Victor Butler could be a huge beneficiary of Ryan's style. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

The Cowboys were awful on defense last year — historically bad, in fact. You could make a pretty strong argument that they were the worst defense in franchise history. Yesterday, they re-signed Gerald Sensabaugh, ensuring that they will return 10 of 11 starters from last years’ dismal unit. Much is being made over this and rightfully so. The defense ineptitude was tough to watch and the single biggest factor in the fiasco that was the 2010 season. However, it’s important to remember that this exact same group was a borderline dominant defense in 2009 and there is no reason why they can’t get back to that level.

Last year, Wade Phillips completely lost his team some time during training camp, and, not surprisingly, the unit that he specifically coached was a big problem.  But, they still have talent.  DeMarcus Ware might be the best defensive player on the planet.  Even the biggest Cowboy hater will concede that.  Jay Ratliff is an absolute beast.  Bradie James still has something to give and Sean Lee is a player on the rise.  This defense has the potential to be at least decent again.  Last year, they went soft under Phillips.  They need a culture change.  They need to play with a big ole’ chip on their shoulders.  And, Rob Ryan seems like he is just the guy to help them get their swagger back. (more…)

Taylor has been writing some scathing columns about the Dallas Cowboys, and frankly, many readers are just getting tired with it. So, he challenged some of his readers to come up with some positive story ideas that he can write about. When they did, he declined and said he’d write about the charity and foundation work later. He’s stuck on bashing the Boys and if you don’t like it, stop reading. You can read his unusual column here.

Now, it is a bit unfair for readers to have inside information on what positive stories could be told within the Cowboys organization. But there has to be SOMETHING one of these guys could write that would slightly change the dark cloud hanging over the organization right now. It’s just spin after spin and “source” after “source.”

Bottom line: I don’t want to hear any more whining from you about what I write. If you do happen to come up with one, send it here.

Yikes. Sounds like someone needs some thicker skin.

Jerry Jones is sticking behind Phillips early on, which is typical of owners and head coaches after a big loss. But we know Jerry Jones is considering a shake up. This was a humiliating loss for him.

“It does not change my thoughts on Wade,” Jerry Jones said of the loss. “He’s our coach. “But this was a significant setback. I hate it for our fans. We had a tremendous opportunity as players and coaches, and we didn’t take advantage of it. We missed a great opportunity.”

It sounds like Taylor wrote right out of my blog today because we are on the exact same page with our criticism.

When you have 12 Pro Bowl players, you’re supposed to be able to win at least one home playoff game. This team, however, played its best football of the season in the first half of its November win over Green Bay. It never came close to reaching that level again. That’s the head coach’s responsibility. His only job is to make sure the team is ready to play, and Phillips failed to do that in the season’s biggest game.

Taylor also discussed the defense. Phillips, famed for his defensive coordinating skills, certainly didn’t make this defense one of the NFL’s elite in his first year as coach. We expected he would do better, as Taylor points out:

The man who occasionally calls himself Mr. Fix It was hired to make this a dominant defensive unit. At no point Sunday did the defense, his baby, seize control of the game. The Cowboys held Brandon Jacobs to 54 rushing yards and Eli Manning to 163 passing yards but didn’t force a single turnover. And the seven-play, 71-yard touchdown drive they surrendered in the final 53 seconds of the first half gave New York all the belief it needed to win the game. In the second half, the Cowboys lost their poise, making mistake after mistake after mistake. There were penalties, dropped passes and mental errors.

And how does he end his column? He does so with a graph: