Some Stats On How Offense and Defense Work Together

For those of you who are at all interested in examples of how the offense and defense are connected read below?

The Redskins had the ball on 9 possessions. On those 9 possessions they scored twice..but they also had drives of:

69 yds...36 yds..50 yds..46 yds..15 yds..11 yds..4 yds..3 yds..0 yds..


The Cowboys offense had drives of:

37 yds..56 yds..7 yds..62 yds..2 yds..41 yds..34 yds..25 yds..5 yds..58 yds..

The offense by having 7 of 10 drives over 25 yards gave the defense good field position all night. It actually could be 8 of 10 because one drive ended in a fumble at the half.. The only good field position the Redskins had was on their own 43 and that was on a kick off..The other kick off the defense got field position at the 33 of Washington..

So what does this mean..It means that Washington took over at their..20..24..15..5..7..17 and 23 yard line following a Cowboys punt and if you take away the 24 yard starting point because of a missed field goal the Redskins started every drive but one at or inside their 20..and the other was at the 23..It is a lot easier to stop a drive when they start that deep.


Plus by giving up so many yards on each possession the Cowboys started deep in their territory. The one exception was when the Redskins got the ball at their 7 yard line and the defense stoned them and the offense got the ball back at the Skins 34. They then scored their only touchdown.


The Redskins averaged their 20 yard line. So the field position the offense put the Skins in had as much to do with the defense as any other factor.

Is Dez the Most Over-Hyped Cowboy Pick Ever

Is Dez the Most Over-Hyped Cowboy Pick Ever


I have been around since the very first game the Cowboys played against Pittsburgh. It was my first pro game of any type. I was 13 years old and watched future HOF Bobby Lane throw for 358 yards and 5 td's. I was hooked and to this day I still am.

I have been struck by the chatter on Dez Bryant. It has been a long time since I have seen any draft pick with this type of positive buzz. He won the hearts and minds of many Cowboys fans when selected. He seems to have gotten the local media on board with his ability to catch everything. Throw it high or low, inside or outside, it doesn't seem to matter he catches everything.

He looks to have the Cowboys on board as well. The evidence is the trading to Patrick Crayton and the rumored interest in being open to trading Sam Hurd. The Cowboys coaches from day one have not held back on Dez. On draft day the Cowboys said they had him as the highest rated wide receiver and one of the highest rated guys on the board. In OTA'S and mini-camps the rhetoric has done nothing but go up.

This brings me to the point of asking is Dez Bryant the most hyped draft pick the Cowboys have ever had? Now you don't become America's team and not have high profile picks. From their very first draft pick in 1961, the great HOF'er Bob Lilly to the rest of the greats. The candidates are as follows:

1961.............Bob Lilly
1963.............Lee Roy Jordan
1974.............Ed Too Tall Jones
1975.............Randy White
1977.............Tony Dorsett
1989.............Troy Aikman
1990.............Emmitt Smith
2010.............Dez Bryant

They are all great players with the exception of Dez, who has yet to play a down. Remember I am not saying I believe Dez will accomplish any of the things these past greats have done. I am simply talking hype. So using scientific and Sherlock Holme's type logic I narrow my list.

Lilly came to an expansion team that didn't have a first year draft. Jordan and Too Tall were both very highly thought of but never received the buzz that Dez is getting. Same for White and maybe the greatest Cowboy ever Emmit Smith. BTW a note on Emmit. He was not the Cowboys first choice. Jimmy Johnson wanted to draft James Francis a linebacker.

I think the main competition for Dez is between Troy Aikman and Tony Dorsett. Both were the best players in the draft and Dallas had the number one pick in the case of Troy Aikman and the number two pick in the case of Tony Dorsett. If this was a case of the most hyped rookie ever it would be a blowout in my opion. Tony Dorsett came out of the blue. The Cowboys made a trade on draft day to get the Heisman Trophy winner out of Pittsburgh and he did not disappoint. He and Roger Staubach led the Cowboys to their second Super Bowl win in 1977..I still remember that the Cowboys have never ran a screen pass before or after that compared to Tony. It seemed he was at full speed in a split second. He is still my favorite running back..EVER..

Then there is Dez Bryant. I have no idea if the guy is as good as advertised? I am not sure if he can do enough to deserve the hyperbole but I he has built a reputation without playing a game. If he is anywhere as good as some suspect he could be the difference maker that the Cowboys got with Tony Dorsett in 1977. If not he will be totally trashed by "I told you so'ers" and the main stream media who never let the Cowboys forget that in Wade's second year they picked the Cowboys to go to the Super Bowl. I just know one thing and that is Dez is the most hyped draft pick in the Cowboys history..Of course all is IMHO..