Ware Can Be Even Better Under Phillips? Scheme
Last year DeMarcus Ware led the Cowboys with 11.5 sacks, and just two years ago, Coach Phillips was looking at both Ware and Shawne Merriman in the 2005 draft as the top two defensive players available. As it worked out for the then-Defensive Coordinator for the Chargers, the Cowboys selected Ware with the 11th overall pick and he was able to get Merriman with the 12th.
“We obviously liked both of them,” Phillips said. “We brought both of them in. They were two of the top players in the draft. We thought they were good players.” Phillips was accurate in his assessment then as both players were selected to last year’s Pro Bowl and both turned out to be playmakers early on in their careers. But what a surprise it must have been to Phillips when he got the opportunity to coach both players.
“Coach Phillips knows how to coach the 3-4 and he can put pressure on the quarterback. That’s why we’re excited about it,” said Ware. Everyone knows how succesful Phillips’ scheme was in San Diego that allowed Merriman to get 27 sacks last year, so excitement is high about how his scheme will work here in Dallas.
“You always want to get better each year - you don’t want to go backwards,” Ware said. “So I had 11 ½ last year, I want more than that. I don’t know how much more, but just a little bit higher.”
“This defense allows me to do what I do best and that’s get to the quarterback,” Ware said. “I want to be a well-rounded player. That’s one of my goals this year is to be more of a complete player. And that means getting better in coverage and my drops. But the main thing I still do in this defense is pass rush. So that’s why I like it. It’s going to allow us to make more plays and attack.”
This holds true for the entire defense as players such as Jason Ferguson and LB’s Akin Ayodelle and Bradie James hope to improve upon their sack totals as well. But they all agree that the key to this year’s pass rush is Ware.
The difference between this year’s 3-4 scheme and last year’s is that Ware will rotate to the weak side and play opposite the tight end every play. This will help to stop some of the double-teams he faced last year, and reduce some of the coverage duties. He will still be an OLB, but pressuring the QB will be his specialty.
Monday Night Football
NFL Films will be filming the Dallas Cowboys training camp on Sunday, and will be showing the footage on Monday, July 30th, at 7PM CST.Monday Night Football
NFL Films will be filming the Dallas Cowboys training camp on Sunday, and will be showing the footage on Monday, July 30th, at 7PM CST.Offensive Line Remains Number One Concern
As training camp for the Dallas Cowboys begin, the offensive line is still a major concern.Offensive Line Remains Number One Concern
As training camp for the Dallas Cowboys begin, the offensive line is still a major concern.Can anyone say Training Camp?
A look at training camp for the Dallas CowboysCan anyone say Training Camp?
A look at training camp for the Dallas CowboysIn Before T.O.
Terrell Owens will be in the media spotlight this season, and probably sooner rather than later. The question is whether or not it will be valid, or if they media will just be milking his name.In Before T.O.
Terrell Owens will be in the media spotlight this season, and probably sooner rather than later. The question is whether or not it will be valid, or if they media will just be milking his name.Former Cowboy Joey Galloway and the AFL
Joey Galloway and the Columbus Destroyers are 60 Minutes away from an ArenaBowl Championship
Joey Galloway’s Columbus Destroyers take on the San Jose SaberCats in ArenaBowl XXI on July 29, 3:00PM ET on ABC
By Gregg Hayim
Joey Galloway knows a thing or two about defying the odds. Listed generously at 5’11 197 LB’s, Galloway doesn’t exactly fit the mold of today’s larger NFL receivers. However, lack of physical prowess has never hindered the 13 year veteran’s effectiveness. And his resiliency is making a mark on a new team, not a team he plays for, but a team he owns. That’s right, Galloway is the co-owner of an Arena Football League team, the Columbus Destroyers, who will play in ArenaBowl XXI against the San Jose SaberCats in New Orleans on Sunday, July 29 at 3 pm ET on ABC.
Five times Galloway has registered 1,000-yard receiving seasons and on three occasions he has been named to the Pro-Bowl team as an alternate. The interesting thing about those 1,000-yard seasons is not so much how they were accomplished, but rather when they were accomplished. The first three were achieved during his first four seasons in the league. The last two came during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. A six year gap wedged in between.
Galloway tore the ACL in his left knee during a week one match-up while playing for the Dallas Cowboys in 2000. The injury required season ending surgery. To a player so reliant on speed, it very easily could have been career ending. Fortunately, it was not. Galloway rehabbed the knee and was back on the field for the start of the 2001 season. However, the explosiveness that defined his game during his tenure in Seattle just wasn’t there. Galloway spent three more seasons in Dallas, never eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark and never quite looking like the game-breaking deep threat both Ohio State Buckeye and Seattle Seahawks fans came to know and love.
Acquired from Dallas by Tampa Bay in exchange for the disgruntled Keyshawn Johnson in 2004, Galloway has since resurrected his career. At the age of 36, Galloway has posted consecutive 1,000-yard seasons for the first time since the late 90’s and has once again emerged as a premier big-play threat.
But the field isn’t the only place where Galloway has been active. In 2003, he purchased a minority stake in the Arena Football League’s Columbus Destroyers; a team that on July 29th will take the field in New Orleans to play for the right to call themselves ArenaBowl Champions. If the past month is any indicator, Galloway must have infused a little bit of his own resiliency into his team.
It’s been an up and down season for the Columbus Destroyers. A turbulent ride that seems to have found a patch of clear air at just the right time–playoff time. The Destroyers certainly didn’t do themselves any favors during their midseason five-loss skid. Concluding the regular season with a record of 7-9 was good enough to squeak them into the playoffs, but it also ensured that they would have to go on the road throughout — a journey that included trips to both Dallas and Georgia, two teams with a collective record of 29-3.
Three straight road victories later, the Destroyers are still playing the role of Cinderella. “It’s never easy; we’ve been just run through three big-time cities and three great football teams,” quarterback Matt Nagy told the Columbus Dispatch. In the past three weeks the Destroyers, as a whole, have demonstrated the type of moxi that seemed to elude them all season long. A conspicuous display of outright self-assurance has put the Arena Football world on notice; the word “fluke” is not to be used to describe their efforts.
On Saturday night, they looked as though they had built sturdy leads on two separate occasions. They went up 21-7 early and then widened the gap to 42-21 later on. In both instances they saw the lead dissipate. In fact, Georgia grabbed a 49-48 advantage and seemed to have seized all momentum. How did the Destroyers respond? By closing out the game by outscoring the Force 18-7. Not a bad retort indeed.
If the Columbus Destroyers do in fact complete this improbably journey by capturing the first ArenaBowl Championship in franchise history, they will look back and credit their new found resiliency as the catalyst. A team- and an owner- who at times were knocked down, but refused to stay there.
KICKOFF FOR ARENABOWL XXI IS SCHEDULED FOR 3:00 ON JULY 29. THE GAME WILL BE BROADCASTED ON ABC.