Dallas Cowboys' problem in 2012: Rob Ryan or something else? NFL.com January 10, 2013 Gregg Rosenthal NFL.com THE DEFENSE WAS THE LEAST OF THE COWBOYS' PROBLEMS Rob Ryan coached circles around Jason Garrett, given the talent and injuries he had to deal with over the past two years. ... Dave Dameshek NFL.com ...Getting back to the question asked, the answer for the Cowboys is simple: get more good players. ... Charley Casserly NFL.com INJURIES WERE THE COWBOYS' BIGGEST ISSUE A number of starters missed time on defense. The defensive line was hit the worst, with Jay Ratliff being the biggest loss, while Kenyon Coleman and Jason Hatcher missed time, too. Both inside linebackers (Sean Lee and Bruce Carter) were also lost, and starting safety Barry Church was placed on injured reserve. DeMarcus Ware played hurt, and that limited him. ...
Ian Rapoport NFL.com January 12, 2013 The Cowboys made their assistants plenty uncomfortable this offseason, with the biggest move yet coming earlier in the week. Loquacious defensive coordinator Rob Ryan was fired ... I'm still not sure why they fired him -- his schemes kept an under-manned defense in games with few starters left
January 8, 2013 IRVING — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones promised changes last week, and on Tuesday he made a big one. WFAA has confirmed that Jones fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan ... Ryan's defense was ranked 14th in total yards allowed last year and dropped to 19th this season after his unit was riddled with injuries. ... Several Dallas players reacted with surprise on Twitter. "It was a privilege to play under Coach Rob Ryan! One of the greatest," defensive end Jason Hatcher wrote. "Sad day. I'm hurting right now." The Cowboys had 38 games missed by defensive starters during the season, a huge number that the defense simply could not overcome. ...
The Dallas defense started off the 2012 campaign in relatively fine fashion. Things took a turn for the worse when newly implemented safety Barry Church was lost for the year with an achilles tear. The team was already without Pro Bowl nose tackle Jay Ratliff, who would end up missing the majority of the season with a litany of ailments. Soon after Church went down, Dallas would lose the centerpiece of their D, inside linebacker Sean Lee . By the time they left Thanksgiving, slot corner Orlando Scandrick , defensive end Kenyon Coleman and finally the other ILB Bruce Carter were all lost for the year. The Cowboys also lost backups on top of backups, making the task of leading the troops one of the most daunting in the NFL. O.C.C. uncovered a stat that the average NFL defense had played 28 players at one mark of the season. To that point, Dallas had fielded 36. They signed Ernie Sims , Brady Poppinga, Eric Frampton , Charlie Peprah and others off the streets and gave them heavy playing time. ... (which is why Ryan was) Lauded by many for being able to keep the Dallas defense as a somewhat functional unit despite a myriad of season-ending and debilitating injuries
That's why Payton got rid of a 4-3 guy so he could bring in a 3-4 guy, because that is what our personnel is best suited for at this point
That, and I'm sure we'll bring in additional peeps as well. Getting Spencer from Dallas should be a top defensive priority. However, we don't have much, if any, cap space, so it all comes down to what we can get him for and who we have to let go to clear space.
