2. Dallas Cowboys
Lost in the never-ending turbulence surrounding the
Cowboys—Troy
Aikman's and Emmitt Smith's and Michael Irvin's miseries last
year, the imported consultants, the extra security measures
in camp—is the fact that the one area of the team that has
never
really cracked is the
defense.
It never gets much credit—or
publicity. How can it, when three potential Hall of Famers
are putting up the big numbers on offense, working behind a
line that sent three players to the Pro Bowl last season?
But defensive coordinator Dave Campo's unit
has been awfully good, No. 1 in the NFL for 11 weeks last
year.
It doesn't look so good now. There's too much missing, too
many question
marks.
Former coach Jimmy Johnson built his defense with a bunch
of no-names who had speed. He converted linebackers to down
linemen and defensive backs to linebackers; everyone ran
and pursued, and the formula worked. When Dallas lost, it
was usually because
it got outmuscled up front, but that didn't happen
often.
Maybe things will work out, but I get the feeling that this
is the year the defense cracks. The biggest off-season loss
was weakside linebacker Darrin Smith, 230 pounds, fast and
a player with great cover instincts. But the Cowboys don't
believe in
paying big bucks to linebackers—eight have left since 1994—so
free agency took Smith to Philadelphia.
Star tackle Leon Lett will miss at least 13 games while he
serves the remainder of his one-year suspension for
violating the league's substance-abuse policy. Chad
Hennings, a power rusher, was a decent complement to Lett,
but he'll be teamed with
33-year-old Tony Casillas, whose best days are behind him. Until
Lett returns, the interior will be a target, meaning
31-year-old middle linebacker Fred Strickland will earn his
paycheck.
With the recently retired Charles Haley out for all but
five games last year, the outside rush fell to Tony
Tolbert. He came through with 12 sacks, but he's operating
on bad knees, and his playing time will be limited. No one
else on this team is in his
class.
The strength of the Dallas defense is the secondary, but
what if Deion Sanders can't make it? Under the terms of his
contract with the Cincinnati Reds, he can leave on weekends
to play cornerback, then return to the Reds. In August,
however, he was
getting cortisone injections for a bulging disc in his lower
back and was sitting out games. "I'm going to be
playing football in two weeks, and I can't even run,"
he said last month. Plus, at 30 he's no youngster
anymore.
Darren Woodson is an exceptional strong safety, and the
Cowboys were lucky to keep free safety Brock Marion when it
appeared he would sign with the Ravens. The other corner is
Kevin Smith, who tied Woodson for the team lead in
interceptions last year,
with five. But without Sanders, this isn't a unit that can
carry a
defense.
Rookies? Well, the fourth-round draft pick,
6'6", 318-pound tackle Antonio
Anderson, could be starting by late September. Then there's
5'9", 215-pound Dexter Coakley, a third-round pick out
of Appalachian State who's the new weakside linebacker.
He's a shrimp, but with 4.47 speed in the 40, he's a fast
shrimp. "He can run down anything that moves,"
Campo says. "Plus he's a sharp kid.
He's eager to learn. You see him sitting there in the meetings,
all bright-eyed, with his notebook open, and it gives you a
good
feeling."
Coakley will see a lot of screens and flood patterns. And
the defense will be put to the test early. It's a
well-coached unit, but it won't be the dominating force
we've grown accustomed to seeing.—Paul Zimmerman
SCHEDULE
SKINNY
The highlight is the Nov. 23 trip to Green Bay; the Cowboys
have won eight straight over the Packers, the last seven in
Dallas. The game comes three weeks after a crucial stretch
in which the Cowboys play four of five games on the
road—against the
Giants, the Redskins, the Eagles and the 49ers, with a home date
against the Jaguars in the
middle.
STRENGTH OF
SCHEDULE
NFL rank: 1
Opponents' 1996 winning
percentage: .559
Games against playoff
teams: 7
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