Wade Phillips has well-documented issues that make me question his ability to succeed as the Cowboys' head coach, but he's always been an outstanding defensive coordinator.
Until now.
These Cowboys can't stop the run. Or the pass. At least not in the same game.
Here's the problem: The players don't know what they're supposed to do.
After giving up 174 yards to Tampa Bay's group of average runners, Phillips told us the Cowboys did a poor job of run blitzing. He said the defense hadn't practiced it much during training camp to avoid injuries during blitz drills, so the players weren't sure what gaps they were supposed to plug.
On Monday, a day after Eli Manning passed for 330 yards and two touchdowns, and a couple of average receivers such as Steve Smith and Mario Manningham combined for 20 catches, 284 yards and two touchdowns, Phillips said it was in part because the secondary didn't understand its defensive concepts.
Phillips cited Manningham's 22-yard touchdown catch late in the first half as an example.
The Cowboys blitzed, which meant Terence Newman, should've known the receiver was either going to run into the end zone or run a slant because Manning wasn't going to have time to throw anything else.
"Once our whole group understands the whole concept of what they can do, and we get a strong rush, we can take away some things better than we've been doing," Phillips said.
Are you kidding me? What a joke
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Story courtesy of www.dallasnews.com
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