Pressure is on Dallas Cowboys to get to opposing QBs
02:52 PM CDT on Thursday, October 1, 2009
IRVING – DeMarcus Ware refuses to run from the truth. It's not his nature.
As one of the NFL's premier defensive players, Ware knows he should have at least one sack after three games.
He makes no excuses and accepts no alibis. Ware expects to be held to a superstar standard he has set for himself.
"I'm supposed to have some sacks, but it's more than that," he said. "I've got some pressures and I've hit the quarterback, but I've got to get some turnovers by hitting the quarterback and stripping him.
"It's a team game, but we've got to get pressure on the quarterback from both sides. A breakout game is coming for me. I can tell. It's getting close."
It will come faster if Anthony Spencer starts beating the one-on-one blocking he's getting and puts some consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Then teams will have to spend some attention blocking him, which will make it easier for Ware to operate.
Spencer has done a good job against the run, and he's proved he can cover running backs and tight ends in the flat. All of that is good, but the Cowboys moved up in the draft and selected him in the first round in 2007 to terrorize quarterbacks.
Thus far, he hasn't.
"He's more dominant against the run than the pass right now," coach Wade Phillips said of Spencer. "He'll get better. He has as many hits and pressures on the quarterback as anyone else on our team."
The 3-4 defense is all about the outside linebackers. If they're not beasts, the defense doesn't work nearly as well.
We all know eventually Ware is going to get some sacks. He'll probably wind up with 10-12.
No doubt.
But the Cowboys didn't pick up their first three sacks of the season until Monday night's win against Carolina, which is not good for a team that led the NFL last season with 59 sacks.
Ware and Spencer, the starting outside linebackers, have yet to collect a sack this season, a trend that needs to stop this week.
Then again, Denver quarterback Kyle Orton has proved difficult to sack, having been dumped only three times in 88 pass attempts. Coach Josh McDaniels will do whatever it takes to keep him upright, whether it requires seven or eight blockers or an abundance of three- and five-step drops.
Somehow, the Cowboys must get to him. A superior game by Spencer would help.
Don't forget, this was supposed to be Spencer's year. It's the reason the Cowboys released chronic complainer Greg Ellis, even though Ellis totaled 20 sacks over the previous two seasons.
Ellis wasn't going to be happy as a situational pass rusher, and the Cowboys figured Spencer was ready to start and be a difference-maker entering his third season.
They're still waiting.
We have no idea what Spencer will do. He has no track record of success as a pass rusher.
Part of the problem is that he tends to show too much of his torso to tackles, which allows them to put their hands in his chest and redirect him. The best pass rushers give offensive linemen only a small target because of their body lean.
Maybe we should give Spencer credit for wearing down Carolina tackle Jeff Otah during the first three quarters, because rookie linebacker Victor Butler blew past Otah with the game on the line in the fourth quarter.
On each of Butler's sacks, he was even with Otah when the tackle came out of his stance, which meant Otah had no chance to get his hands on Butler.
"Victor did some good things, but not enough that it's time to start the game with him," Phillips said. "But he's earned the right to be subbed in more than he was before."
Butler leads the Cowboys with two sacks. This is not a positive for anyone except Butler.