but he couldn't turn off the faucet on the wishbone. Lynch merits some slack. But young Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, who also muttered something about the blitzing, might have been looking for an alibi after a disappointing night. "Well, they brought a lot of blitzes," Cutler said. "They came at us on first, second and third down. "We started picking it up in the first half after we made some adjustments. But it kind of surprised us there off the jump." Let me paraphrase Switzer again, however. If the Broncos didn't want to see blitzes, they shouldn't have scheduled a team that plays Wade Phillips' defense. Plus, there's that new coach thing going on. You know -- win early, and the players will think the new head coach knows what he's doing. Some of us have seen way too many Cowboys preseason games to remember much of any of them. But I do vividly recall one at San Diego in 1989. The Cowboys beat the Chargers 20-3, and you would have thought, judging from the hugging and the celebrating, that the new coach and new owner had just won the Orange Bowl. Winning that summer seemed to be deathly important for Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones. The Cowboys went 3-1 in exhibition play in 1989 -- and 1-15 during the regular season that followed. The football gods obviously made their point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 The home team charges regular-season prices for preseason tickets -- the league average is around $60 So what exactly do the Cowboys charge for preseason tickets? Anyone know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin11 Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 And you shouldnt play the steelers either. Most 3-4 love to blitz at least 20 times a game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siven Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 And you shouldnt play the steelers either. Most 3-4 love to blitz at least 20 times a game. The steelers were blitzing a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Washington Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 wow the writer is pretty hard on the local team. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McMetal Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Why aren't teams making them pay for these constant blitzes? When we blitzed last year we seem to get burned much more often than not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1028046 Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Why aren't teams making them pay for these constant blitzes?When we blitzed last year we seem to get burned much more often than not. McMetal most of these teams are running set plays which means that they don't have an audible package set up for blitzes. If they think they can blitz like that during the regualr season they will get burnt Oh yeah and the skins got burnt because they couldn't get pressure from their blitzes at all last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba9497 Posted August 20, 2007 Author Share Posted August 20, 2007 I hope it's Wade's Osaka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDFan5 Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 So what exactly do the Cowboys charge for preseason tickets? Anyone know? They charge full price just like the rest of the league Full price ranges from US $54.93 - US $127.25 54 being endzone nosebleeds, 127 being lower 50's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dallasfan Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Honestly, did Denver expect us to drop 8 into coverege every play? I mean from what I heard, they wanted to practice aginst us, so they could get a feel for how San Diego will play on defense (but if Wade wants to make the Broncos look bad, why help him?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Jones Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Last year we got killed by New England in the preseason. I don't remember whining and crying after that loss in the media. Denver needs to wake up. That said: 1. The blitz has to be effective 2. The DB's have to be able to cover with a certain amount of quality. Reference skins last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McMetal Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 I hope it's Wade's Osaka Yeah, to me this is exactly the same thing...the defensive equivalent of Spurrier running up the score on the 49ers. How many blitzes do you really need to see in a pre-season game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BraveWarrior Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 What's John Lynch's deal? He's a good example of the disturbing trend among football players - that the opposing team isn't your enemy. They're your friends in the rich boy club. You want to be friends with guys on other teams? Fine. Do it on your own time. When you are out there wearing the team's colors and representing your city/state you need to treat the opponents as your enemy. Maybe that's a bit harsh, but I grew up watching the Redskins absolutely hate the Cowboys, and the Raiders absolutely hate everybody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Jones Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 I guess thinking about this another way Lynch has a point to degree. Starting offenses will throw in blitzes and mix things up a little to start getting ready for the regular season. However, when the second string and beyond players come in you need to determine if said players are NFL quality. Teams don't blitz that much in the second half of pre-season games because they want to evaluate players individually. Game planning and blitzing doesn't provide you with that evaluation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BraveWarrior Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 I guess thinking about this another way Lynch has a point to degree.Starting offenses will throw in blitzes and mix things up a little to start getting ready for the regular season. However, when the second string and beyond players come in you need to determine if said players are NFL quality. Teams don't blitz that much in the second half of pre-season games because they want to evaluate players individually. Game planning and blitzing doesn't provide you with that evaluation. Unless, of course, you are a blitz happy team (like most 3-4s are) and you need to see which of your bubble players can grasp the scheme and perform well in it. Can your DEs drop back into coverage on zone blitzes? Can your safeties disguise their intention to blitz? Can your LBs do all the things expected of them in a bltizing defense? Are your CBs good at man-to-man coverage? The only way to know for sure is to let them do it. I HATE the Cowboys, but I understand their desire to blitz a lot in the preseason if that's what they will be running in the real games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Jones Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Unless, of course, you are a blitz happy team (like most 3-4s are) and you need to see which of your bubble players can grasp the scheme and perform well in it. Can your DEs drop back into coverage on zone blitzes? Can your safeties disguise their intention to blitz? Can your LBs do all the things expected of them in a bltizing defense? Are your CBs good at man-to-man coverage? The only way to know for sure is to let them do it.I HATE the Cowboys, but I understand their desire to blitz a lot in the preseason if that's what they will be running in the real games. Ok, I can see that side of the argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEK2000 Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 I guess thinking about this another way Lynch has a point to degree.Starting offenses will throw in blitzes and mix things up a little to start getting ready for the regular season. However, when the second string and beyond players come in you need to determine if said players are NFL quality. Teams don't blitz that much in the second half of pre-season games because they want to evaluate players individually. Game planning and blitzing doesn't provide you with that evaluation. It was primarily the 1st team defensive that did the blitzing... the backups didn't do too much of that if I remember correctly. The entire problem is... Denver should have been ready for this. You've got 1 team that's been running the same scheme for years and years vs another team that is trying to implement an entirely new defensive AND offensive scheme. It only makes sense that they would practice the new scheme as they will be playing it come regular season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEK2000 Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 "Well, they brought a lot of blitzes," Cutler said. "They came at us on first, second and third down." One of the big talking points making the media rounds this off-season states that Wade Philips will install a more aggressive, blitz-heavy defense than Bill Parcells used. Sounds great, but there aren't many facts to support the assertion. Phillips' Chargers rushed six defenders just five percent of the time, the sixth-lowest total in the NFL. They rushed seven defenders less than one percent of the time, ranking them 31st in the league. Parcells' Cowboys rushed six 12 percent of the time (sixth) and seven four percent of the time (fourth). As a general rule, the phrase "more aggressive than Bill Parcells" should be greeted with suspicion, unless it's a description of a Visigoth warlord. What... Wade blitzing too much? I thought the Cowboys blitzed more with Parcells.... :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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