Friday, December 20, 1996

Denver coach's tip helps Switzer

By DENNE H. FREEMAN / AP Sports Writer (Dec. 20, 1996)

IRVING, Texas (AP) - Dallas coach Barry Switzer and Denver coach Mike Shanahan were rehashing old times last spring at the NFL meetings in West Palm Beach, Fla., when Shanahan gave his former boss a tip.

"You need to play more coverages in the secondary," he told Switzer. "You're too predictable. If I know you're going to play man-for-man on every down, I can get into formations that will pick you apart."

Shanahan worked briefly as an assistant coach under Switzer at Oklahoma before moving on to bigger and better things as one of the hottest young coaches in the NFL.

If Denver and Dallas meet in the Super Bowl, Shanahan might regret giving the hint to his old boss.

"What Mike said got me to thinking," Switzer said. "Now, that (predictability) doesn't happen anymore. I related my conversation to (defensive coordinator) Dave Campo. Playing man-to-man used to be our basic coverage. We're not doing that all the time anymore."

The Cowboys secondary has become the NFL's biggest jigsaw puzzle for quarterbacks to figure out.

Dallas is ranked No. 1 in overall defense and tops in pass defense, allowing only 165 yards passing per game. Tight coverage has allowed Dallas to get 34 sacks for 199 yards and the secondary has intercepted 18 passes.

"We're playing more zone this year," Switzer said. "What we do is put Deion Sanders one-on-one with his receiver out there on an island and play zone with everyone else. Of course, we change it up a lot. We're more sophisticated and unpredictable. Trying to figure out what we're going to do is a big chess match out there."

It was a common assumption that the Dallas defense was going to suffer from free agent defections of lineman Russell Maryland, cornerback Larry Brown, the Super Bowl MVP, and middle linebacker Robert Jones.

Free safety Brock Marion was lost for the season with an injury and Leon Lett has missed the last two games because of NFL drug suspension.

George Teague has replaced Marion, Tony Casillas has filled in for Lett and the Cowboys haven't missed a beat. They've allowed only 94.6 yards per rushing a game - eighth best in the NFL.

"Camp and his staff have done a tremendous job," Switzer said. "I knew Dave would. That's why I selected him as my coordinator when Butch Davis went to Miami."