Greg Hardy. Randy Gregory. Demarcus Lawrence. Jeremy Mincey. To hear Dallas Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones tell it, these four players and the rest of the Cowboys group of defensive lineman and linebackers will be the difference between a Super Bowl victory and yet another frustrating, ultimately disappointing campaign next year. Jones, appearing on KRLD-FM on Monday, said that he firmly believes the Cowboys inability to rush the passer on a consistent basis last season cost the team a chance at a Lombardi Trophy.
"At the end of the day, it's probably what cost us a chance to win a championship last year, we just didn't quite have the pass rush we needed to stop an Aaron Rodgers when we needed to stop him or make the play that needed to be made when you're trying to win a Super Bowl, so these guys are getting a lot of good teaching," Jones said, per the Dallas Morning News.
Dallas, of course, fell one Dez Bryant catch/non-catch short of a chance to clash with the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game last year. While controversial ruling became something of a poster child for Cowboys fan's anger and disgust, Jones is correct that it was really the team's inability to stop Rodgers in the game's most crucial moments that brought their season to an unceremonious close. The Cowboys pass rush was able to bring Rodgers down on a couple of occasions, but a unit that finished 28th in the league last year, ironically collecting just 28 sacks, clearly wasn't up to snuff.
Hence the Hardy addition, despite his major off-the-field issues. Hence the drafting of Gregory. Hence the new deal handed to Mincey to ensure that he returned to the fold and go in some good work at Cowboys training camp.
"I'd start by just looking at the new faces," Jones said. "You look at a guy like Greg Hardy or Randy Gregory, you just start with those two right there is a huge difference."
But Jones also doesn't want fans to forget the players that are already in place. Players like Demarcus Lawrence, a former second-round pick he expects to really blossom this season.
"Then you take a Demarcus Lawrence, where he's come in a short period of time. He's totally redeveloped his body and is probably the perfect left end. ... He's the real deal, Demarcus Lawrence is.
"Obviously a guy like Tyrone Crawford is coming into his own," Jones continued. "You just look at these young guys who are coming, and coming fast, compared to what we were trying to get it done with last year, we've just improved on paper a lot. Now we've got to have it translate to the field, and at the end of the day, have it translate into more wins and a chance to win a championship."
It was reported on Monday that the Cowboys viewed themselves as having a three-year window to win a Super Bowl considering quarterback Tony Romo's advancing age, which makes sense when you take into account Romo's increased frailty and the scarcity of franchise quarterback options in the NFL.
In short, if the team really believes they have a short window with which to truly vie for a Lombardi Trophy, the pass rush had better get to work next season, because there's no telling what changes an impatient Jerry Jones and an ambitious Stephen may be willing to make if the unit falls short of expectations and costs the team a playoff contest again in 2015.
