Last night, I went on a rant about Parcells, DeMarcus Ware and the defensive game plan and execution against the pass in the flats. I wake up this morning and read this in the DFW S-T.
But try as he might, he couldn't completely shake his team's humiliating play against the Saints and particularly his own struggles. Unlike some of his teammates, Ware took personal responsibility for the loss.
"It was real embarrassing," Ware said. "I feel like I lost the game."
Saints coach Sean Payton has been hailed for coming up with a great game plan, but Ware said the Cowboys' defense suffered a breakdown in execution while allowing five touchdown passes by quarterback Drew Brees and a season-high 536 yards of offense. He also took the blame for some of the breakdowns.
Ware said his main goal against the Saints was to get to the quarterback, but they ran screens and draws to slow him down.
He said one of his mistakes occurred on a screen to Reggie Bush that resulted in a 61-yard catch and run for a touchdown, blowing the game open in the third quarter.
"We were prepared for it," Ware said. "But I messed up. If the back flares out, I've got to pick him. But I got a late read. I couldn't pick him up. They tried to take advantage of my aggressiveness. I lost the game. That's how I feel."
I don't think Ware lost the game as he states, but he definitely was making some mistakes in the game that proved costly.
Once again, Roy Williams name comes up as a detriment to the Cowboys defense as a cover safety after allowing a couple of huge catches in the Saints game. It's often been pondered why the Cowboys don't move him to linebacker. Here's JJT on the subject.
Let's examine this realistically.
It's never going to happen as long as Bill Parcells coaches the Cowboys. That's because the 3-4 defense requires linebackers in the 250-pound range. Williams weighs about 230 pounds.
He might work as a linebacker in the 4-3, where he's protected by defensive linemen, but the 3-4 is all about winning one-on-one battles against much bigger players, especially at linebacker.
At linebacker, he'd still have to cover tight ends and running backs, so there would still be issues with his ability to cover. There are few perfect players.
Williams is flawed, but he remains one of the few safeties in the NFL capable of dominating a game. He also leads the team with five interceptions.
He's not perfect, but he remains a better player than most people think.
"There's a rumor going around they might even put Vick back there," Ayodele said Tuesday to a visitor from Atlanta. "There" being the Falcons backfield, where Warrick Dunn and Jerious Norwood are questionable. "Vick" being Michael, the quarterback with the fancy feet.
"Not like he can't. He can create so much trickery out of that -- reverses, double reverses, halfback pass. I'm thinking about it and wondering -- why haven't they thought about it before?"
Suddenly, this is a defense susceptible to anything. The way the Cowboys played in losing to New Orleans 42-17 Sunday, they very well could give up 15 yards to a suggestion.
We've been talking about Romo coming back this week after a bad game, but we might as well throw the defense in there, too. They need a good game to re-establish some confidence.