Posted by Rafael at Tuesday, October 30, 2012
We're all crying, Dez.
"Same as it ever was,
same as it ever was...."
Such is the read mid-way through the 2012 Dallas Cowboys season. While Dallas has seen its primary off-season goal succeed, it cannot obscure the fact that the job was too big for one draft and one modest free agent shopping spree. Thus, the team finds itself back where it started, treading water in the widening ocean of NFL mediocrity.
The spring drive to repair the badly broken secondary has worked. Brandon Carr has been a quality starter on his corner. Morris Claiborne has steadily raised his game week to week. The two, and nickel corner Orlando Scandrick, shut down the Giants heralded duo of Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz on Sunday. Nicks gained but 46 yards receiving and the seemingly unstoppable Cruz left Cowboys Stadium with a season-low 23 yards on two receptions.
In front of them, second year linebacker Bruce Carter has emerged, much as Sean Lee did in his sophomore professional season. Lost in the bile and noise of the Giants loss was Carter's best game of his young pro career. He was aggressive on run downs and has provided outstanding coverage on tight ends all year.
They have given Dallas a major boost in pass defense, and that has made Rob Ryan's defense much better. The second half in Seattle aside, the defense has played well enough to win every Cowboys contest.
Which brings us, grudgingly, to the offense. The Miles Austin ruling, which kneecapped the Cowboys salary cap this year, meant the team had only one big-ticket free agent signing in its budget. The team gave that money to Carr. This decision precluded re-signing Laurent Robinson or signing a big-ticket offensive lineman. The Cowboys crossed their fingers and put their hope in youngsters like Dez Bryant, Kevin Ogletree, Mackenzy Bernadeau, Phil Costa and Felix Jones.
They have failed thus far. Some, like Costa and DeMarco Murray, have suffered recurring injuries. Others, mainly the receivers, have demonstrated time and again that they're not playmakers, in the Jimmy Johnson definition. Oh, they can produce an impressive stat line here and there, as Ogletree did in the first Giants game and as Bryant did in Baltimore. But when 3rd downs need to be converted, or big game clinching catches are called for, they've been invisible.
What emerges is an offense that's perhaps half a unit. Let's take this by personnel group:
Offensive line: Dallas entered 2012 knowing it needed at least two, and perhaps three interior offensive linemen. It signed Nate Livings and Bernadeau in free agency and trusted new line coach Bill Callahan to squeeze every drop of performance from there. Callahan has raised this unit from its dismal September level, but we may have seen its ceiling on Sunday. The Cowboys could not gain a single yard on four goal line runs in the 3rd quarter, a fact that probably factored in Jason Garrett's decision to pass three times after getting to 2nd and 1 at the Giants 19 on Dallas' next to last possession.
The Giants moved Tony Romo around the pocket, with nearly all the pressure coming up the middle, where the Giants tackles overpowered backup center Ryan Cook and the guards.
The skinny: Dallas still needs at least two interior offensive linemen to field a competitive line.
Running back: The Cowboys appeared to have a good 1-2 punch entering the season. DeMarco Murray looked like a bell cow back and Jones appeared to find a role as the 3rd down back. That plan also looks overly optimistic. Murray continues to suffer niggling injuries and has missed as many games as he's started.
Jones, meanwhile, has confirmed he's up to spelling Murray, even for short periods of time. He blocks very well on passing downs, and can make a big run here and there. But he cannot stay in the lineup for an entire 10 play drive, and his critical 4th quarter fumble, where he tried switching the ball hand-to-hand in the middle of traffic, showed a lack of game awareness. He's simply not clutch, and five years into his career, it's clear he never will be.
The skinny: Dallas needs another running back. DeMarco is brittle, Felix is in the final months of his contract and you don't want to rely on Phillip Tanner, whom linebackers regularly steamroll on blitzes.
Receiver: Dallas was counting on the three-man trident of Austin, Bryant and Witten to keep secondaries honest. Witten has exploded after losing September to a spleen injury. He's back at the top of his game. Austin has been steady.
Ogletree and Bryant have been all over the football map. Ogletree was the hero of the Giants win, and has done next to nothing since. He's back to dropping passes and mangling routes, the same traits which put him behind Robinson on last year's depth chart.
Bryant, meanwhile, is edging closer to Joey Galloway and Roy Williams as expensive receiver busts. (Remember, Dez cost a 1st and a 3rd round pick to acquire.) He's still running sloppy routes, misses in-play adjustments, and shows a distaste for contact. He was an outside the numbers receiver as a rookie, who ran go, fade and stop routes on the perimeters. Three years in and he still does all his damage up the sidelines. If he could field jump balls on every play, he'd be an All Pro. But this is the NFL, where you need a complete game.
The skinny: You see now why Dallas was ready to spend a 3rd round pick on Josh Gordon in the supplemental draft? Dallas has one receiver whom Tony Romo trusts, and he has a touchy hamstring. Ogletree, like Felix Jones, is months away from a new team. Dez shows no hints that he'll develop the heart, brain or nerve to deserve Michael Irvin's 88.
Dallas needs two receivers, minimum, unless and Andre Holmes morphs into a starter anytime soon, or Dez follows the yellow brick road to Oz.
That's four starters and a key reserve, and I haven't mentioned the quarterback spot. That's too big an issue for this piece, but go ahead and add a young QB to the shopping list. Stephen McGee is gone, and Dallas needs a prodigy to develop.
Six real offensive needs. That's half an offensive unit. That's nearly an entire draft. Those shortcomings should disabuse us of wishing this damaged bunch into the post-season. And where will Dallas find the extra picks to chase a safety, pass rusher, or defensive end?
"Letting the days go by, water flowing underground,
Into the blue again, after the money's gone,
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground.
