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Question: I have been asked this question in numerous forms over the past few months. What was wrong with the Cowboys Defense in 2011, lack of talent or is Rob Ryan just not that good?
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| Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan |
ReclinerQB Thoughts: I think the problems with the defense in 2011 are a combination of three things: 1) Ryan runs a complicated defense and with very little off-season he was unable to properly install it, 2) Lack of talent, and 3) Communication
Rob Ryan Defense - Ryan runs a complicated defense with lots of movement and complicated blitz and coverage schemes designed to confuse opposing offenses, and with the Cowboys coming from the over simplified Wade Phillips Defense the previous 4 years, they did not have time to properly install it and fully understand it.
Lack Of Talent - Lets be honest, the only "true" playmakers that the Cowboys have on defense right now are DeMarcus Ware and maybe Jay Ratliff, and Ratliff is a stretch as his numbers and effectiveness have been dwindling over the last few years. We think we have talented players in Sean Lee, Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick, but none of them have been able to stay healthy or play consistently. We don't know what we have yet in Bruce Carter. And the rest of the guys are role players and nothing more. So while everyone also claims that the Cowboys are a very "talented" team, I don't see much of it on the defensive side of the ball.
Communication - Last and definitely not least, is communication. When running a complicated defense with multiple alignments and people constantly shifting pre-snap, you must make sure that there is communication on all levels. Players and Ryan alike mentioned multiple times this year that communication was a major problem. This problem should be solved with a full off-season and a better understanding of the scheme that Ryan runs.
As a big fan of Rob Ryan, and someone who has wanted him for years (you can ask my wife and she will tell you how bad I have been wanting him as our defensive coordinator), I was more disappointed than most fans in the collapse of the defense. The one thing I cannot figure out, is our defense was dominant the first few games of the season, and then it fell off the cliff, and besides our secondary seeming to forget how to cover, I did not notice any other glaring differences. It was almost like the defense got tired, Sean Lee and Mike Jenkins got a little banged up, Kenyon Coleman just flat stood there, Terence Newman looked lost and Bradie James and Keith Brooking lost what little they had.
With a full off-season of coaching, some new young talent added through the draft and a few smart veteran depth acquisitions I think we will see a huge jump in the defensive product on the field.
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