Get ready Cowboys fans; everybody's getting excited about the "Phillips 34" defense. I'll just go ahead with that moniker, instead of the cumbersome "Wade Phillip's version of the 3-4". Besides, if Matt Mosley says it's the Phillips 34, it must be true. After all, he works for ESPN now.
As a general rule, it's a good sign when people name defensive schemes after your family, although the "Zimmer 3-4" never quite caught on.
Note to Mosley, Phillips calls it the "34" not the "3-4". It sounds cooler that way, it has more bling, like the Bears 46 did. Plus, that saves me from typing the dash.
But nobody is as excited as Marcus Spears, who is absolutely giddy at the thought of playing in the Phillips 34.
"You can't even imagine how I felt when I heard the announcement made," Spears said. "Coach Parcells called me out in the media. Now it's on the players shoulders and I welcome that. You have no idea how excited I am."
The former LSU star says the Cowboys' defense was under the microscope quite a bit last season.
"I've been under a lot of scrutiny in Dallas, man," Spears said. "We as a defense, especially down the stretch, playing a mix of 3-4 and 4-3, have been under intense scrutiny. I'm really looking forward to letting loose and showing these Cowboys fans my potential."
"It's a fresh start now for us," Spears said. "It's a fresh start for me and Chris Canty. Look at what (Shawne) Merriman has done under Coach Phillips. Now think of what DeMarcus Ware will do. It's scary when you think about it. His players' production is a product of the 'Phillips' 3-4. It's different and better than most. I would rather have Coach Phillips and his way."
Uhm, I'm guessing Spears was not a big Parcells fan! That dude sounds like he's ready to play today. He better, because whether it was scheme or something else, Spears needs to start producing.
The interesting thing here is that we took Ware and Spears and San Diego took Merriman and Castillo. So not only do we have the Ware/Merriman debate that will take on a whole new look with Wade now in Dallas, but there's the Spears/Castillo debate. The article does a good job of discussing that angle.
Hat tip to silverblue5 for the link.
Here's a good story on Tony Romo and his family. His sister has quite the sharp tongue, stinging Romo with this barb when he was down after dropping the snap in Seattle.
"She said to Tony, 'Get off the cross, we need the wood,'" Ramiro Romo said. In other words, suck up the pain and the embarrassment, it's time to move on.
"Yeah, she was pretty straight-forward about it," Romo said, flashing an understanding grin. Sure, he may be big stuff in the sports world these days, but he's still the little brother of the family.
Hat tip to dunkman for the link.