Same as it ever was,
Same as it ever was..."
We're all crying, Dez.
"Same as it ever was,
same as it ever was...."
Such is the read mid-way through the 2012 Dallas Cowboys season. While Dallas has seen its primary off-season goal succeed, it cannot obscure the fact that the job was too big for one draft and one modest free agent shopping spree. Thus, the team finds itself back where it started, treading water in the widening ocean of NFL mediocrity.
The spring drive to repair the badly broken secondary has worked. Brandon Carr has been a quality starter on his corner. Morris Claiborne has steadily raised his game week to week. The two, and nickel corner Orlando Scandrick, shut down the Giants heralded duo of Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz on Sunday. Nicks gained but 46 yards receiving and the seemingly unstoppable Cruz left Cowboys Stadium with a season-low 23 yards on two receptions.
In front of them, second year linebacker Bruce Carter has emerged, much as Sean Lee did in his sophomore professional season. Lost in the bile and noise of the Giants loss was Carter's best game of his young pro career. He was aggressive on run downs and has provided outstanding coverage on tight ends all year.
They have given Dallas a major boost in pass defense, and that has made Rob Ryan's defense much better. The second half in Seattle aside, the defense has played well enough to win every Cowboys contest.
Which brings us, grudgingly, to the offense. The Miles Austin ruling, which kneecapped the Cowboys salary cap this year, meant the team had only one big-ticket free agent signing in its budget. The team gave that money to Carr. This decision precluded re-signing Laurent Robinson or signing a big-ticket offensive lineman. The Cowboys crossed their fingers and put their hope in youngsters like Dez Bryant, Kevin Ogletree, Mackenzy Bernadeau, Phil Costa and Felix Jones.
They have failed thus far. Some, like Costa and DeMarco Murray, have suffered recurring injuries. Others, mainly the receivers, have demonstrated time and again that they're not playmakers, in the Jimmy Johnson definition. Oh, they can produce an impressive stat line here and there, as Ogletree did in the first Giants game and as Bryant did in Baltimore. But when 3rd downs need to be converted, or big game clinching catches are called for, they've been invisible.
What emerges is an offense that's perhaps half a unit. Let's take this by personnel group:
Offensive line: Dallas entered 2012 knowing it needed at least two, and perhaps three interior offensive linemen. It signed Nate Livings and Bernadeau in free agency and trusted new line coach Bill Callahan to squeeze every drop of performance from there. Callahan has raised this unit from its dismal September level, but we may have seen its ceiling on Sunday. The Cowboys could not gain a single yard on four goal line runs in the 3rd quarter, a fact that probably factored in Jason Garrett's decision to pass three times after getting to 2nd and 1 at the Giants 19 on Dallas' next to last possession.
The Giants moved Tony Romo around the pocket, with nearly all the pressure coming up the middle, where the Giants tackles overpowered backup center Ryan Cook and the guards.
The skinny: Dallas still needs at least two interior offensive linemen to field a competitive line.
Running back: The Cowboys appeared to have a good 1-2 punch entering the season. DeMarco Murray looked like a bell cow back and Jones appeared to find a role as the 3rd down back. That plan also looks overly optimistic. Murray continues to suffer niggling injuries and has missed as many games as he's started.
Jones, meanwhile, has confirmed he's up to spelling Murray, even for short periods of time. He blocks very well on passing downs, and can make a big run here and there. But he cannot stay in the lineup for an entire 10 play drive, and his critical 4th quarter fumble, where he tried switching the ball hand-to-hand in the middle of traffic, showed a lack of game awareness. He's simply not clutch, and five years into his career, it's clear he never will be.
The skinny: Dallas needs another running back. DeMarco is brittle, Felix is in the final months of his contract and you don't want to rely on Phillip Tanner, whom linebackers regularly steamroll on blitzes.
Receiver: Dallas was counting on the three-man trident of Austin, Bryant and Witten to keep secondaries honest. Witten has exploded after losing September to a spleen injury. He's back at the top of his game. Austin has been steady.
Ogletree and Bryant have been all over the football map. Ogletree was the hero of the Giants win, and has done next to nothing since. He's back to dropping passes and mangling routes, the same traits which put him behind Robinson on last year's depth chart.
Bryant, meanwhile, is edging closer to Joey Galloway and Roy Williams as expensive receiver busts. (Remember, Dez cost a 1st and a 3rd round pick to acquire.) He's still running sloppy routes, misses in-play adjustments, and shows a distaste for contact. He was an outside the numbers receiver as a rookie, who ran go, fade and stop routes on the perimeters. Three years in and he still does all his damage up the sidelines. If he could field jump balls on every play, he'd be an All Pro. But this is the NFL, where you need a complete game.
The skinny: You see now why Dallas was ready to spend a 3rd round pick on Josh Gordon in the supplemental draft? Dallas has one receiver whom Tony Romo trusts, and he has a touchy hamstring. Ogletree, like Felix Jones, is months away from a new team. Dez shows no hints that he'll develop the heart, brain or nerve to deserve Michael Irvin's 88.
Dallas needs two receivers, minimum, unless and Andre Holmes morphs into a starter anytime soon, or Dez follows the yellow brick road to Oz.
That's four starters and a key reserve, and I haven't mentioned the quarterback spot. That's too big an issue for this piece, but go ahead and add a young QB to the shopping list. Stephen McGee is gone, and Dallas needs a prodigy to develop.
Six real offensive needs. That's half an offensive unit. That's nearly an entire draft. Those shortcomings should disabuse us of wishing this damaged bunch into the post-season. And where will Dallas find the extra picks to chase a safety, pass rusher, or defensive end?
"Letting the days go by, water flowing underground,
Into the blue again, after the money's gone,
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground.
Same as it ever was,
Same as it ever was..."
