Oct 21, 2012; Charlotte, NC, USA; Dallas Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne (24) celebrates with linebacker Orie Lemon (58) after making an interception in the end zone in the second quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

If you ignore the stats and just watch the film of his 2012 season, I think you will be quite impressed with Claiborne’s game. He started out the season strong and played a very good game against Hakeem Nicks in the Cowboys’ opener against the New York Giants. He didn’t produce the number of interceptions that the Dallas Cowboys were hoping for, but he didn’t give up many big plays either.

One physical attribute for a cornerback that isn’t talked about enough is arm length.  A cornerback with long arms can knock away passes even when he is slightly out of position. A cornerback’s long arms can help create the perception that he is closer to the receiver than he actually is.

Morris Claiborne has some of the longest arms in the NFL today the the cornerback position. Below is a chart comparing arm lengths between different cornerbacks currently in the league.

Elite cornerbacks like Revis and Sherman rival Claiborne’s rare arm length. Claiborne has a three inch advantage in length compared to Prince Amukamara, a first round draft pick of the New York Giants in 2011.

Claiborne uses his exceptionally long arms very well. He loves to “punch” wide receivers at the line of scrimmage and get them off balance once the ball has been snapped. He also uses his long arms to knock  away passes from receivers as they bring the ball into their body. Chicago Bear cornerback Charles Tillman became well known in 2012 because of the “Peanut Punch” where he would punch the ball away from the offensive player. Claiborne uses his length to wedge his arms between the receivers’ arms.

Physical Tools

At 5’11, Claiborne is a little shorter than some of the conerbacks the NFL has seen lately, especially when compared to the tandem in Seattle (Richard Sherman 6’3 and Brandon Browner 6’4). But his size is considered average when compared to the rest of the league. Claiborne isn’t a blazer either, only running a 4.5 in the 40 yard dash, but he is an exceptionally fluid athlete. He has outstanding body control and can contort his body to make some incredible plays on the ball.

Coverage Ability

Before I talk about all the excellent things that Morris Claiborne does in coverage, let me get to the negatives. Because he is such a gifted athlete on the football field, sometimes he can get lazy with his technique when he believes his athleticism and length can bail him out. Claiborne also struggled this year with his press coverage mainly due to a wrist injury that prevented him from lifting weights all off-season. At times, he struggled with getting off wide receivers at the line of scrimmage because of his lack of strength in his wrist and arms. Going into 2013 without the wrist injury, he should be able to regain his strength and improve in press coverage.

Ball Skills

The 2012 stats didn’t show it, but Claiborne’s ball skills are already at the top of the league. He plays the ball like a natural wide receiver and his head is always turned looking for the ball. He has soft hands and doesn’t fight the ball when trying to catch it. Claiborne does seem have a nose for the ball, as a rookie he returned a fumble for a touchdown and intercepted one pass.

Tackling

Claiborne isn’t a strong tackler, but he is a willing tackler and there is a difference.  He struggled with his tackling in the final game of the year against Washington, but that could have been blamed on a concussion that occurred a few weeks prior. He  needs to learn to lower his pad level before he hits as sometimes he is too upright when trying to make a tackle. 

To give an example of what Morris Claiborne’s exceptional arm length can do in the course of a play, I  analyzed a play that potentially saved four points for the Cowboys. The play below occurred during the  Cowboys second game against the New York Giants. On a 3rd & 10 in the first quarter, Eli Manning targets Hakeem Nicks (top of screen) on a back-shoulder fade against cornerback Morris Claiborne. 

Claiborne is playing outside leverage on Nicks, meaning that he is allowing an outside pass instead of anything in the middle of the field. Claiborne also has help in the deep middle of the field so if Manning is going to complete a pass, it will have to be outside the numbers, near the side-line.

As Nicks’ left hand is catching the ball, Claiborne’s right hand is actually on the ball (The pink gloves make it hard to see but Nick’s right hand is outside of Claiborne’s). 

Claiborne’s long arms allow him to sneak his hand between Nicks’ and enables him to knock the ball away.

The long arms and excellent athleticism make Morris Claiborne a special player in my mind. The interceptions weren’t there in 2012, but that doesn’t take away from how well he played during the season. If Morris Claiborne can continue to improve on his impressive rookie campaign, the Dallas Cowboys might be looking at the next shutdown cornerback in the NFL.

December 9, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones walks on the field before the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Cowboys finished 8 – 8 for the second year in a row.  These Cowboys are the epitome of mediocre.  Change is called for and change should take place, but will change happen?

Probably not.

Is this acceptable?  This is THE Dallas Cowboys after all, America’s Team.  They were integral in the shaping and development and wild popularity of the NFL.  The Cowboys are winners.  They’ve been to more SuperBowls than any other team.  They have the best uniforms, their cheerleaders are world famous.  They have a hole in the roof so God can look down and watch his favorite team play.  That big, expensive stadium, the largest domed structure in the world, I think, worthy of champions.  Does any of this speak of mediocrity?

But mediocrity we have, for about 16 years now.  SIXTEEN YEARS!  We still can claim to be the most popular team, the biggest draw for TV ratings, but it’s all eroding, and will continue to erode, as long as being average, being mediocre, is accepted.

The excuse/theory many use is that, do to the successful push by the NFL for parody, most teams are average, with the opportunity each year, with a few breaks, for a mediocre team to make a SuperBowl run, a la the New York Giants or the 8 – 8 Arizona Cardinals a few years ago.  The salary cap dictates this.  This does make sense, if every team was coached the same and all draft choices worked out as scouted.  They don’t so it doesn’t.

