Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin receive the credit for the Cowboys’ 1990 dynasty. Ring of Honor. Mustard-colored Hall of Fame jackets. Eternal heroes in DFW.
Deservedly so.
But ask any member of those three Super Bowl teams – including the famed “Triplets” – and they’ll tell you the sustained success was as much about a dramatically lesser-known eight as it was those high-profile three.
Tony Tolbert.
Tony Casillas.
Russell Maryland.
Jim Jeffcoat.
Leon Lett.
Charles Haley.
Jimmie Jones.
Chad Hennings.
“We came at you in waves,” said Casillas, a crucial cog in Dallas’ defensive line depth. “We basically had eight guys who could start for any team in the NFL. We got after ’em pretty good, and we didn’t let up.”
Powered by the stable of talent along the line, the Cowboys were the NFL’s No. 1 defense in 1992. From 1992-93 they recorded 78 sacks, spread so consistently that only Jeffcoat produced a season of 10-plus. While Aikman, Smith and Irvin scored the touchdowns, earned the accolades and gobbled up the endorsements, Dallas’ swarm of defensive linemen – without a single Pro Bowl honor or cutesy nickname – made mere playoff mortals of quarterbacks named Brett Favre, Steve Young and Jim Kelly, and allowed Larry Brown to be a Super Bowl MVP.
Jimmy Johnson repeatedly has called those defensive lines his teams’ “backbone.”
In the quarter century since the Cowboys’ last Super Bowl, they’ve chased and flailed and embarrassingly whiffed in their attempts to duplicate that depth. Until … this year?
After decades of wasted high draft picks on potential pass rushers such as Kavika Pittman, Greg Ellis, Ebenezer Ekuban, Marcus Spears and Anthony Spencer, the Cowboys seemingly have a depth chart that will finally transform a weakness into an asset.
“Talk to any of the top football minds and they’ll still tell you: Great football teams are built from the inside out. It starts along both lines,” long-time Cowboys radio voice Brad Sham said on our PressBoxDFW Live! vodcast. “The Cowboys addressed the offensive line with some top picks, and now they’ve made some shrewd moves on the defensive side. This group of defensive linemen has a chance to be pretty darn good.”
DeMarcus Lawrence.
Robert Quinn.
Randy Gregory.
Tyrone Crawford.
Maliek Collins.
Antwaun Woods.
Taco Charlton.
Trysten Hill.
Obviously, there are questions.
About the injuries that are keeping Lawrence (shoulder) and Crawford (hip) out of training camp in Oxnard, California. About Gregory’s looming reinstatement request in the wake of a fourth substance abuse suspension. About Crawford’s possible suspension after his involvement in an off-season bar brawl. And, mostly, about that pratfall last January.
The self-proclaimed “Hot Boyz” were steady and, at times – thanks to Lawrence’s relentless pressure off the edge – spectacular last season. They helped Dallas regroup from a 3-5 start to win the NFC East and a playoff game. They were the league’s No. 5 run defense. But on the verge of a validated coronation as one of the NFL’s elite defensive fronts, they were stunningly gashed by the Rams.
It’s one thing to surrender 115 yards to Todd Gurley. But it’s wholly embarrassing to allow C.J. Anderson, who was unemployed just three weeks before the playoff game, another 123. In the 30-22 loss, the Cowboys’ previously vaunted defense recorded zero sacks and gave up 459 yards, including 273 and three touchdowns on the ground.
From Hot Boyz, to Not ’Boys.
“We got beaten,” said Crawford. “It’s a scar we’re going to have to wear the rest of our life.”
The Rams reportedly knew the Cowboys’ plans pre-snap, based on tips like how closely Collins shaded the center, or whether Crawford had his left or right hand on the ground.
Said Rams’ center John Sullivan: “We felt we had a lot of good tells on what they were going to do in front of us.”
Bottom line: The Rams hitters knew what pitches were coming.
Aside from tweaking their poker faces, coordinator Rod Marinelli’s crew must continue to improve from within, and implement the hired help.
Lawrence is a game-changing superstar, along the lines of Haley or DeMarcus Ware. Crawford is consistent, but ideally the Cowboys would love to release him in order to free up considerable salary cap room to help the contract reworks of Ezekiel Elliott, Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper.
Collins is blossoming into a monster run-stuffer, and played the most snaps of any defensive linemen last season. Dallas is counting on free agent Robert Quinn, who had 40 sacks with 13 forced fumbles from 2012-14 with the Rams, to offset Lawrence. Charlton should be the swing end, but after an underwhelming couple of years this is his sink-or-swim season. The Cowboys took a gamble on Hill’s raw talent with their top pick, 58th overall.
As much as any team in the league, the Cowboys emphasize initial quickness off the snap. That first step is the key to their gap-penetrating scheme and the slants and stunts that define their four-man rush concepts.
“If you’ve got the greatest defensive backs on the planet and linebackers in the National Football League, if we get controlled up front and the defensive line can’t hold up, then you’re not going to have a chance to win the game,” said head coach Jason Garrett. “So we value that. We’ve always valued that, and we’ll continue to do that going forward.”
Though they long ago wrote off David Irving’s immense talent, godawful TV ads with attorney Ben Abbott, and propensity to gravitate toward marijuana, the Cowboys are still counting on Gregory. He was suspended indefinitely in February and, despite being drafted in 2015, has only played in 14 career games. If harnessed, his speed, tenacity and, yes, lightning first step, opposite Lawrence could be devastating.
Said owner Jerry Jones at his Oxnard state of the team press conference last weekend: “As hard as he has worked and as conscientious as he is, I think he’s got a chance to come in and make a big contribution for us.”
More proof that it’s the strongest position on the team, the Cowboys have high hopes for former Houston Texan Christian Covington, former Detroit Lion Kerry Hyder and 2018 fourth-round pick Dorance Armstrong. And shortly after his team drafted Joe Jackson in April, Marinelli jumped on the phone and asked the University of Miami defensive end a simple question:
“You ready to go bite somebody’s chin off?!”
The Cowboys haven’t won a road playoff game in almost an unfathomable 10,000 days. The last three times they made the postseason, the following year they went 6-10, 4-12 and 9-7. They had no first-round draft pick and will face a first-place schedule.
There is no guarantee they’ll get back to the divisional round, or even the playoffs.
But if these Cowboys underachieve, chances are it won’t be because of a superior defensive line rotation that at least provides us a foggy memory of the glory days.