Dallas Cowboys Tidbits: Don't Forget the Forgettable Defense

While the entire world awaits Jerry Jones' decision on the next Cowboys head coach, we must move on to other topics  of the off-season. We discussed earlier the offensive personnel, now let's move over to the defensive side of the line of scrimmage.

Orlando Scandrick is preparing to have a second surgery on his finger, according to Todd Archer.  

Scandrick suffered the injury on a Jon Kitna throw and missed the mini-camps after having surgery but returned for the first day of training camp. During the season he wore a splint underneath his glove for added protection but had little range of motion and strength in the digit all year. He did not miss a game all season and had one interception and 2.5 sacks.

Cowboys great Drew Pearson doesn't seem to think much of Orlando Scandrick, or the majority of the Cowboys secondary. Reported by DMN here, Pearson states that Terrence Newman is the only player back there worth keeping on the roster in an interview with Ben and Skin.

"At this point, I think everyone else is expendable," he said. "And the reason is because Newman is experienced there. And when he's healthy he's pretty good. When I look at some of these other cornerbacks in the league, even the ones that made the Pro Bowl, they're not that much better than him."

As maligned as the defense was, it did show improvement after Wade Phillips was let go. The Ft. Worth Star Telegram states here:

The Cowboys’ defense did show improvement under Pasqualoni. In the first eight games with Phillips coaching the defense, the Cowboys gave up 252 points. They gave up 184 with Pasqualoni in charge.

But the main area of improvement was takeaways. Under Phillips, the Cowboys had five interceptions and five fumble recoveries for 10 total. Under Pasqualoni, they had 15 interceptions and five fumble recoveries for 20.

While I agree those stats indicate some improvement, there's no way I'm going to sit here and say giving up 23 points a game is a quality defense. This point reduction was good, in comparison, but let's not go overboard here.

Circling back around to the kicking game, it looks as if Pro Bowl punter Matt McBriar has added reporter to his resume credentials. According to nbcdfw.com, McBriar is set to provide reports from the SuperBowl for ESPN Australia.

...he’ll be attending the big game in February as a member of the press, representing ESPN Australia, the Aussie version of the Worldwide Leader in Sports.

McBriar, a Melbourne native who earned his second Pro Bowl berth for his work in 2010, will serve as somewhat of a roving reporter for the station during Super Bowl week.

ESPN has an Australian version? Don't they speak English in Australia? I'd pay a small service fee to listen to Australians announce the Super Bowl. At the minimum, please replace the studio show!