Can any team beat another in this NFL on any given Sunday?  Absolutely.  This is, after all, why they play the games.  But, at the same time, we can all point out, right now, the best teams and the worst teams.  These current playoffs not withstanding.  I’ll spare the list, but suffice it to say that the Dallas Cowboys don’t fit in either category, same as 2/3 of the league.  In truth, the only teams that hang there hat on the ‘get hot at the right time and make a run’ theory, like the Cowboys do, are the teams in that 2/3.  They know they are not the best, but they certainly know they aren’t the Jacksonville Jaguars either.

Jerry Jones seems to have, over the last 6 years for sure, accepted that his Dallas Cowboys can’t be great, so he shoots for just above average.  At least that’s how it seems.  He wants a team that can make it to the playoffs, instead of insisting on a team that can win a SuperBowl.

The playoffs aren’t good enough for CowboysNation, or they shouldn’t be.  The Dallas Cowboys should be SuperBowl or bust.

The Cowboys play in the biggest stage in the NFL in Cowboys Stadium.  But they are not, as currently assembled or coached, worthy of that grand a stage.  No wonder that they don’t really have a home field advantage.

Listen, I like Cowboys head coach, Jason Garrett.  The team he puts out on the field never quits,  they are scrappy.  But I don’t think CowboysNation wants a scrappy, never gonna quit, team.  CowboysNation wants a winner.  They don’t want a team that can ‘make a run’, they want a winner.  No offense, Garrett, but CowboysNation – we – don’t want to ‘be great today’, we want to be great this year.  We want to be great all the time.

Jerry Jones is gonna make things uncomfortable at Valley Ranch, in part to appease CowboysNation.  Uncomfortable?  Really?  Our collective eyes roll.

He senses the fan base is uneasy.  He’s right.

Credit: Brad Mills-USA Today Sports

We were all fooled.  With the seemingly miraculous ways that the Cowboys came back and won games in the back half of the season, you just knew that they had one more in them.  When they scored and got the two-point conversion to get to within 3 points of the Redskins at 21-18, it raised just enough hope that this team was going to find a way to do it once again.  But, one more awful decision and awful throw by Tony Romo later on a night full of mistakes, the game was effectively over.  Our season was too.  Another bitterly disappointing 8-8 season without a playoff appearance.  The drought continues.

Gauging the feelings of most Cowboy fans after the disappointing loss, they basically fell into two camps.  One group, the Pollyannas, seemed to say, “Oh well.  Nice try.  No matter what happens, I’m not a bandwagon fan.  I bleed silver and blue and always will”.  They look upon anyone who dares utter a negative word as “not a real fan” and a “hater”.  Essentially, they are saying that their loyalty to “their team” is unwavering.  If the Cowboys were to go winless for 20 seasons in a row and become the absolute laughing stock of the NFL, they would proudly proclaim their allegiance.  I’m guessing these folks still believe in Santa Claus and the tooth fairy but their loyalty is indeed admirable.

The second group, the Bitters, are filled with such utter disappointment that they hate everyone and everything to do with the Cowboys after a game like this.  The team sucks.  Tony Romo is a scrub and a pretender.  Jason Garrett is probably gay and clubs baby seals in the off season just for fun.  Jerry Jones is nothing but a slick snake oil salesman and is probably a pedophile.  No excuse is valid for not winning the Super Bowl and going undefeated every season.  I’m guessing this group did not experience much disappointment in life or has experienced so much disappointment that their only hope for happiness was a winning Cowboys team.

The truth as it often is in situations such as this lies somewhere in between.  I’m as disappointed as any fan could be with a second straight failure in a “win or go home” season finale.  I feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest when they lose like this – getting your hopes up, making you believe that you might actually be able to go to work the next day with your head held high – before folding embarrassingly like a house of cards in front of a national audience.  It sucks.  It hurts.  The viciousness of the Redskin fans before and after the game made it that much worse.  They had a lot of stored up hatred as they’ve been the laughing stock of the division for quite a few years.  It all came pouring out on Sunday.

Take Romo, for example.  He had another abysmal big-game failure in front of millions reinforcing the idea that he is Danny White reincarnated.  But, the truth is that before this game he had a great back half of the season after stinking it up in the first half.  His clutch play was one of the only reasons we were even in a position to play for the division title.  He is a talented athlete without a doubt and at times can be a magician on the football field.  But, true greatness – at least up until now – escapes him.  I could at least see this year that he truly cared.  His “Eh, it’s just football.  There are much bigger things in life” attitude in years past was a little hard to take.

Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

But, I’m also not going to abandon the Cowboys over this game or this season.  I’ve been a Cowboy fan through a lot of great years and I’ve been there through the bad ones.  I’m not going to burn my Romo jersey or sell my Romo helmet.  We’re in a rough patch and looks like we may be stuck here for a few more years at least.  It’s likely to get a lot worse before it gets any better – unless you’re the Colts.  There are lots of valid reasons for another 8-8 season: injuries, poor coaching, poor play calling, etc.  But, anyone that isn’t a casual fan knows that rooting for “America’s Team” can sometimes be a challenge.  What that title really means is we’re the team that most of America either loves with blind abandon or hates with an irrational but white-hot, burning hatred.  Not a lot of NFL fans in between those extremes.

So, the Cowboy’s needs are indeed great.  But, a lot of things will be written about the moves the Cowboys should make, who they should draft, who they should re-sign, who they should cut and burn in effigy.  But, we’ll save the specifics of that for other articles.  Right now, I just need to go back to work after a holiday break, get away from the Cowboys and the NFL for a few days, and re-load my enthusiasm.  It was a very tough year.  Go Cowboys Fans!  (And here’s hoping that Seattle destroys the Redskins on Sunday!  For now at least, they are the team I hate the most!)

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